Department website: https://academics.potomacstatecollege.edu/majors/two-year-programs/communication-studies
Degree Offered
- Associate of Arts
Nature of the Program
The communication studies major will develop critical thinking, reasoning, and decision-making skills with the intent of empowering students to craft and deliver effective messages in their careers and their communities. Students are encouraged to produce segments for the Mountain Streams Radio station located on campus.
The major will prepare students for admission to the B.A. in Communication Studies program offered by the Eberly College of Arts & Sciences in Morgantown where students can choose one of five areas of emphasis: Health Communication, Integrated Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Social Media and Communication Technology, and Strategic and Organizational Communication.
Career Opportunities
A degree in communication studies helps students be successful in many careers: from healthcare to human resources, from sales to social media, from image management to promotions.
Faculty
Chair
- Cassandra Pritts - M.A. History (Duquesne University)
Year @ PSC (2011)
Admissions
Entering freshmen are admitted directly into the major.
Benchmark Expectations
Minimum GPA of 2.5 in COMM 104 and COMM 306 is required for graduation. All majors must meet with their advisor every semester. Students who do not meet these benchmarks may be removed from their major.
General Education Foundations
Please use this link to view a list of courses that meet each GEF requirement.
NOTE: Some major requirements will fulfill specific GEF requirements. Please see the curriculum requirements listed below for details on which GEFs you will need to select.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Foundations | ||
| F1 - Composition & Rhetoric | 3-6 | |
| Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric and Composition, Rhetoric, and Research | ||
or ENGL 103 | Accelerated Academic Writing | |
| F2A/F2B - Science & Technology | 4-6 | |
| F3 - Math & Quantitative Reasoning | 3-4 | |
| F4 - Society & Connections | 3 | |
| F5 - Human Inquiry & the Past | 3 | |
| F6 - The Arts & Creativity | 3 | |
| F7 - Global Studies & Diversity | 3 | |
| F8 - Focus (may be satisfied by completion of a minor, double major, or dual degree) | 9 | |
| Total Hours | 31-37 | |
Please note that not all of the GEF courses are offered at all campuses. Students should consult with their advisor or academic department regarding the GEF course offerings available at their campus.
Curriculum Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPA of 2.5 in COMM 104 and COMM 306 is required. | ||
| GEF Requirements (2, 4, 6, 7, and 8) | 15 | |
| ENGL 101 & ENGL 102 | Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric and Composition, Rhetoric, and Research (GEF 1) | 6 |
| WVUE 191 | First Year Seminar | 1 |
| Foreign Language | 6 | |
| Select one of the following (GEF 3): | 3 | |
| Understanding Statistics | ||
| Elementary Statistical Inference | ||
| COMM 104 | Fundamentals of Public Communication (GEF 5) | 3 |
| COMM 306 | Organizational Communication (GEF 8) | 3 |
| CS 101 | Intro to Computer Applications (GEF 2) | 4 |
| Elective | 19 | |
| Total Hours | 60 | |
Suggested Plan of Study
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| COMM 104 (GEF 5) | 3 | ENGL 101 (GEF 1) | 3 |
| CS 101 (GEF 2) | 4 | Select one of the following (GEF 3): | 3 |
| WVUE 191 | 1 | ||
| Foreign Language | 3 | ||
| Elective | 3 | Foreign Language | 3 |
| Elective | 1 | GEF 4 | 3 |
| GEF 6 | 3 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| ENGL 102 (GEF 1) | 3 | COMM 306 (GEF 8) | 3 |
| GEF 7 | 3 | GEF 8 | 3 |
| GEF 2 | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total credit hours: 60 | |||
Major Learning Outcomes
Communication Studies
Upon successful completion of the A.A. degree, Communication Studies majors will be able to:
- Describe the major theories of human communication and apply them to various contexts.
- Critique communication messages from a social science perspective.
- Cite evidence of the impact of communication on human behavior in interpersonal and/or organizational contexts.
- Identify and describe the functions of media in a democratic society.
- Investigate the role of verbal and nonverbal messages in the human communication process.
- Examine the relationship between communication and culture.
- Design and evaluate effective strategies for social influence.
- Examine ethical issues in various communication contexts.
- Analyze the role of communication in conflict and conflict management.