THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE

 

FACULTY SENATE

 

Senate Document Number     5805S

 

Date of Senate Approval      04/07/05  

 

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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

 

APC Document 29:                               Increase Credit Hours for Courses in Mass Communication

                                                            and Visual Media Production

 

Effective Date: Fall, 2005.

 

 

1.  Delete:        On pg. 166, entry for MCOM 201

 

     Add:            On pg. 166, in place of deleted entry:

 

201       Newswriting (4)

Gathering and writing information in a fair and accurate manner suitable for presentation in the media. Developing the ability to write under deadline pressure. Course includes writing lab component. Prerequisite: LANG 120. Fall and Spring.

 

 

 

 

2.  Delete:        On pg. 166, entry for MCOM 325

 

     Add:            On pg. 166, in place of deleted entry:

 

325       Opinion Writing (4)

Writing for the mass media. Reviews, editorials, columns, commentaries. Course will include writing lab. Prerequisite: MCOM 201; or permission of instructor. Even years Spring.

 

 

 

 

3.  Delete:        On pg. 167, entry for MCOM 341

 

     Add:            On pg. 167, in place of deleted entry:

 

341       Layout and Design (4)

Introduction to computer design for print media. Software applications for text, photography and graphics. Typography, studies in composition, color, line, page layout and image selection, and cropping. Course includes layout and design lab. Prerequisite: completion of 6 hours in MCOM; or ART 100; or permission of instructor. Fall.

 

 

 

 

4.  Delete:        On pg. 167, entry for MCOM 343

 

     Add:            On pg. 167, in place of deleted entry:

 

343       Communication Strategies in Advertising (4)

Principles and practices of advertising, with emphasis on advertising copy writing, copy testing and research methods, and a consideration of ethical problems. Course includes writing lab workshop. Prerequisites: MCOM majors: MCOM 201 and VMP 207; MGMT majors: MGMT 220; or permission of instructor.  Odd years Fall.

 

 

 

 

5.  Delete:        On pg. 167, entry for MCOM 345

 

     Add:            On pg. 167, in place of deleted entry:

 

345       Public Relations (4)

Principles and practices of public relations, with emphasis on identifying special publics, working with the media and planning of an overall public relations program, all in a context of ethical behavior. Course includes writing lab. Prerequisites: MCOM majors: MCOM 201 and VMP 207; MGMT majors: MGMT 220; or permission of instructor.  Even years Fall.

 

 

 

 

6.  Delete:        On pg. 167, entry for MCOM 367 (LANG 367)

 

     Add:            On pg. 167 in place of deleted entry:

 

367       Magazine Writing Seminar (LANG 367) (4)

A workshop in the writing of essays, articles and other professional non-fiction; planning and gathering material, writing and marketing articles for specialized and general interest publications. Course includes writing lab. Prerequisite: MCOM majors: MCOM 201; or permission of the instructor. See department chair.

 

 

 

7.  Delete:        On pg. 152, entry for LANG 367 (MCOM 367)

 

     Add:            On pg. 152 in place of deleted entry:

 

367       Magazine Writing Seminar (MCOM 367) (4)

A workshop in the writing of essays, articles and other professional non-fiction; planning and gathering material, writing and marketing articles for specialized and general interest publications. Course includes writing lab. Prerequisite: MCOM majors: MCOM 201; or permission of the instructor. See department chair.

 

 

 

8.  Delete:        On pg. 168, entry for MCOM 421

 

     Add:            On pg. 16, in place of deleted entry:

 

421       Public Affairs Reporting (4)

Field practice in newsgathering and writing, covering news beats, including courts, local governments and other news sources. Emphasis on accuracy, clarity and comprehensiveness of reporting. Course includes extensive writing and news gathering assignments. Prerequisite: MCOM 201; or permission of instructor. Odd years Spring.

 

 

 

9.  Delete:        On pg. 169, entry for VMP 331

 

     Add:            On pg. 169, in place of deleted entry:

 

331       Broadcast Journalism (4)

Writing and reporting for radio/television news; basic studies in the history of broadcast journalism; the relationship between images and words. Course includes extensive studio component.  Prerequisites: VMP 207, 209; or permission of instructor. Fall.

 

 

 

 

10.  Delete:      On pg. 169, entry for VMP 333

 

     Add:            On pg. 169, in place of deleted entry:

 

333       Broadcast Workshop (4)

Practical experience producing weekly programming for possible broadcast. Emphasizes management of time pressures and personnel associated with nonfiction broadcast production. Course includes extensive studio component.  Prerequisites: VMP 207, 209; or permission of instructor. Spring.

