Department of Mass Communication

The mission of the Department of Mass Communication is fully consistent with the published goals of Iona College and the School of Arts and Sciences that highlight the traditions of the Christian Brothers and American Catholic higher education. Accordingly, the Department is committed to balancing the need to graduate majors who possess the requisite skills to succeed in mass communication careers with the need to be faithful to the time-honored, generalist vision of liberal arts. The department faculty believes that a strong humanities and liberal arts education is a far better preparation for a swiftly changing industry than any intensive training in current communication technologies. Additionally, the department recognizes its responsibility to challenge its students to adopt ethical stances in a rapidly changing communication environment and to become critical consumers of media products. Furthermore, the Department’s approach to its majors is personalist rather than institutional as the faculty strives to establish relationships with students that will continue to grow far beyond graduation.

Although a relatively small program, the Mass Communication Department has relatively ambitious aspirations. Advantaged by its close proximity to the mass communication industry opportunities in New York City, a challenging and supportive faculty, and the individual attention that comes with a small school and program, the department aspires to be in the top rank of Mass Communication programs in the Northeast region of the United States. We intend that our students will be well prepared, sought after by the media industry, and deeply proud of their Iona degrees.
Adopted February 2001

In support of these traditions, the Department of Mass Communication promises:

• To provide stimulating and rewarding classroom/learning experiences. Teaching is understood by the department as its single most important responsibility. Therefore, the faculty commits itself to frequent assessments of its teaching, participation in teacher workshops, and training in electronic technologies to enhance classroom performance. The department strives to keep class size small, especially in upper level courses, in order to encourage discussion and to allow for personal attention.

• To provide accurate and timely academic advisement to department majors.

• To provide career advice to our majors by inviting media professionals for visits, by utilizing alumni contacts, by providing quality internship experiences, and by seeking faculty who have had significant mass communication industry experience.

• To provide a reasonable level of training in the technical skills of the mass communication industry while still maintaining the primacy of a liberal arts education. It is expected that an Iona graduate would have skills sufficient for a trouble-free entry into the industry and the ability to rapidly advance.

• To provide our students the skills and insights necessary to become critical consumers of mass communication products.

• To provide education in the legal and ethical aspects of the mass communication industry. Although students are required to take a dedicated media ethics course, it is understood by the department faculty that all courses will have ethical components.

• To recognize its connection to the larger academic community by active faculty involvement in research, and participation in professional organizations. Although teaching is paramount within the department, the faculty understands that research and subsequent publications informs the quality of teaching and enhances the academic respectability of the department.

• To recognize its obligation to respond to campus and community needs by providing departmental expertise in public relations, advertising, television and cable, journalism to those who request such advice and help.

• To pay special attention to those economic, ethnic, and social groups traditionally underrepresented in the mass communication industry. By running workshops for minority students, along with active recruitment of minority faculty, and reaching out to minority students in high school, the department hopes to be faithful to what has historically been the charism of the Christian Brothers and Iona College.

• To maintain links to our alumni with newsletters, and special events.

• To frequently assess and reassess whether department goals as outlined in this mission statement have been met. In particular, the department will pay close attention to suggestions and criticisms from advisory boards, from practitioners in the mass communication industry, from alumni, and from current students.

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