College of Communication and Information

The College of Communication and Information fosters among students a sense of the legal and ethical responsibilities of access to information and the exercise of expression in a democratic society. Additionally, the college serves the professional goals of preparing students for careers in communication and information. The college includes four schools – School of Advertising and Public Relations, School of Communication Studies, School of Information Sciences, and School of Journalism and Electronic Media. Four undergraduate majors are offered – advertising, communication studies, journalism and electronic media, and public relations. The four academic sequences have a core curriculum. This permits specialization at the junior and senior level. Programs for which accrediting is available are fully accredited. The advertising, journalism and electronic media, public relations, and college-wide master’s program are accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Information sciences master’s program is accredited by the American Library Association and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. Exchange programs with the Dutch School of Journalism and Communication, Utrecht, and the Danish School of Journalism, Arthus, offer students an opportunity for a European semester. Tennessee students study European journalism and communication in the Netherlands or Denmark, but maintain their enrollment at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and pay only room, board, and transportation costs. A similar exchange program with Escuela de Comunicacion Monica Herrera in Ecuador also exists. Students also have an opportunity to study abroad as part of a summer study abroad program in Paris or as part of a communication consortium at Paderno del Grappa in Italy. The college, or one of its units, is a member of the Advertising Research Foundation; American Academy of Advertising; American Advertising Federation; American Library Association; Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication; Association of Library and Information Sciences Education; Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication; Broadcast Education Association; National Communication Association; Public Relations Society of America; Society of Professional Journalists; Southern States Communication Association; Special Libraries Association; Tennessee Library Association; and Tennessee Press Association. College Core Areas Students in the Schools of Advertising and Public Relations, Communication Studies, and Journalism and Electronic Media take the following core areas. • Overview/survey • Writing • Theory and research • Free speech, law and ethics Each unit designates a course (or courses) to fulfill the requirements.