The dean of the College of Communication said internships will still be a part of the student experience, despite last year’s internship coordinator’s position cut.

“There never was a question that internships would go away or that there would even be a diminishing of an internship program in the College of Communication,” CCOM Dean Gary Edgerton said.

CCOM lost its internship coordinator at the end of the spring 2012 academic semester.

Ed Kanis, an instructor in the strategic communication program of CCOM, worked as the first point of contact for CCOM students looking for internships.

The loss of the internship coordinator position worried CCOM students, who depend on real-world experience of internships for their future careers.

“I was a little worried because I still feel like I need guidance in that area,” Shelby Long, senior communication studies major, said.

During her time at Butler, Long has worked a marketing internship at Huntington Bank and a news reporting internship with WISH-TV in Indianapolis.

She discovered both opportunities through Kanis.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a taste of the real world,” Long said.  “It’s encouraged me to look for further opportunities for networking.  I made a lot of good connections through my internships.”

In response to student concerns, Gary Edgerton, dean of CCOM, said he understands the value of internships.

“Communication and its various specialty areas lend themselves to internships,” Edgerton said.

Nancy Whitmore, director of the journalism program, said in an email that internships would now be handled by the program directors of the six program areas in CCOM.

These areas are communication sciences and disorders; creative media and entertainment; journalism; media, rhetoric and culture; organizational communication and leadership; and strategic communications.

This is similar to how the internship program ran prior to June 2010.

“Whatever helps students get into the real world through internships is good,” Long said.  “I’m glad the directors are helping.”

From increasing the number of local and regional internships to looking at possible international opportunities, the college is hoping to expand internship opportunities for CCOM students in the near future.

The college is currently working to solicit ideas and make plans for an improved format to the internship program for the spring semester.

Last year, 59 CCOM students had internships.  Edgerton hopes to see that number eventually hit 100 per year.

“The number of internships that are relevant for communication students is really vast,” Edgerton said.  “We hope to make all those opportunities available to our students.”

Long said she would like to see this growth in the future even though she graduates in December.

“It’s hard to tell the future because I graduate early, but I just hope that if I were to come back, maybe in May, I’d see growth in that area,” Long said. “Students can be assured that the internship program has continued,” Edgerton said.  “It is still strong and healthy.  In the future it will grow to become more ambitious.  That’s what we’re working toward.”

Photo by Rachel Anderson

The College of Communication is undergoing changes this year to help students be competitive in the job market.

This has caused Butler University community members to disscuss how these changes impact students.

Journalism Convergence
Journalism now combines print, digital and broadcast into one major, instead of separate majors for electronic journalism and print journalism.

Senior political science and journalism  major Katie Day said she finds the changes to be inconvenient.

Day said she feels like the administration is phasing out her major and are making it harder for her to schedule classes.

“It is a pain in the butt,” Day said. “But, in the long run, I am sure it will maybe be good in helping students compete in the job market by making Butler more competitive.”

Journalism professor Scott Bridge said the change is beneficial.

“In this day and age, print reporters need to know how to shoot and edit video, and broadcast reporters need to know how to write stories,” Bridge said. “So you learn a new skill which makes you more marketable, which is what we hope to do.”

Bridge said he thinks eventually there will be a convergence of journalism and public relations.

“In the future I think there will be a possible mix of journalism and PR,” Bridge said.

“I have seen that many graduates with a journalism degree [from Butler] are going into PR. Many do this because they may want to have more regular hours instead of a career in journalism where the hours are less set.”

Associate dean of the College of Communication Ann Savage said the changes were made to the major to reflect changes in the field.

New Majors
This year, public relations and advertising is a new major that combines three previous majors: public relations, integrated communications and public and corporate communication.

Interim Dean of the College of Communication Bill Neher said students under this new major will gain the same skills as previous students.

“Students will receive the same skills, but it will not be divided into three different majors,” Neher said. “It is always advantageous when it is not split into three different sections.”

Media, rhetoric and culture is also a new major taught by professors who were formerly part of the communication studies department and the media arts department.

Instructor Casey Kelly said he welcomes the changes.

“For me there are two things I find exciting from the development of the media, rhetoric and culture major,” Kelly said.

“The first thing is that many professors in both departments taught the same things but did not get a chance to work together on ideas which has changed since it is one major. The other point is that it has exposed more students to my classes which has a lot of benefits because now there are more people cooperating on projects that have relevance to both majors.”

Senior communication and biology major Lauren Lupkowski said that she is not under the new major but has received benefits from it.

“I think it is great that [the administration] adapted the program to fit new skills for the new students,” Lupkowski said. “I was even allowed to take one of the new classes in the media, rhetoric and culture major, which is good because it is nice to broaden my knowledge, since a lot of things learned in college become outdated by the time you graduate.”

Organizational communication and leadership is a new major that will be ready for faculty approval this fall.

Lecturer Janis Crawford, who teaches courses for the major, said  the changes will bring new growth options for students.

“It opens all kinds of opportunities for faculty to work together,” Crawford said. “It also broadens opportunities for students because it allows students to work more closely with faculty.”

Neher said the changes serve to help students.

“We hope that [students] will be good critical communicators but also good citizens,” Neher said.

“Another thing we hope for them to understand is ethical communications. We do not teach ethics in terms of yourself having ethics but [instead] the ethical demands in journalism, PR, organizational communication and communication sciences and disorders.”