Communication Program

Department Chairperson: Jill Tyler, Ph.D.
Graduate Program Director: Carolyn M. Prentice, Ph.D.
Department of Communication Studies
Beacom Hall, Room 211
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD 57069
Phone: (605) 677-5476
commstudies@usd.edu
www.usd.edu/spcm

Department Chairperson: Michelle Van Maanen, Ed.D.
Department of Media & Journalism
Al Neuharth Media Center
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD 57069
Phone: (605) 677-5477
cmj@usd.edu
www.usd.edu/cmj

FACULTY IN COMMUNICATION STUDIES

Associate Professors:

Kelly McKay-Semmler, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma. Specialization: intercultural/intergroup communication and cross-cultural communication.
Carolyn Prentice, Ph.D., University of Missouri-Columbia. Specialization: family communication and group communication.
Shane Semmler, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma. Specialization: persuasion, entertainment education, political communication.
Jill Tyler, Ph.D., University of Iowa. Specialization: interpersonal/relational communication, health communication.

Lecturer:

Mark DeLaurier, Ph.D., Washington State University. Specialization: critical rhetoric and environmental communication.

FACULTY IN MEDIA & JOURNALISM

Professor:

Charles Lubbers, Ph.D., University of Nebraska. Specialization: public relations, advertising and integrated marketing communications.

Associate Professor:

Miglena Sternadori, Ph.D., University of Missouri. Specialization: cognitive processing of news, news routines, media stereotypes.

Assistant Professors:

Teddi Joyce, Ph.D., Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Specialization: public relations, crisis communication and marketing, higher education.
Brandon Nutting, Ph.D., Texas Tech University. Specialization: advertising, memory and cognition.
Michelle Van Maanen, Ed.D., University of South Dakota. Specialization: multiplatform journalism, media management, mass communication theory.

Lecturers:

Janet Davison, Ph.D., University of South Dakota. Specialization: newswriting (print and broadcast), radio production, media history and literary journalism.
Gary Larson, Ed.S., University of South Dakota. Specialization: digital media, sport media.

Journalist-in-Residence:

Chuck Baldwin, M.S., South Dakota State University. Specialization: journalism, media law, media ethics.

DEGREE

Master of Arts in Communication, Plan A and Plan B

Program Description

The Master of Arts in Communication examines human symbolic activity in a variety of contexts and through a variety of channels. We explore interpersonal identities and relationships, culture and organizational life, as well as traditional and new forms of media. After completing foundational courses in research and theory, students build on their own interests and goals by selecting courses from the Department of Communication Studies and the Department of Media & Journalism, as well as related departments throughout the University.

Sound, ethical practice, rigorous intellectual inquiry, and the free expression of ideas form the basis for studying communication practices, interactions, discourses, strategies, messages, and effects. Students come to the graduate program from a variety of undergraduate programs, such as communication, mass communication, psychology, sociology, business, English, political science, counseling, and education.

The curriculum prepares students for leadership positions in a variety of fields - business, education, law, politics, social and human services, health care management, human resource development, public relations, advertising, marketing, technology, public administration, and the arts and entertainment. The program also prepares students for doctoral study, and for teaching at the secondary and post-secondary levels.

Principal Fields for Specialization and Research: Based on their own professional and academic goals, graduate students are encouraged to design individual programs of study in areas such as interpersonal and relational communication, organizational communication, health communication, political communication, intercultural and interethnic communication, media studies, mass communication, strategic communication (advertising, integrated marketing and public relations), journalism and media management.

A student pursuing a graduate degree in communication may select between two options: Plan A (scholarly thesis and oral defense); Plan B (coursework with comprehensive exam and oral defense).

ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS

An undergraduate degree with a GPA of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale from an accredited institution is required for full admission.
Applicants must submit an original 2-4 page statement of purpose carefully outlining their experience, preparation, interests and goals in pursuing a graduate degree in Communication.
Scores from the GRE taken within the previous 5 years must be submitted for full admission. Scores from other graduate level tests (within the previous 5 years), such as the GMAT, LSAT, or Miller Analogies Test, may be substituted for the GRE.
Applicants must have completed a minimum of 15 credit hours of undergraduate coursework in Communication Studies, Mass Communication, or a related discipline, as approved by the department. The coursework usually considered applicable to the 15 credit hour requirement include sociology, psychology, anthropology, and other social sciences or literature. For any student whose undergraduate degree is not in Communication or Mass Communication specifically, we strongly advise enrollment in SPCM 505 THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION (C) in the first semester (offered every fall) to provide a solid background in Communication. This course will be considered part of the 36 hours required in the graduate program.

- Subject to faculty approval, those who do not meet all of the criteria above may be admitted on a provisional basis.