Mar 28, 2024  
2021-2022 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2021-2022 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:

Jennifer Vardeman

Professors:

Larry Kelley (Instructional), Garth S. Jowett, Jaesub Lee, Lan Ni, Zhiwen Xiao

Associate Professors:

Laura Ashley (Instructional) Lindita Camaj, Hoojoon Choi, Summer Harlow, Keith Houk (Instructional), Beth M. Olson, Jennifer Vardeman, Jill Yamasaki

Assistant Professors:

Allison Archer, Felicitas Baruch, Craig Crowe (Instructional), Sahar Hamzah, Lea Hellmueller, Yan Huang, Hanyoung Kim, Wenlin Liu, Dani Madrid-Morales, Priscilla Tinsley

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 Bachelor of Arts degrees in Communication Studies, Health Communication, Journalism, Media Production, and Strategic Communication.

The Jack J. Valenti School of Communication also offers Master of Arts degrees in Health Communication, Mass Communication, and Public Relations Studies.

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 a degree program in the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication at any time. Students interested in the school but uncertain about a degree program may declare themselves Communication Unspecified (COMM-UN) up to completion of 30 hours. Then they must choose a degree program.

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 a 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 a degree program in the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication 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 1307 , COMM 1303 , COMM 2356  and COMM 4303 .
  2. To take Jack J. Valenti School of Communication courses at the 3000- and 4000-level, students should complete COMM 1307  and COMM 1303 . Majors should complete it in their first 30 hours; transfer students should do so in their first two terms at the university.

Students who enroll for advanced courses without completing the nonadvanced requirement 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 any of the communication degree programs:
    1. Students must achieve a 2.00 cumulative GPA in all courses that count toward the degree with at least a C in each.
    2. No COMM course for a degree (or minor) may be taken more than three times.

Minor in Jack J. Valenti School of Communication Concentrations

Students may minor in any of the school’s concentrations. See the required curriculum linked from the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication overview page in the catalog. 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. A minimum of 18 hours, nine of which must be advanced and nine of which must be in residence, are required for all Communication minors, except for the Film Studies minor which requires 12 advanced hours.

Programs

    MajorMinorInternship and Practical Training