School of Communication and Journalism

A group of people sitting in chairs talking.

Joshua Westwick, Director
Rebecca A. Kuehl, Associate Director
School of Communication and Journalism
Yeager Hall 211, Box 2235
605-688-4171

Faculty

Professors

Jenn Anderson, Rocky Dailey, Karla Hunter, Rebecca A. Kuehl, Joshua Westwick

Associate Professor of Practice

Heather Solberg

Assistant Professors

Shola Aromona, Hayden Barber, Andrea Carlile, Hyesoo Chang, Marina Hendricks, Erica Summerfield

Assistant Professors of Practice

James Helland, Frank Robertson

Senior Lecturer

Mary Jo Nesmith

Emeritus

Mary Arnold, Charles Cecil, Jack Getz, Laurie Haleta, Joel Hefling, Jerry Jorgensen, Roxanne Lucchesi, Lyle Olson, Mary Perpich, James Paulson, Michael Schliessmann

Overview

The School of Communication and Journalism fosters the development of exemplary communicators as industry leaders, scholars, professionals, and educators through innovative curricula, research, practice, and opportunities.

Programs

Majors

Minors

Advertising Minor
Communication Studies Minor
Digital and Social Media Minor
Health Communication Minor
Journalism Minor
Marketing Minor (offered jointly with the Ness School of Management and Economics )
Professional Communication Minor (offered jointly with School of English and Interdisciplinary Studies )
Public Relations Minor

Graduate Programs*

Communication and Media Studies (M.A.)
Mass Communication (M.M.C.)

* Graduate degrees are offered in collaboration with the Graduate School. For details, see the Graduate Catalog.

Advanced Placement in Oral Communication

All students are required to take a designated oral communication course for graduation; however, those with previous training and experience in speech may apply to the school to take an advanced placement course in Communication Studies and earn credit for CMST 101 - Foundations of Communication (COM) [SGR #2, HSDC] concurrently. The disposition of the application for advanced placement rests with the Professional Academic Advisor.

Facilities and Services

The School of Communication and Journalism’s main office is in Yeager Hall, the former Printing and Rural Journalism Building renamed in recognition of the contributions of Anson and Ada May Yeager. Mr. Yeager was the longtime editor of the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls. Newly remodeled classrooms enhance teaching space in the modern educational facility. The second floor of Yeager Hall includes a conference room, a reading room, a student lounge known as The Den, and individual offices. Communication Studies faculty offices are in the Pugsley Continuing Education Center. In the future, all faculty offices will be in Yeager Hall.

Student Support and Engagement Opportunities

Students are invited to participate in one of the student organizations that faculty in the school advise:

Advertising Club
Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow
The Collegian
KSDJ
Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA)

Jackrabbits Forensics - Opportunities are provided for participation in SDSU’s nationally recognized intercollegiate forensics (competitive speech and debate) program. Local, regional, and national participation is sponsored. Activities include debate, public speaking, and oral interpretation in contests, workshops, and public performances. Any regularly enrolled undergraduate student is eligible to participate. University credit may be earned regardless of major. For more information, contact Dr. Andrea Carlile, Director of Forensics.

Being involved in a student organization is a great way to spend time with other students in the school, promote activities on campus, and gain leadership skills. The school also has four honor societies/organizations for qualified students: Alpha Delta Sigma (Advertising), Kappa Tau Alpha (Journalism), Lambda Pi Eta (Communication Studies), and Pi Kappa Delta (Forensics).