Nicholson School of Communication
Coursework: the 80/65 Rule
The Nicholson School of Communication is moving toward accreditation by the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC). The process can take several years, and the School is implementing policies that will enable it to satisfy ACEJMC's nine standards. A major part of complying with accreditation involves a rule that encourages students to obtain a broad, liberal arts education. Students must:
- Take no more than 40 credit hours in the School of Communication, including internships and independent studies.
- Complete a minimum of 80 hours outside the School of Communication (general education classes count)
- 65 of the 80 hours must be in the Liberal Arts. (See Liberal Arts Courses for more information).
Students who complete more than 40 hours in the major or in the School will be required to take extra courses in the Liberal Arts.
Note on Ad/PR major classes: Do try to take your Advertising/Public Relations classes toward the end of your academic career. You want to build momentum your last semesters here, and not be finishing with electives. Following is a template you can use as a guideline.
Junior Year
| Fall | Spring |
|---|---|
| ADV 3008 Principles of Advertising | COM 3110 Business and Professional Comm |
| PUR 4000 Intro to Public Relations |
MMC 3420 Mass Media Research Methods or COM 3311 Communication Research Methods |
|
MMC 3200 Mass Communication Law or PUR 4203 Ad/PR Law and Ethics |
Summer
| Summer |
|---|
| Internship |
Senior Year
| Fall | Spring |
|---|---|
| PUR 3100 Writing for PR | Elective: COM 3001 Visual Communication or Elective: PUR 4110C PR Publications |
| ADV 4101 Advertising Copywriting | MMC 4411 Ad/PR Campaigns |
|
Elective: PUR 4801 PR Case Studies or Elective: ADV 4300 Media Planning or Elective: ADV 4103 Radio-TV Advertising |
|
| Elective: Internship | Elective: Internship |
The Ad/PR program requires 33 hours of coursework. You can see the current list of courses in the template provided in this hotsheet (see Coursework: the 80/65 rule ) and on the Web site: http://www.catalog.sdes.ucf.edu/current/degree_programs/advertising_public_relations/ In addition to the classes listed in the catalog, we offer some electives.
Electives (max of four, or 12 hours):
- PUR 4801 PR Case Studies
- ADV 4103 RTV Advertising
- PUR 4110C PR Publications
- ADV 4300 Media Planning
- VIC 3001 Visual Communication (Sp 10)
*ADV or PUR 4941 Internship (can be repeated for 0 credit)
Notes: COM 3311 Communication Research Methods has a statistics pre-requisite that will prevent you from registering yourself for the course. If you want this class and don't have the stats pre-requisite, see Jane Ingalls (407 823-5688, jingalls@mail.ucf.edu) in NSC 143 office and she will register you for it.
MMC 3200 Mass Comm Law has two pre-requisites that most Ad/PR majors do not take as part of the General Education program. If you want this class and don't have the stats pre-requisite, see Jane Ingalls (407 823-5688, jingalls@mail.ucf.edu) in NSC 143 and she'll register you.
PUR 4110C has a pre-requisite of PUR 3100 and requires a purchase of the Adobe Creative Suite (v3) software, available from the UCF Computer Store for $199.
