Degree Requirements
All students are required to complete overall degree requirements in addition to their major. Please see Degree Completion Requirements for full details for students entering in the 2024-2025 catalog year.
Those students who started at Hiram prior to the 2024-2025 academic year will follow the Degree Requirements outlined in your catalog of record.
Major Requirements
Students may only double major in two disciplines from the Scarborough School of Business & Communication with permission from the program faculty. Students must develop a proposal to outline how they will achieve breadth of knowledge in the two disciplines chosen.
The communication program offers a major requiring ten courses and one correlative course defined below. All four core courses are required and must be completed in sequential order. Students must earn a C- or better in COMM 10100 FOUNDATIONS OF PUBLIC COMMUN and COMM 30000 HUMAN COMMUNICATION THEORY and maintain a minimum grade-point average of 2.0 for all communication courses to progress in the major. See the Communication Overview page for additional information.
Core Courses in the Major
The senior sequence of the two 40000-level courses constitutes the capstone sequence, which encourages students to explore critical issues in the discipline and further refine their communication skills in the context of a senior seminar.
Elective Courses in the Major
Students are to complete a minimum of four courses from one of the following three areas of concentration (i.e., health communication, public relations, or sports communication) and a minimum of two additional COMM courses outside their concentration for a total of six elective courses. Of the minimum four courses required for each concentration, only one course can be from another program outside of communication. Students also have the option to build their own concentration in consultation with a communication faculty member.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | ||
| COMM 10100 | FOUNDATIONS OF PUBLIC COMMUN | 4 |
| COMM 30000 | HUMAN COMMUNICATION THEORY | 4 |
| COMM 40100 | RESEARCH & CAREER DEVELOPMENT | 3 |
| COMM 48000 | SENIOR SEMINAR | 4 |
| Elective Courses | ||
| Select a minimum of four courses from one of the following three concentrations, and a minimum of two additional courses outside of your chosen concentration: | 19-24 | |
| Health Communication Concentration | ||
| INTRO TO HEALTH COMMUNICATION (Required Course) | ||
Select three of the following elective courses: | ||
| INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION:CA | ||
| GROUP INTERACTION PROCESSES | ||
| FAMILY COMMUNICATION:CA | ||
| NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION:CA | ||
| ARGUMENTATION AND ADVOCACY | ||
| COMMUN BETWEEN CULTURES:EW | ||
| ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION | ||
| GENDER COMMUNICATION:CA | ||
| PERSUASION AND ATTITUDE CHANGE | ||
| INTERCULTURAL HLTHCRE COMM:UD | ||
| PERSONAL COMM HEALTH P12:ES | ||
| NUTRITION AND FITNESS | ||
| INTRO TO PUBLIC HEALTH:UD | ||
| Public Relations Concentration | ||
| PUBLIC RELATIONS (Required Course) | ||
Select three of the following elective courses: | ||
| DIGITAL IMAGING:CM | ||
| ARGUMENTATION AND ADVOCACY | ||
| MEDIA LAW & ETHICS:ES | ||
| SURVEY OF JOURNALISM | ||
| PRINCIPLES OF ADVERTISING | ||
| SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATION | ||
| VISUAL COMMUNICATION I | ||
| ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION | ||
| PERSUASION AND ATTITUDE CHANGE | ||
| ENV CONFLICT MGMT:UD | ||
| PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING:CA | ||
| Sports Communication Concentration | ||
| SPORTS JOURNALISM (Required Course) | ||
Select three of the following elective courses: | ||
| DIGITAL IMAGING:CM | ||
| MEDIA LAW & ETHICS:ES | ||
| SURVEY OF JOURNALISM | ||
| MASS MEDIA AND SOCIETY | ||
| VISUAL COMMUNICATION I | ||
| SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATION | ||
| FUNDAMTLS DIGITAL PHOTO:CM | ||
| FITNESS & HEALTH PROMO/MGMT | ||
| SPORT/EXERCISE/PERFORM PSYC | ||
| General Elective Courses | ||
| ORAL INTERPRETATION OF LIT:CM | ||
| MEDIA AND MULTICULTURALISM:UD | ||
| Correlative Courses | ||
| Students are required to complete one writing course at the 20000-level or above (e.g. COMM 24000, 24600, WRIT 20500, 22100, 31100, 31300, etc.) | 3-4 | |
| If a communication course is selected to fulfill the writing requirement, it cannot also be counted as one of the six courses required for communications concentration. | ||
| Total Hours | 37-43 | |
Pathway
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall 12 Week | Hours | |
| UCS 10101 | FIRST-YEAR ENDURING QUESTIONS | 4 |
| Hiram Core Requirement | 4 | |
| Hiram Core Requirement | 4 | |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Fall 3 Week | ||
| COMM XXXXX | Communication Elective | 3 |
| Hours | 3 | |
| Spring 12 Week | ||
| COMM 10100 | FOUNDATIONS OF PUBLIC COMMUN 1 | 4 |
| UCS 20201 | ADDRESSING URGENT QUESTIONS | 4 |
| Hiram Core Requirement | 4 | |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Spring 3 Week | ||
| COMM XXXXX | Communication Elective | 3 |
| Hours | 3 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall 12 Week | ||
| COMM XXXXX | Communication Elective | 4 |
| Hiram Core Requirement | 4 | |
| Elective, Second Major, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Fall 3 Week | ||
| Hiram Core Requirement | 3-4 | |
| Hours | 3-4 | |
| Spring 12 Week | ||
| COMM XXXXX | Communication Elective | 4 |
| COMM XXXXX | Communication Elective | 4 |
| Hiram Core Requirement or Elective | 4 | |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Spring 3 Week | ||
| Elective, Second Major, or Minor Course | 3-4 | |
| Hours | 3-4 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Fall 12 Week | ||
| UCS 30301 | URGENT CHALLENGE SEMINAR:TT | 4 |
| COMM 30000 | HUMAN COMMUNICATION THEORY (only offered in the fall semester) 1 | 4 |
| COMM XXXXX | Communication Elective | 4 |
| WRIT XXXXX | Program Writing Requirement 2 | 4 |
| Hours | 16 | |
| Fall 3 Week | ||
| Elective, Second Major, or Minor Course | 3-4 | |
| Hours | 3-4 | |
| Spring 12 Week | ||
| COMM XXXXX | Communication Elective | 4 |
| Hiram Core Requirement or Elective | 4 | |
| Hiram Core Requirement or Elective | 4 | |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Spring 3 Week | ||
| Hiram Core Requirement or Elective | 3-4 | |
| Hours | 3-4 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Fall 12 Week | ||
| Elective, Second Major, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Elective, Second Major, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Elective, Second Major, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Fall 3 Week | ||
| COMM 40100 | RESEARCH & CAREER DEVELOPMENT | 3 |
| Hours | 3 | |
| Spring 12 Week | ||
| COMM 48000 | SENIOR SEMINAR | 4 |
| Internship (Optional but strongly recommended) | 4 | |
| Elective, Second Major, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Spring 3 Week | ||
| Elective, Second Major, or Minor Course | 3-4 | |
| Hours | 3-4 | |
| Total Hours | 124-129 | |
- 1
"Critical'' to timely degree progression.
- 2
A writing course at the 20000-level or above or a communication course designated as “writing.”