Mar 29, 2024  
2015-2016 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2015-2016 Undergraduate Catalog [Not Current Academic Year. Consult with Your Academic Advisor for Your Catalog Year]

Jack J. Valenti School of Communication


Colleges  > College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences  > Jack J. Valenti School of Communication

 


Who’s Who in the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication

Director:
Temple Northup, Interim

Professors:
William Douglas, Garth S. Jowett 

Associate Professors:
Martha J. Haun, Jaesub Lee, Lan Ni, Temple Northup, Beth M. Olson, Frederick A. Schiff, Jennifer Vardeman-Winter

Assistant Professors:
Laura Ashley (Instructional), Deborah Bridges (Instructional), Suzanne Buck (Instructional), Lindita Camaj, Hoojoon Choi, Erica Ciszek, Craig Crowe (Instructional), Julie B. Fix (Instructional), Catherine Burch Graham (Instructional), Keith Houk (Instructional), Larry Kelley (Instructional), Randy Polk (Instructional), Cyrus Saatsaz (Instructional), Zhiwen Xiao, Jill Yamasaki

Degrees and Majors

The Jack J. Valenti School of Communication strives to produce graduates who are broadly educated, ethical, technologically proficient, literate in the media of communication and able to assume leadership roles in the information age.

By stressing the study and the practice of communication in an urban environment, the school prepares students for lifetime careers in which they will shape, analyze, respond to, and work in the fields of communication. Students will acquire verbal, literate, numerate, visual, and social communication competencies through a combination of academic and professional experiences in an area of concentration selected by each student.

Professional internships are a key element in the broad education students may receive through the school. Students may qualify in their junior and senior years by meeting grade point requirements and completing relevant course work.

The Jack J. Valenti School of Communication offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication with concentrations in advertising, corporate communication, health communication, integrated communication, interpersonal communication, journalism, media production, media studies, and public relations.

The Jack J. Valenti School of Communication also offers the Master of Arts degree in communication with emphases in public relations, health communication, mass communication studies and speech communication.

For more information about admission to the graduate programs, requirements for the degrees and course listings, consult the school’s Director of Graduate Studies and refer to the Graduate and Professional Studies catalog.

General Requirements for the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication

Students in good academic standing may declare communication as their major and select a concentration at any time. Students interested in the school but uncertain about a concentration may declare themselves Communication Unspecified (COMM-UN) up to completion of 30 hours. Then they must choose a concentration.

To declare a major in the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication a student must have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.25 or higher on minimum of 12 semester hours at UH.

  • A transfer student or UH non-communication student with 15-60 semester hours of college credit who wants to declare communication as major must have a 2.25 or higher cumulative grade point average, including any attempted transfer courses.
  • Applicants who have completed more than 60 semester hours of college credit need a 2.25 or higher cumulative grade point average on the last 60 hours.
  • Transfer students who have earned fewer than 15 semester hours of college credit must meet freshman admission requirements.

All undergraduate majors in the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication must complete, with a GPA of at least 2.00, 12 semester hours as follows:

  1. COMM 1301 , COMM 1302 , COMM 2300 , and 4303 .
  2. To take Jack J. Valenti School of Communication courses at the 3000- and 4000-level, students should complete the three lower level courses required of all Communication majors, COMM 1301 , COMM 1302 , COMM 2300 . Majors should complete them in their first 60 hours; transfer students should do so in their first two semesters at the university.

Students who enroll (register) for advanced courses without completing the nonadvanced requirements may be dropped by the instructor or the school. Neither the school nor the instructor will be responsible for tuition refunds.

  1. To graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in communication:
    1. Students must achieve a 2.00 cumulative GPA in all courses that count toward the major with at least a C in each.
    2. No COMM course for major (or minor) may be retaken more than twice.

Minor in Jack J. Valenti School of Communication Concentrations

Students may minor in any of the school’s concentrations. For Advertising, Health Communication and Public Relations, see the required curriculum linked from the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication overview page in the catalog. For the Corporate Communication, Integrated Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Journalism, Media Production and Media Studies minors, students must complete COMM 1301  and COMM 1302 , plus 12 COMM hours in the concentration, of which nine must be advanced and nine must be in residence. Consult an advisor about courses to take.  Students must have a 2.00 GPA for all courses attempted in the minor at the University of Houston, with at least a C in each course.

List of Concentrations for the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication

Programs

    MajorMinor