The Department of Communication offers a diverse academic program which shares the common mission of fostering the intellectual and social skills necessary for effective human communication. The department’s focus is on oral, written, and visual communication skills which are the basis for competency in both academic and non-academic communication professions.

The department is also a resource for the university’s mission to cultivate among all of its students the ability to think in creative and critical ways and to communicate effectively the results of such thinking. Committed to a belief in the essential role of communication in preserving democratic human communities, the Department of Communication strives:

• to maintain currency in communication technology
• to maintain currency in course material
• to offer a wide range of pedagogical approaches
• to cultivate research and problem-solving skills
• to provide experiential learning opportunities
• to show how communication effectiveness is related to understanding and appreciating cultural diversity
• to foster the values of both free and responsible expression
• to foster the value of reason