FACT SHEET

02/05/2018
Virginia Tech’s Department of Communication
OVERVIEW
 Began with five faculty members and by 1980 achieved full departmental statue
 Offers three majors including Multimedia Journalism, Communication Studies
and Public Relation’s
 Ability to earn a master’s degree in Communication
MISSION AND GOALS
 Develop and enhance the understanding of the process of communication and
their effects on individuals, organizations, culture and society through discovery,
learning and engagement which focuses on creation, distribution and
interpretation of messages through media systems
 Create and share knowledge about the interaction of messages and media within
historical, economic, technological and cultural environments
MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM
 Prepares students for careers in news by learning how to publish news across
platforms from newspapers, to magazines to television to the web by offering
courses in history, law and ethics.
 Requires media writing, communication research, multimedia reporting, advanced
multimedia reporting and digital news room
 Option for a Sports Media and Analytics concentration
COMMUNICATION STUDIES
 Study the process of communication to get a better understanding of how people
relate and interact with the world around them
 Focus on building “soft skills” that employers feel recent generations lack
 Curriculum in visual media, rhetoric, persuasion and professional communication
to develop critical thinking skills, conflict management and relationship building
techniques
PUBLIC REALTION’S
 Aim to communicate company messages and foster relationships with key
constituents and news media while advising managers on strategic actions through
publicity campaigns and preparing news material.
 Objective is to write clearly concisely and correctly while also critically analyzing
problems and learn how to strategically plan and implement actions to meet
objectives and assess outcomes.
 Courses in principles of PR, communication research, writing and editing for PR,
PR cases and campaigns
MASTER PROGRAM
 Created a master’s degree program with English in 1999, and by 2003 was stand
alone
 Requires 33 credit-hours with a 3.0 GPA and previous research learning
experience
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 Thesis in a research-based aspect of communication which demonstrate expertise

Media Contact:
Name: Nicole Verdin
Email: nicoleev@vt.edu
Phone: 703-508-0454