Recently, the media studies focus was removed from the communication studies major program. Multiple individuals, including the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, were asked on their thoughts and opinions behind the change.
Comments from the Dean
Gary Schmidt is the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. During his interview with the Wright State Guardian, he was asked about what led to the decision to get rid of the focus.
"So, we have a general process for academic review that we use at the university. And during the last about two years ago, we started a, well, the University started an overall review of programs called Academic Efficiency and Effectiveness," Schmidt explained.
"We looked at numbers of students, numbers of students who graduate (et cetera) in all of our programs to make decisions about what changes to make. And within the college, we also had a lot of meetings with faculty and to talk about possible mergers we could do, or new programs or some closures. And that resulted in several decisions. So, we have not eliminated the media studies focus; [instead, we] have simply been merged in with communication as one major."
Schmidt also discussed if this change is temporary or permanent; ultimately, it seems that the combination of media studies and communication studies will be permanent.
"Keeping media studies and communication [studies] together in one major allows us to count all those students toward that requirement. And so those programs are not then threatened because they don't have enough students in them or are not graduated," Scmidt said.
Student comment and alternative paths
When asked about the media studies focus getting dropped, Greyson Howells, a senior communication studies major, said: “I don't like it. Of course, I have a lot of previous experience with radio stations, so I'm a big fan of public media and public broadcast. I'm supportive of [media studies]."
While Howells and other students may be upset over the major change, there are still ways to get involved with media during your time at WSU.
According to the WSU Website, media studies is still available as a minor, along with health studies and a general communication studies minor. The only major program is for a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies.
"On the communication program, you will study human communication and its influence on business, nonprofits, individuals, groups and organizations. You will develop excellent skills in speaking, writing and critical thinking while studying topics like media, organizational communication and more. You can take the mass communication track and develop skills for a career in public relations, media, journalism or production, or use the communication studies track to prepare yourself for a career in training and development, business, consulting, research or continue with graduate study," the Communication Studies description reads.
Students still interested in media studies can pursue the minor track option. Additionally, there are internships available at the Wright State Guardian and WWSU 106.9 media groups, which can help develop media studies-specific skills.
Interested students should contact the School of Social Sciences and International Studies for questions about the media studies and communication studies program, or the Wright State Guardian or WWSU 106.9 for questions about internships.
Just because the media studies major program has been removed, does not mean there are not still plenty of opportunities to get involved with media studies, both on- and off-campus.
