Director's message
Hello, and welcome to the website of the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University. This is your online portal to the school, and we hope you enjoy the time you spend here getting to know us.
The School of Mass Communications, founded in 1971, is one of the largest units of the College of Humanities and Sciences. We offer a professional undergraduate education — not just training — in an environment that values the strong foundation of liberal arts and sciences so necessary for professional communicators. Whether our students choose concentrations in journalism (with further specialization in print or broadcast), advertising or public relations, they share a common core of course work in the liberal arts and sciences as well as in mass communications before they begin their major focus. And the students at the BrandCenter, our renowned graduate program in advertising, are courted for employment by some of the most creative, cutting-edge advertising agencies in the country, because we are unique in offering a rigorous graduate degree that is combined with the portfolio-school approach to advertising education.
Our students graduate ready to go to work. They have completed internships and been involved in course-related activities in which they have produced materials for real audiences: our student-produced television show, VCU InSight; our student-staffed Capital News Service; and the campaigns our advertising and public relations students plan and often implement for real clients. Many also have worked with campus student media.
Our student population also is one of the most diverse in the country among mass communications programs: 36 percent of our students are ethnic and/or racial minorities and 64 percent are women.
One of the reasons our students are so prepared for the workplace is our faculty: 20 full-time faculty members and a roster of more than 25 part-time faculty members — all of whom are working professionals who bring a wealth of academic and professional preparation to the classroom and the lab. All of our faculty have professional work experience, and many also are recognized scholars in their fields. Because they maintain strong ties to the communication industries, our faculty ensures that our curricula reflect “best practices.”
More than 4,600 alumni contribute every day to the communication professions and to the school’s reputation — as reporters, editors, directors, producers, account executives, creative directors and public relations managers. They form a strong support network for our students and new graduates, mentoring and easing their entry into the full-time workforce.
Whether you are a prospective or current student, a parent, an alumnus, or a communications practitioner, I hope you’ll find the information here you want and need. I hope you’ll be excited by what you view, and that you’ll visit us in person to see the School of Mass Communications for yourself!
Dr. Judy VanSlyke Turk
Director