About

You may have noticed our department images on our website or printed on various promotional items within our department. Each image was the result of a class project and directed independent studies involving many of our COM students. 

Undergraduate Program Image Origin Story 

Dr. Jeanne Persuit and Dr. Rick Olsen '87 were "clients" for an undergraduate class. Teams of students researched our department, other communication studies departments, the discipline itself and other sources for inspiration. 

They prepared mockups of their designs as they would look full color, grayscale, on letterhead, t-shirts and web pages along with extensive rationale for their design choices. They also interviewed the clients to get a sense of what was needed in the design. 

The winning design offers: 

• Five overlapping circles signifying the five canons of rhetoric that are an essential pillar of our department. 
• Eight sub-sections symbolizing the eight core skills we seek to cultivate in our majors along with mastery of the discipline. 

The original winning design was then further refined by Robert Pryce through a directed independent study. He took on the challenge of making the original design "less corporate" as well as figuring out how to layer and animate the design. 

We are quite proud of the image and how well it expresses our department's commitment to both effective communication and whole student development. We are also proud of the process that emphasized student involvement and applied learning. 

Graduate Program Image Origin Story 

Our graduate program logo followed a similar process. Students in our undergraduate Pier601 class, a student-run IMC firm, were given our graduate program as a “client.”

The graduate director, Dr. Jeanne Persuit, offered the basic goals and parameters for the image.  Several designs were offered and evaluated by other professionals and members of our target audiences.

The winning design offered an aesthetically pleasing layered look that can be interpreted as both a wave and a wing.  This connects with both our location and our mascot. We also liked that it was very distinct from our undergraduate image.

The Department of Communication Studies is dedicated to several distinct purposes within the university and the world at large. While primarily grounded in the social sciences, the department also recognizes, embraces, and represents the humanities and liberal arts roots and foundations of its discipline. We also celebrate our many applied areas where theory meets practice.

Integrating Application and Theory

Our primary purpose is to provide our majors with undergraduate and graduate degree programs in which the philosophy, practice, criticism, and study of communication are appropriately emphasized and balanced. Such integration makes our program well suited to preparing our students for both graduate education and professional careers. This commitment is expressed through a wide variety of applied learning opportunities for both our students and faculty.

Whole Person Development

Our commitment is to higher education, and to collaboration with students that is dynamic and interactive. We strive to serve as models of the subjects we teach. As educators, the department values reasoned advocacy, artistic expression, and pragmatic success. We encourage and empower students as responsible communicators equipped to consume, analyze, create, and enact communication ethically and effectively. We intentionally connect the curriculum to holistic personal growth as well as one's growth as a communication specialist.

Learn About The Core Skills

Versatility in Scholarly Activities

We explore all viable research and creative venues that afford scholarly expression. These include texts, articles, broadcast artifacts, digital media products, scripts, performances, convention/conference presentations, workshops, and seminars.

Service to our discipline, college, university, community, and region is also a vital part of our mission. Sharing communication expertise with these publics enhances the department's visibility and credibility. It also helps promote our program as well as the university's general directive.

In sum, we seek to use our knowledge, skills and talents to help students become all they can be as people and communication specialists during their time with us.

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