University of Cincinnati
09/10/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/10/2024 08:17
What Is Communication
What Is Communication?
Explore this UC major to find out if it's the right fit for you
7 minute readSeptember 10, 2024Share on facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Reddit Print StoryLike
If you're looking for an opportunity to go after a degree in communication, UC's program offers various routes for you to find your calling.
Whether you're interested in a career in public relations, event planning, human resources or politics, this program provides the foundational course work for finding your path.
UC's communication program, offered through the College of Arts and Sciences, was established more than 30 years ago, and it has seen continuous growth throughout the major.
Professor of communication Steven Fuller graduated from UC's program in 2001 and began teaching in the program not long after. Fuller's career has seen him around UC often, as well as working on other projects outside of the program, and he has found that graduating helped him be ready for a job straight out of college.
"I think the advantage of a communication degree is that you learn specific skills and specific theories, and you are equipped to enter the workforce and get jobs and be very successful in those jobs," he said.
"We have lots of students who are going through our internship program and our co-op program and get really good job experience that they then translate into getting a job right out of college."
Real-world experience
UC's communication program offers opportunities for training and working, even while you are still in college.
"We have multiple certificates that will help train you, as well as an internship program and co-op program. There's also a lot of student groups, some of which are specifically PR focused, where you take on actual clients in the real world and do actual work for them," he says.
"There's all sorts of opportunities to get trained while you're here so that when you graduate, you're ready to hit the workforce running."
Students have seen this experience pay off. Third-year student Kiersten Hofmann says that she came to UC to improve her public speaking skills, and now feels ready for what the workforce throws at her.
UC Communication major Kiersten Hofmann. Photo/Provided
"I was really interested in public speaking to begin with and have been able to challenge myself as a public speaker. I also have been very impressed by the amount of real-world interview and workplace experience," she said.
"At this point, I am very ready for a job interview. I'm always so excited because I know what's happening because they prepared me so well for it."
For some, their ability to join clubs and organizations is what made their experience in the program so impactful.
Fourth-year student Sarah Thielen, who minors in business and is a part of the sales teams at UC, says that her involvement has helped a lot with her sharpening of skills and her future and that her start in communication helped her find this path.
UC Communication major Sarah Thielen. Photo/Provided
"My focus is on sales, and I'm on the varsity sales team at UC. Traveling and competing for the sales team has made me incredibly marketable. Just being able to put my communication skills towards that has been great for my resume and my experience.
"It's interesting how those two go hand in hand. I found communication really helpful for getting into business and that it was good for establishing what I wanted to do," Thielen said.
Notable classes
First-year students have the option to join a learning community, which help students transition to college by putting them in groups with other students in their major. Hofmann said that her learning community was one of the best classes she took during her time at UC.
"My learning community was the most impactful class I've taken because, to this day, I'm still very close friends with so many people from it," Hoffman said. "All the people that I met there, including my peer leader, were awesome. I can still ask her questions if I have any, too."
For those majoring in communication, you can pick between Introduction to Effective Speaking or Business Communication. From there, students will take Introductions to Interpersonal Communication, Rhetorical Theory, and Communication Theory.
After that, students have a wide variety of research methods and electives to choose from, some of which include Organizational Diversity, Media & Public Opinion, Environmental Communication, and Leadership Communication.
The communication program offers several different classes and opportunities so students can pick the career path that best suits them. Students will also complete a capstone in their junior or senior year.
Career possibilities
A degree in communication can lead to a large variety of career pathways. Students from the program also have opportunities in the areas of law and business. Some of the areas that graduates have gone on to work in include:
- Public relations
- Event planning
- Human resources
- Marketing
- Sales
- Legislators
- Broadcasting
- Fundraising/management
Take it from an alum
Alyssa Wallen is a 2015 UC grad with a bachelor's in communication and public relations. Once a brand manager and senior associate, she is now a corporate communications manager at Amazon. For Wallen, she found that UC has a lot of help in finding your calling, especially within the broadness of being a communication major.
"There are so many career paths that you can take with the communication degree, and it really opened up my scope to be more involved in corporate communication. That was the guidance that I had from faculty to be able to personalize my curriculum to kind of fit I wanted to do," she said.
UC Communication grad and Amazon corporate communication manager Alyssa Wallen. Photo/Provided
"I needed to build my resume and a portfolio in my professional presence, so really just tapping into the resources that the university has. They showed me how to build my resume and look for opportunities to connect with other student groups."
Wallen is also now the president of the UC Friends of Communication alumni organization, a mentor program to help ease students into the program and present them with opportunities to meet and network with other students and alumni of the program. Along with this, Wallen believes that getting involved early in and around campus is important to new students.
"I had joined Lambda Payda, an honor society for communications. And I was the president of that. I would encourage anyone to get involved in student groups and to get involved where you can and where it makes sense."
Featured image at top: Network interconnections. Photo/TheDigitalArtist for Pixabay.
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