Communications curriculum change raises few student concerns

By Hannah Williams
Oct. 13, 2008

ELON, N.C. – School of Communications Dean Paul Parsons and Department Chair Don Grady held two informational sessions to discuss new curriculum requirements with students Monday, seven attended.

Grady was surprised at the low turnout. “I was expecting at least 100 students,” he said.

Most students in attendance were juniors concerned that the change would affect their plans for graduating, whether they continued under the old system with the new courses or declared a major under the new requirements.

Parsons told juniors that the changes would not dramatically alter their course of study. The new courses, to be offered in Fall 2009, will fulfill old requirements as well, he said.

Students who want to graduate under the new requirements need to re-declare their majors with academic advising, said Grady. He reminded students to declare any other majors and minors as well, as re-declaring will wipe your record.

Juniors in the School of Communications have the option to continue under the old curriculum or adopt the new curriculum requirements.

The School of Communications finalized its second substantive curriculum revision of this decade this summer, said Parsons in a recent interview with The Pendulum.

The revisions implemented aim both to better prepare students for careers on the cutting edge of communications and to better reflect the various programs offered in the school.

Juniors and seniors have the option of graduating under the new curriculum or fulfilling the old degree requirements. Freshmen and sophomores will pursue their degrees within the new program structure.

Parsons said that the old system did not seem to make much sense, as it offered only two degrees, Journalism of Communications with a concentration in Broadcast and New Media, Corporate or Cinema, and split news journalism into essentially two majors.

The new curriculum offers students four major options in the School of Communications:

- Journalism with concentrations in Print/Online and Broadcast news;

- Strategic Communications;

- Media Arts and Entertainment with concentrations in Broadcast/New Media and Cinema; and

- Communications Science.

In Journalism, a print/online news concentration reflects the old program’s journalism degree and a broadcast news concentration includes students who are pursuing television news careers.

“‘Strategic communications’ is really just a change in nomenclature for ‘communications with a corporate concentration,’” explained Parsons.

Media arts and entertainment will encompass students who wish to pursue careers in the entertainment media in either broadcast and new media or cinema.

Communications science is an additional major for students interested in communications theory and research, requires a minor and targets those who plan to attend graduate school.

Additionally, students can add optional emphases in Writing, Advertising, Photojournalism, Documentary, Sports Communication, Audio Recording and International Communications to their major by focusing their electives and internship in these areas.

The curriculum for each has been revamped to include degree-specific culmination courses:

- Multimedia Journalism for Journalism majors;

- Corporate Campaigns for Strategic Communications majors;

- Production for Media Arts and Entertainment majors; and

- Communication Inquiry for Communication Science majors.

In exchange, the Great Ideas: Capstone in Communications course has been reduced from a four-credit course to a two-credit course, freeing up more credit hours for electives. The course will only be offered for four credits through this spring.

Juniors who elect to graduate under the old curriculum can fulfill the capstone requirement with the two-credit option, but may need to take additional electives to compensate for the fewer credits to complete the required 52 credits within the School of Communications.

Internships under the new curriculum may be completed for one or two credits at a time. Nagatha Tonkins, the new internship director, is available to help students through the internship program.

More courses will also be offered, including Environmental Communications, Sports and Media, Sports Information, Audio for Visual Media and Media Management and Sales. Other courses may have altered titles to reflect course content changes. See a full course comparison here.

Finally, the communication course abbreviation has been changed to from JCM to COM to reflect the breadth of the communications programs. 

Make your internship work for you

Elon communications students offer advice, Tonkins talks strategy

By Hannah Williams
Oct. 5, 2008

ELON, N.C. – Internships equal paying Elon tuition to work without getting paid while doing additional paperwork to complete a graduation requirement, right? Not quite.

Elon communications student interns and internship director identified tips to make the required internship process enjoyable and rewarding.

Make your internship experience pay off by cataloging your interests and abilities, pursuing the perfect position, maximizing your opportunities and networking like crazy, advise students in Elon’s School of Communications.

Elon communications student interns and internship director identified tips to make the required internship process enjoyable and rewarding.

Persistence is key, says senior Alex King, who applied continuously for a year prior to landing an internship with Zomba Label Group and Jive Records. The phone call he received at 1:26 p.m. March 26 marked only the beginning of a mutually beneficial match.

King spent his summer contriving marketing plans, planning tours and events, and researching imaging and promotion strategies for artists like Chris Brown, Usher, T-Paine, and Lil Mama.

“The harder you work, the more you can get,” King said. “Never stop trying.”

Junior Tim Barber, a broadcast communications major, was not deterred by the common misconception that you have to have connections to secure an amazing internship. He searched the Internet, looking for opportunities with major broadcasters.

“Work early; apply early,” Barber advised peers looking to score an internship like his with CBS News, working on “The Early Show.”

Once you’ve been accepted as an intern, students say, show initiative.

If you prove that you can accomplish basic intern tasks like answering the phones and sorting mail, you can start assuming more responsibilities, said Barber, who advised students to ask for work to do.

“By the end of the summer I was coming up with story ideas,” said Barber, “while other interns were still answering phones and sorting mail.”

“Be the first intern there in the morning, and be the last intern there at night,” said Leigh Lesniak, who interned with a CNN documentary unit in Atlanta.

Tim Johnson, a senior, interned at a small video editing firm in Los Angeles for the summer. While he wasn’t competing with other interns, Johnson said it was important to have a “can-do attitude” and volunteered to do anything and everything he could.

In a small firm, you know everyone, said Johnson. It’s harder to find a position (he applied to a dozen firms and heard back from three), he said; but if you engage people, you can make lasting professional connections.

“You can turn to them for recommendations later,” agreed Krista Montes de Oca, a senior corporate communications major, who formed relationships in the 15-person public relations firm Weber Merrit this past summer.

Megan Lee urged fellow students to pursue an internship they found interesting.

“Make sure it’s your passion,” said Lee who interned with the event-planning firm Pepper Moon, “It’s 13-hour days.”

School of Communications Director of Internships and External Relations Nagatha Tonkins encourages students to be deliberate in their search.

“Getting an internship is like getting a job,” she said. Students must dedicate time to prepare and to research to find the internship that is right for them.

“Figure out where you really want to be,” said Tonkins.

She suggests students identify before-hand their ideal time frame for an internship, their skills and abilities, their interests and hobbies, the opportunities available and the possibilities for creating their own opportunity.

Look everywhere, says Tonkins, who cited the Internet, school resources, alumni, trade publications, newspapers, job fairs, family and friends as potential networking tools.

“Always have a résumé with you,” Tonkins said; internship opportunities pop up unexpectedly.

Finding the perfect opportunity is only step one, then you have to apply.

Tonkins offers the following advice for filing applications:

1.     Follow instructions.
2.     Make contact.
a.     Introduce yourself.
b.     Focus on how you can help them.
c.      Ask “when,” not “if,” you can interview.
3.     Follow up.

Finally, if you’re planning on receiving Elon credit for your internship, you must be proactive. “You cannot receive retroactive credit,” Tonkins warned.

To receive Elon credit:

1.     Schedule an appointment with Tonkins.
2.     Complete registration.
3.     Attend the mandatory three-step meetings the semester prior to your internship.

To intern for credit in the Winter or Spring terms, students must attend one meeting in each of the three steps.

Tonkins told students to heed the advice of their experienced colleagues and be go-getters to capitalize on their possibilities, ensuring that the internship met their own personal and professional goals.