Program Description
The School of Communication Studies offers the Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees with a major in communication studies. Students must take at least 39 hours of work in communication studies beyond the requirement.
All programs must include at least five elements:
- Twelve hours of required core communication studies courses.
- Three hours of an advanced research methods course.
- Eighteen hours of communication concentration courses.
- Six hours of elective courses in communication studies.
- A minor, second major or twelve hours of course work at the 300 level or above outside of the SCOM major.
Admission to the Major
Admission to JMU does not guarantee admission to the . All students interested in majoring in the program must apply for a limited number of spaces by enrolling in and successfully completing and . In order to register for these classes, students must change their major to “SCOM declared” to register for and . The reviews performance in the / class to make decisions about acceptance into the major each semester.
Admission to the major is based on availability to the most qualified students as determined by performance in and .
Students who are not admitted are permitted one more attempt to successfully meet performance requirements in / by enrolling the next regular semester or in the summer if the student desires. For students retaking / (whether repeat or repeat/forgive), the school will look only at their highest grades earned when evaluating their second attempt.
Successful completion of a major in the most often requires a minimum of four semesters after a student is fully admitted to the School. Depending upon the student’s particular circumstances and degree progress, more than four semesters may be required for completing the major. Once admitted to the , a student cannot retroactively apply more than nine hours of SCOM courses, including and , to his/her major (// does not count towards those nine hours).
Policy for Students Transferring from Another Institution
Students applying from other institutions are held to the same policies and guidelines as other applicants. However, once admitted to the , transfer students may petition for SCOM credit for courses taken at previous institutions. As with other applicants, they may only use up to nine hours of SCOM courses taken before full admittance to the major to satisfy major requirements, including and .
Minimum Grades
Any course taken to fulfill a degree requirement in communication studies must be completed with a minimum grade of “C-.” A communication studies course completed with a grade of “D” may be credited toward graduation but may not be included as coursework toward a communication studies major or minor. Additionally, courses completed with a grade less than “C-” will not count as fulfilling prerequisites for future courses, and enrolled students may be administratively removed from courses for which they have not completed a required prerequisite with a minimum grade of “C-.”
Limitations in Applied Courses
No more than six hours combined credit in , , , and may be counted toward a major in communication studies unless approved by the academic unit head.
Double Counting
A student with a Communication Studies major or minor may use courses that satisfy their major or minor requirements to satisfy requirements for another major or minor. There is no limit on the number of classes a student may double count within the majors or minors.
Footnotes
1 The program contains a set of requirements each student must fulfill. Some credits may be fulfilled by courses required within the major.
2 In addition to course work taken to fulfill requirement.
3 A minimum of 12 credit hours of university electives must be at the 300 level or above, or students must earn a minor or second major.
Additional Information
In addition, students pursuing the B.S. degree must complete or a school-approved statistics course. School-approved statistics courses include but are not limited to, . can count as either a or a B.S. quantitative requirement, but not both.
Recommended Schedule for Communication Studies Majors
Generally, students will start their program in Communication Studies no earlier than their second semester and often at the beginning of their sophomore year. This is a suggested progression of major coursework. We recommend students take 30 credit hours per year to stay on track to meet all requirements in four years.
