Graduate Program

The School of Communication offers an M.A. in Communication Studies. Full-time students typically take two years to complete the program. Our M.A. program provides students with the choice of preparing for a career in academe or for developing their research and analytic skills for careers in corporate, nonprofit, and governmental organizations. Instruction is designed to help students discover, analyze, and demonstrate how communication processes are centrally important in creating, shaping, and interpreting quality communities. This program is driven by the close mentorship relationships between faculty and masters’ students.

Priority in the graduate program is given to the development of students’ expertise and skills in each of the following areas:

• Mastery of knowledge and abilities in communication theory and practice.
• Completion of theses that prepare students to become change agents in the career paths they are pursuing.
• Collaboration in research and instructional teams.
• Participation in fieldwork in diverse settings relevant to the social issues being investigated.
• Presentation of scholarly papers at professional conferences.
• Co-authorship of research articles with faculty and other graduate students.

The School of Communication offers new and continuing graduate students the opportunity to teach undergraduate classes, primarily Communication 103 – an introductory course in oral communication. Graduate Teaching Associates (GTAs) receive an annual stipend. Some GTA positions may include an out-of-state fee waiver. GTA positions are competitive and admission to the graduate program does not ensure the assignment of a teaching associate appointment.