The Department of Communication Arts offers you a unique learning experience unlike any other in the region. You will learn to analyze, critically evaluate, and develop skills in important communication practices. You will develop the intellectual resources needed to articulate your own ideas and share them with others. A major in Communication Arts offers you the knowledge and expertise that are essential to becoming a leader in a complex world.

INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION

Major Areas of Study
Meet the Faculty
Are there opportunities for scholarship and service?
Will Communication Arts faculty help me select the right courses?
What can I do with this degree? What kind of jobs are possibilities for me?
Internship Opportunities for Communication Arts Majors
Graduates speak out . . .
Opportunities for Involvement and Paid Work Study
Memberships and Affiliations in Communication Arts
Student-led Media

Major Areas of Study

Choose either Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degrees in the following areas.

We offer four distinct areas of concentration for a B.A. or B.S. in Communication Arts:

• Advertising & Public Relations
• Journalism
• Organizational Communication and Leadership
• Sports Communication

All communication majors will study:

• Communication Theory
• Mass Media
• Media Law
• Desktop Publishing
• Writing for the media
• Web Design
• Persuasion
• Communication Research

Advertising and Public Relations

This concentration prepares students for careers in corporate communications, public relations, or advertising. Students will study principles of advertising and public relations, visual communication, and relationship marketing. They will get the chance to use the knowledge and skills sets learned to develop and plan a strategic communication campaign. This program equips our students with technical skills, hands-on experience, and a solid knowledge base of how communication theory is effectively applied in today’s dynamic marketplace.

Journalism

Students desiring a career in writing and reporting will be interested in our journalism concentration. It is designed to equip our students with the necessary knowledge and skill sets to work in today’s multimedia environment. Areas of study include digital production, writing for the media, copy editing, feature writing, and media management.

Organizational Communication and Leadership

Students interested in sales, promotions, organizational leadership, the ministry, public presentation, or any career path that involves managing and leading people, will benefit from our organizational communication and leadership concentration. They will learn about communication in small groups and teambuilding, nonverbal and intercultural communication, conflict management, and communication in the business and professional environment.

Sports Communication

Learning how to combine an interest in sports with a potential career in journalism or public relations is the focus of our Sports Communication concentration. Students will learn all the fundamentals of journalism, production, and public relations, but with a specific emphasis in sports communication.

Are there opportunities for scholarship and service?

The Mu Chi chapter of the international communication honors society, Lambda Pi Eta introduced a speaker series to the campus in 2011. Individuals who have achieved success because of their communication skills are invited to share their experiences with Communication Arts majors and other interested students. Past speakers have included Mike Dunn, General Manager of the Rome Braves, a franchise of the Atlanta Braves organization, Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots (and named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people), and Holly Lynch, owner of The Season, a Rome-based event planning company specializing in wedding planning. Fall 2011 speakers include Atlanta-based photographer Priscilla Wannamaker and the Honorable Senator Chip Rogers, Georgia Senate Majority Leader.

Students who qualify for membership in Lambda Pi Eta wear red and white honor cords at graduation along with their caps and gowns. Students may become members of the Public Relations Student Society of America chapter. All majors take two senior-level seminars for writing and portfolio building and presenting scholarly research.

Will Communication Arts faculty help me select the right courses?

Absolutely. That’s where we really shine. Everyone at Shorter is dedicated to making sure that you are counseled about your classes, advised appropriately, and helped down the right personal and professional path for you. We in Communication Arts are no exception. You don’t stand in long lines for arena registration. Instead you receive pre-registration help from your adviser, register at his or her computer, and when you leave, your schedule is all set for the next term. You should know that we have a strong record of on-time graduations. Our goal for you: Graduation in eight semesters. We bet it’s yours, too.

What can I do with this degree? What kind of jobs are possibilities for me?

The study of communication prepares you for a variety of professions valuing both oral and written communication knowledge and know-how. Because Communication Leadership and Public Relations graduates possess the theoretical and practical understanding of human connections, they can enter a new career confident in their ability to communicate ideas with clarity and effectiveness, a skill that opens doors in virtually any professional field.

Some of the current positions our graduates pursue include: Community Relations Director; Activities Director; Sales Representative; Speech Writer; Public Affairs Director; Special Events Coordinator; Human Resources Specialist; Intercultural Communication Consultant; Cruise Director; Labor Negotiator; Promotions Manager; Sports Marketer; Crisis Communications Specialist; Lobbyist; News Anchor; and Advertising Executive.