 

 

 

 

11. Delete:       On pg. 170, entry for VMP 437

 

      Add:           On pg. 170, in place of deleted entry:

 

437       Directing Media Productions (4)

Advanced video and/or film production focusing on the creative, artistic and practical choices made in interpreting and adapting scripts, supervising artistic specialists and managing projects. Course includes extensive laboratory component.  Prerequisites: VMP 207, 209; or permission of instructor. Fall.

 

 

 

12. Delete:       On pg. 170, entry for VMP 439

 

      Add:           On pg. 170, in place of deleted entry:

 

439       Media Production Techniques (4)

Advanced video and/or film production focusing on the creative, artistic and practical uses of camera, light, color and sound. Course includes extensive laboratory component.  Prerequisites: VMP 207, 209; or permission of instructor. Fall.

 

 

 

13. Delete:       On pg. 170, entry for VMP 493

 

      Add:           On pg. 170, in place of deleted entry:

 

493       Field Work In Media Production (4)

Producing short visual media presentations in the field using portable equipment. Course includes extensive field production component.  Prerequisites: VMP 207, 209; or permission of instructor. See department chair.

 

 

Impact: 

The proposed changes, when considered within the whole of this proposal, will increase the requirements for the Mass Communication major by two to four credit hours, from the current 35 hours.  Students interested in visual media production areas will experience the increase to four credits due to necessary prerequisites, while majors more interested in print media and in communication research will see only a two-credit increase. In addition to this major change, prerequisites for two courses, MCOM343 (Advertising) and MCOM345 (Public Relations) have been modified and clarified with the concurrence of the Management Department Chair.  The prerequisite of MGMT 350 for Management majors only was dropped as an unnecessary complication that made it difficult for many Management majors to access the course in a timely manner.

 

Other Programs:

Multimedia Arts and Science majors interested in visual media production may see their curriculum affected by up to 2 credit hours, but only if they pursue the video production option.  The credit hours of many of the MCOM courses recommended for MMAS majors remain unchanged in this proposal. The only necessary changes in the MMAS Curriculum brought about by this proposal are:

 

 

 

 

14.  Delete:      On page 177 under Major and Multmedia Arts and Sciences:

 

I.          Required courses for the major – 39 hours

 

 

       Add:          On page 177 in place of deleted entry:

 

I.          Required courses for the major – 39 to 41 hours

 

 

 

 

15.  Delete:      On page 177 under Major and Multmedia Arts and Sciences:

 

I.  C. Emphasis Areas—select six hours

 

      Add:           On page 177 in place of deleted entry:

 

                        I. C. Emphasis Areas – select six to eight hours

 

 

 

 

16:  Delete:      page 177 under Major and Multmedia Arts and Sciences, I. C. 4:

 

                        Video Production:  MCOM 205 …493.

 

 

       Add:          On page 177 in place of deleted entry:

 

Video Production:  VMP 207 and 209; and either VMP 303, 305 and 307, or one course from MCOM 437, 439 or 493.

 

 

Impact: 

The Mass Communication Department expects to absorb increased credit hours created by these changes through scheduling.   By reorganizing the schedule of offering for Mass Communication courses, and in some cases modifying and re-regularizing the frequency of offerings, we can accommodate the proposed credit increases without additional adjunct faculty.  Because the proposal creates more contact time for craft courses, we hope to see some decrease in equipment abuse and breakage, thus saving some budget in the equipment area.  It should be noted, however, that the Mass Communication Program is growing, and requests for additional resources, rooted in that basis are not out of the question. 

 

Rationale:

We are adding a supervised laboratory component in the form of additional contact hours for each of the courses identified above. The change will provide greater contact hours for faculty and students, many of whom are already putting in the hours unsupervised and without the appropriate credit.  The proposed changes will organize that extra time and distribute faculty assistance more equitably among students in the class.  For the courses with a writing emphasis, the extended time frame allows for a greater emphasis on “deadline-pressure” writing, which is a key technique for journalists.  The expanded time frame also permits more in-depth supervised research of facts.  Faculty will be able to go beyond “telling” students how stories are researched; they will now have the contact time to show the students how these things are done. For the Visual Media Production courses, the extended time frame allows a greater opportunity for students to receive needed attention from faculty on matters of technique.  Instead of simple lecture/demonstration pedagogy, the fourth hour will give faculty the space to supplement lecture and demonstration with supervised hands-on trials of techniques.  Not only will this provide students a more direct learning experience, we are hoping it might even reduce equipment breakage, as students will receive about a 30% increase in supervised instruction.