Nearly 100 students could be switching to the School of Communications without changing their majors. In the foreseeable future, advertising majors from the School of Business and interactive digital design (IDD) majors from the College of Arts and Sciences may be the newest additions to Quinnipiac’s growing School of Communications.
Dean of the School of Communications Lee Kamlet expects this impending modification to greatly benefit these programs.
“We believe that we might be able to boost enrollment and student interest in those programs by moving them into the School of Communications,” Kamlet said, “Those programs are more closely aligned with the kinds of programs we offer.”
The advertising curriculum is nearly identical to that of marketing in the School of Business. However, Dean Kamlet says this change will add several “creative” elements to the curriculum such as website design and mobile platform design.The advertising major may also soon be called integrated communication, which has become an increasingly popular choice for many schools around the country.
Lea Herlihy, a sophomore media studies and marketing double major says that it makes sense for advertising and IDD to move to the School of Communications.
“I think that advertising kind of deals with communications in a way because it pertains to it,” Herlihy said. “I think IDD can be geared toward communications. It’s business-y also, but I think that they kind of coincide with one another, so they can work together for the same purpose.”
Online and technology-oriented advertising has become more and more prevalent as the presence of digital media continues to become more ubiquitous. The IDD discipline is also furthered by this universally expanding field, according to Dean Kamlet. As a result, careers in communications have become much more demanding. He describes the broad array of skills that are required of people entering these professions.
“They need to know how to write effectively, shoot and edit video, manage web pages and social media, and know how to work in the ‘digital space,’” Kamlet said. “They need to know how to differentiate the kind of content that is best suited to the TV vs. tablet computers versus smartphones.”
Freshman IDD major and aspiring web designer Christine O’Connor thinks her major should remain in the College of Arts and Sciences.
“I feel like there are less options for me personally,” she said. “I like the fact that it’s in Arts and Sciences because there’s such a wide variety in that and I feel like you could go with more. Communications, it’s more video and I think [IDD is] better in Arts and Sciences.”
In spite of that, this change will be beneficial to graduates looking for employment, Kamlet said.
“We would be able to broaden the array of skills available to our students, and thus enhance their job prospects when they graduate,” Kamlet said.
Kamlet stressed this adjustment is only under consideration at this point and would require numerous levels of approval from the university and the State of Connecticut before it could be implemented.
“This is in the very preliminary stages,” Kamlet said. “There are many hurdles to clear before we can get this up and running.”
Despite these current state of the decision, this change could be advantageous for all students involved, he said.
“We think that this has the potential to greatly benefit students and provide new growth for the School of Communications, and for the majors involved,” Kamlet said.