Internship Opportunities for Communication Arts Majors

We are proud of our placements in organizations like Wellstar Health System, Darlington School, American Red Cross, Red Ribbon Works, Comcast, World Market Alliance, Cornerstone Hospitality, The March of Dimes, Crawford Communications, the Atlanta Braves, the Rome Braves, K-98, Southern Broadcasting, Q102, 99X, The Weather Channel, The Cartoon Network, College Broadcasting, The Season Events, First Baptist Church Woodstock, and many more. Getting a job offer at the end of an internship is a great boost, and we have more instances of that happening than we can tell you about in this brochure.

Graduates speak out . . .

"I really like my job. I thought that nothing could be more stressful than university, but this kind of stress is different. It is a good thing to be so trusted and to be able to learn and do so much. There is so much riding on everything I do.”

-Nicole Barry, (2003) Press Secretary, Atlanta

"I thought the Communication Arts faculty might enjoy an e-mail to remind you of what an amazing job you are doing and how well-equipped we are for the “real world” after graduating from Shorter. Thank you for all of your sacrifices, encouraging talks, and investment in all of us. We love you and are very appreciative...even if we don’t say it often enough!”

- Kari Borders, (2002) Southern Baptist Convention Journeyman, Dakar, Senegal, West Africa

“I would not trade my time at Shorter for all the money in the world. The riches I gained came in the form of knowledge, wisdom, friendship, and love. The education I received went far beyond the classroom, and the impact of every class, organization, teacher, friend and late study session at Waffle House will be treasured for the rest of my life. I know my feelings are widely shared among past and present Shorter students, as they will be for those yet to attend.”

-Nicole Byers (2003) Manager-in-Training/Accountant

Opportunities for Involvement and Paid Work Study

We have a campus televised radio station, SC49, which students staff and manage with the help of a faculty adviser. Here, you can become a studio personality, a program director or a student station manager. Students work at a professional 12-channel board and handle newly released music subscriptions just like the professionals in stations all over the country. If you are interested in video, you should think about joining other Shorter students in our video lab, as you learn digital camera operation and editing skills in our Apple Macintosh labs.

The Periscope is our student-managed and faculty-advised campus newspaper published every two weeks from September to May. The Argo is our fall delivery yearbook, published by enthusiastic student journalists. You’ll want to consider working on one of these great hands-on, award-winning publications. With either, you’ll learn essential desktop publishing, news and feature writing, layout design, and photography skills, making you uniquely marketable in the workplace.

Memberships and Affiliations in Communication Arts

• College Media Advisers, Inc.
• Associated Collegiate Press
• The Student Baptist Press
• American Scholastic Press Association, First Place Award 2010, First Place with Special Merit 2011
• Georgia College Press Association
• Georgia Communication Association, Inc.
• Southern States Communication Association
• National Communication Association
• Interscholastic Broadcast System
• American Advertising Federation
• Columbia Scholastic Press Association
• Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication
• American Academy of Advertising
• Public Relations Society of America

“If all my possessions were taken from me with one exception, I would choose to keep the power of speech, for by it I would soon regain all the rest.”– Daniel Webster

The great statesman Webster was correct in his assessment about the ability to successfully communicate. In the Communication Arts Department at Shorter University, we know exactly what he meant. Whether you are interested in advertising or on-air broadcasting, public information or community affairs, communication management or media relations, the study of communication at Shorter is exciting, dynamic, and important.

Now if you’re still asking yourself, “But what can I DO with a communication degree?” please call or e-mail Dr. Dana Hall, chairperson for the department, 706.233.7465 or dhall@shorter.edu.

She’ll be glad to hear from you, to talk about your goals, and to visit about how we might help you achieve them. If possible, you should come for a visit, sit in on a class, and meet some of our faculty and students. They’ll tell you that communication ranks among the top five selected majors at Shorter. There are many good reasons for that. Please be in touch, and let the faculty and students tell you a few of them.

STUDENT-LED MEDIA

Students are encouraged to become involved in the activities of writing, editing, photography, layout and other opportunities by working on the staff of The Periscope, the bi-monthly student newspaper founded in 1919. To read the current edition of The Periscope, visit www.SUperiscope.org.

Other student-led media include the Shorter University yearbook, The Argo, as well as the Shorter radio station, SUB 49.

The Communication Arts Department offers media labs with 1 hour credit for students interested in working with any of these. In addition to being fully engaged with campus activities and strengthening interpersonal and organizational communication skills, students will also learn valuable and marketable skills including reporting, writing, editing, production, photography, layout design, and time management.