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.

Core Courses
COMM 10100FOUNDATIONS OF PUBLIC COMMUN4
COMM 30000HUMAN COMMUNICATION THEORY4
COMM 40100RESEARCH & CAREER DEVELOPMENT3
COMM 48000SENIOR SEMINAR4
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 Hours37-43

Pathway

Plan of Study Grid
First Year
Fall 12 WeekHours
UCS 10101 FIRST-YEAR ENDURING QUESTIONS 4
Hiram Core Requirement 4
Hiram Core Requirement 4
 Hours12
Fall 3 Week
COMM XXXXXCommunication Elective 3
 Hours3
Spring 12 Week
COMM 10100 FOUNDATIONS OF PUBLIC COMMUN 1 4
UCS 20201 ADDRESSING URGENT QUESTIONS 4
Hiram Core Requirement 4
 Hours12
Spring 3 Week
COMM XXXXX Communication Elective 3
 Hours3
Second Year
Fall 12 Week
COMM XXXXXCommunication Elective 4
Hiram Core Requirement 4
Elective, Second Major, or Minor Course 4
 Hours12
Fall 3 Week
Hiram Core Requirement 3-4
 Hours3-4
Spring 12 Week
COMM XXXXX Communication Elective 4
COMM XXXXXCommunication Elective 4
Hiram Core Requirement or Elective 4
 Hours12
Spring 3 Week
Elective, Second Major, or Minor Course 3-4
 Hours3-4
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 XXXXXCommunication Elective 4
WRIT XXXXXProgram Writing Requirement 2 4
 Hours16
Fall 3 Week
Elective, Second Major, or Minor Course 3-4
 Hours3-4
Spring 12 Week
COMM XXXXXCommunication Elective 4
Hiram Core Requirement or Elective 4
Hiram Core Requirement or Elective 4
 Hours12
Spring 3 Week
Hiram Core Requirement or Elective 3-4
 Hours3-4
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
 Hours12
Fall 3 Week
COMM 40100 RESEARCH & CAREER DEVELOPMENT 3
 Hours3
Spring 12 Week
COMM 48000 SENIOR SEMINAR 4
Internship (Optional but strongly recommended) 4
Elective, Second Major, or Minor Course 4
 Hours12
Spring 3 Week
Elective, Second Major, or Minor Course 3-4
 Hours3-4
 Total Hours124-129
1

"Critical'' to timely degree progression.

2

A writing course at the 20000-level or above or a communication course designated as “writing.”