enate ............................. .From Office .of the De 

?

.?. Graduate Stud' 

Su6jec0P0sed Graduate Calendar Changes - 

?

Date November 20, 1979 

f áàtIo........... 

Curriculum Changes. 

MOTION: 

?

That Senate approve the attached proposed 

• Graduate Calendar changes in the Department 

of Communications 

These changes were approved by the Senate Graduate Studies 

Committee on November 19, 1979. 

Bryan P. Beirne 

Dean of Graduate Studies. 

mm!

attach. 

To

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Dr. Roger Blackman, Associate Dean, 

Faculty 

..... . 

of

.... 

Graduate 

Studies 

From Robert S. Anderson, Chairman of Graduate 

Studies, 

Department of Communication 

Date ? 

November 13, 1979 

Here is the revised Graduate Calendar entry for this Department, as 

requested by the Executive Committee on November 

5,

1979. 

Note that reference to Co-operative Education has been deleted, and 

that the phrase "five courses totalling at least 20 credit hours at the 

graduate level" clarifies 

.

a query raised in Committee. 

Thank you. 

RSA:].ch 

?

Robert S. Anderson 

'cc M. McGinn, Registrar's Office 

£-t6 

M.

McGinn,Assistant Registrar, 

?

Calvert, Dean, 

...................Graduate ..... 

......................Faculty of InterdisciplinaryStudies 

Changes         

?

October 12, 1979 

At its meeting on October 11, 1979,. the Faculty of Interdisciplinary 

Studies Graduate Studies Committee approved the following items from the 

Department of Communication: 

(1)

M.A. degree requirements changed to 5 courses from 20 hours. 

(2)

Two or more extended essays can be substituted for a thesis. 

(3)

Change in timing of establishment of supervisory committee. 

The other . changes in calendar material were deemed to be editorial. 

T. W. Calvert 

TWC: lch 

cc R. Anderson 

COMMUNICATION 

•

?

The Study of communication has recently emerged as an identified 

academic discipline. At the same time, a number of the traditional 

disciplines in the social sciences, the humanities, and the natural 

sciences employ communicational approaches in various areas. Cominunica- 

tional perspectives are also becoming prominent in the professions, 

notably in law, community medicine 

.

, counselling, and mental health, as 

well as in business administration and labour education. As a social 

science, communication is distinctively trans-disciplinary. 

The Department has drawn on a number of perspectives, but is most readily 

distinguished by the fact that it treats communication as a humanistic 

social science, and is concerned with the contexts within which information - 

in all its diverse forms - is created, coded, communicated, and controlled. 

This approach is designed to provide students with wide opportunities to 

explore both communication theory and communication practice, as well as 

the relationship between the two. It encourages the concrete application 

of theory and research to modern society - its historical origins, its 

dominant values, its institutions and policies, its present structure, its 

current problems and its potential for change. 

A. AREAS OF STUDY AND RESEARCH 

Present faculty resources provide for graduate studies in the following 

general areas of interest. Students may wish to specialize in one or 

more of these general areas, or to select related aspects from two or 

more: 

2

I. Theoretical and Methodological Foundations in Communication. 

2. Interpersonal and 

Organizational 

Communication. 

3, Communication Media and Telecommunication 

4.

Policy Studies in Communication. 

5.

Critical Analysis of the Media. 

6.' Sound and Video. 

7.

Communication and Development. 

8.

Communication, History,. Social Change and Community. 

RESEARCH AND TRAINING FACILITIES 

1. Teleconuunicatjons Research Group. 

2.; Sonic Research Studio. 

3.

Communication Laboratory. 

4.

Video, Audio and Other Facilities. 

5..

D

ocumentation Centre. 

THE DEGREE PROGRAM 

A. ADMISSION 

Admission requirements for the M.A. program will or    

?

include 

holding a Bachelor's degree in Communication (with at least a good 

second-class standing); or an equivalent degree' in an interdisciplinary 

or humanities program, in one of the social sciences, or in a 

socially-oriented 

information, systems, or b•iologioa]. science. However, 

qualified students will only be accepted into the Departmental degree 

B.

3

programs if the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee finds that a 

suitable thesis supervisor is available. Besides applications from 

students in communication, the Department also encourages applications 

from students with experience in the humanities, in the social or 

biological sciences, and in interdisciplinary studies. 

1. Admission to the M.A. Program: 

All applicants should be directed to the Graduate Studies Committee 

and, in addition to general University 

r

equirements, should include: 

a.

A succinct statement of interests and goals, together with an 

account of relevant academic and persona], background. 

b.

Two samples of scholarly and/or other written work relevant to 

the applicant's objectives, and in addition, any tapes, films, 

etc. the applicant considers relevant. 

Applicants may arrange for an interview with the Graduate Studies 

Committee. Travel expenses will not be reimbursed. 

2. Exceptions and Deadlines: 

Applicants are directed to descriptions of "Special Arrangements" 

(3.4), "Qualifying" (3.5), and "Special" (3.6) admissions in the 

Graduate Calendar. Students will normally be expected to enter the 

Program in the Fall Semester, Under normal circumstances, the 

deadline for applications for the Fall Semester is February 15. 

The Committee will announce its decisions to applicants in the 

first week of April. Under special circumstances, application 

will be considered for the Spring Semester, in which case the 

deadline is September 15. 

is

4

B.

ADVISING AND SUPERVISION 

Students are advised to read Section 6 of the University general 

regulations and the Departmental terms of reference for supervisory 

committees. 

C.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS FOR AN M.A. 

Candidates . 

for the Master's degree normally satisfy the following 

requirements: 

1. Course work 

of five courses totalling at least 20 credit 

hours at the graduate level (normally completed before beginning a 

thesis, a project or extended essays) which must include the 

following: 

a.

One of CMNS 800-5, 801-5 or 802-5. 

b.

Four additional courses, at least two of which are to be 

selected within the Department and may include courses 

designated in (a) above. A maximum of two courses may be 

Directed Studies. No more than one course of Directed 

Studies or Special Topics may be completed with the same 

instructor except by permission of the Chairperson of the 

Department. 

2. a. An original thesis; or 

b. An original project, which because of content or method, does 

not conform to the usual definition of a thesis; or 

Extended essays: at least two extended essays in the form of 

research papers to be submitted and defended orally. These 

. ?

Papers will be bound and deposited in the University Library. 

Procedures used in the supervision and examination of extended 

essays are the same as those used for theses. 

3. Supervision: 

a.

A Supervisory Committee should normally be approved by the 

Graduate Studies Committee before the end of the second semester. 

b.

Formal Review: No later than the semester in which course work 

is completed, candidates for the Master's degree will have 

• their thesis/project/essay: proposals formally reviewed, and 

the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee will be advised 

of the outcome of the review. 

(