Bachelor of Science in
Communication
Embry-Riddle offers a unique Bachelor of Science in Communication program that answers the demand for those who can integrate science and technology with solid communication fundamentals.
ERAU’s B.S. in Communication program offers focus and expertise to position the graduate for broad career opportunities in many areas of communication, emphasizing writing skills, creative thinking, and technology.
Students can tailor their degree to what most interests them, choosing from a long list of minor courses of study.
The B.S. in Communication program teaches aviation, aerospace, and technical vocabulary while fine-tuning reading and writing skills – all to help foster a technological perspective. This perspective prepares graduates for a career with traditional media or in corporate communication, aviation communication, or technical journalism.
Beyond the fundamentals of communication, students learn how scientists think, how research questions are framed, and how various methodologies are used to pursue scientific goals.
ERAU has an active radio station, a campus-wide TV station, an award-winning student newspaper, and an active public relations department where students can acquire hands-on experience.
DETAILS
About Communication at the Worldwide & Online Campus
The art of delivering information continues to evolve with each new medium, creating new opportunities across virtually every industry. Skilled communicators who can analyze complex information and deliver effective messages in print and digital formats are in demand from the newsroom to the boardroom. ERAU has focused its B.S. in Communication online degree on the specific needs of technical and science-minded students who want to gain the valuable knowledge not offered in a general communication degree program.
Choosing this degree can provide students with an advantage in understanding how to interpret, analyze, and report on technological and scientific topics across all types of media.
The B.S. in Communication degree can help prepare students — either entering college for the first time or working professionals seeking to enhance marketability — for a tomorrow steeped in technology, where media-rich communication will bring information to life in new ways.
ERAU Worldwide’s online programs enable students to take advantage of a flexible course structure and to learn when and where it’s convenient for them.
The program’s goals are to help students:
- Gain a strong foundation in the basic concepts of communicating in today’s technology-centric world.
- Become practiced in scientific and technical communication for aviation, aerospace, environmental science, and other technology-based industries.
- Analyze research techniques and the principles of scientific inquiry.
- Get hands-on experience with visual design, photography, news writing, and reporting.
- Explore new media communications including social media, blogging, website content, and more.
- Evaluate the laws, ethics, cultural, and societal aspects of mass communication.
The Bachelor of Science in Communication requires students to integrate knowledge of science and technology with practice in communication. In this program, students learn how scientists think, how they frame research questions, and how they use various methodologies to pursue their goals. Communication students additionally practice gathering, analyzing, and disseminating scientific and technological information to a variety of audiences. A significant element of the program is the capstone course, completing a senior project or an internship****.
As modern society is increasingly influenced by developments in science and technology, the demand for skilled communicators in these fields continues to grow. Aviation, aerospace, and technology industries, for example, require more internal communication specialists, as well as professionals in media and public relations, to relay information clearly and accurately. This program addresses that nationwide necessity.
News organizations rely on science communicators in various fields, including meteorology, environmentalism, medicine, and technology. Communication students work in traditional written media, such as newspapers, newsletters, magazines, and journals, as well as in cutting-edge information retrieval and delivery systems, including Web sites, networked blogs and social media.
This focused, yet flexible, course of study requires students to hone specialized communication skills and to assemble portfolios displaying those skills. These graduates, the next generation of communication specialists, are positioned to enter three specific career paths, including:
- Communicating science information to specific and general audiences through a variety of mass media,
- Representing companies and organizations through media relations, using written, oral, and visual media, and
- Communicating news to general audiences through print and electronic media.
The Bachelor of Science degree in Communication requires successful completion of a minimum of 120 credit hours, of which 40 credit hours must be upper-level courses (300-400 level).
The Communication program requires coursework in General Education, the Communication Core, Communication Specified Electives, a Minor, and Open Electives.
****Due to state authorization requirements, internships must be conducted in approved states only.
| General Education | ||
| Embry-Riddle courses in the general education categories of Communication Theory and Skills, and Humanities and Social Sciences may be chosen from those listed below, assuming prerequisites are met. Courses from other institutions are acceptable if they fall into these broad categories and are at the level specified. | ||
| Communication Theory and Skills | ||
| ENGL 123 | English Composition | 3 |
| ENGL 221 | Technical Report Writing | 3 |
| or ENGL 222 | Business Communication | |
| SPCH 219 | Speech | 3 |
| Humanities* | ||
| HUMN 330 | Values and Ethics | 3 |
| Humanities elective | 3 | |
| Social Sciences | ||
| ECON 210 | Microeconomics | 3 |
| or ECON 211 | Macroeconomics | |
| Social Science elective (History/Government/Social Science/Psychology/Economics) | 3 | |
| Physical and Life Science Lower-Level electives | ||
| Physics/Biology/Meteorology/Chemistry, etc. | 6 | |
| Mathematics | ||
| Take six (6) credit hours from any MATH series courses (excluding MATH 106) | 6 | |
| Computer Science | ||
| Take one of the following courses to satisfy Computer Science requirements. The course used to satisfy the General Education Computer Science requirement cannot also be used to satisfy a Core/Major or Minor requirement. | 3 | |
CSCI 109 | Introduction to Computers and Applications | |
CSCI 123 | Introduction to Computing for Data Analysis | |
CYBR 235 | Computer and Network Technologies | |
| Total Credits | 36 | |
| Communication Core | 33 | |
| COMD 225 | Science and Technology Communication | 3 |
| COMD 260 | Introduction to Media | 3 |
| COMD 265 | Introduction to Newswriting and Reporting | 3 |
| COMD 320 | Mass Communication Law and Ethics | 3 |
| COMD 322 | Aviation and Aerospace Communication | 3 |
| COMD 335 | Technology and Modern Civilization | 3 |
| COMD 350 | Environmental Communication | 3 |
| COMD 360 | Public Relations | 3 |
| COMD 362 | Communication and Organizational Culture | 3 |
| COMD 415 | Nonverbal Communication | 3 |
| COMD 495 | Senior Project | 3** |
| or COIN 496 | Co-Operative Education | |
**When taken as a part of the BS Communication degree, COIN 496 is a 3 credit hour course, and credit hours are approved by the Program Chair. | ||
| Aviation, Science, & Technology Foundation | 9 | |
Select three courses from the following options: | ||
| ASCI 202 | Introduction to Aeronautical Science | 3 |
| ASCI 254 | Aviation Legislation | 3 |
| ASCI 260 | Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Systems | 3 |
| PHYS 142 | Introduction to Environmental Science | 3 |
| SFTY 201 | Introduction to Health, Occupational, and Transportation Safety | 3 |
| SFTY 205 | Principles of Accident Investigation | 3 |
| WEAX 201 | Meteorology I | 3 |
| PHYS 123 | Science of Flight | 3 |
| Total Credits | 42 | |
Electives
| Communication Specified Electives | 9 | |
Select three courses from the following options: | ||
| COMD 230 | Digital Photography | 3 |
| COMD 295 | Rhetorical Strategies and Analysis | 3 |
| COMD 363 | Communication and Society | 3 |
| COMD 364 | Visual Design | 3 |
| COMD 420 | Applied Cross Cultural Communication | 3 |
| COMD 460 | Crisis Communication | 3 |
(View Minors)
| Minor*** | 15-21 | |
| Select a minor, in consultation with your advisor. | ||
| ***For students in the Bachelor of Science in Communication degree program the RSCH 202 prerequisite for courses in a minor is waived since RSCH 202 is not required for the program. | ||
| Open Electives | 12-18 | |
| Open elective credits are dependent upon the selected minor. | ||
| Total Degree Requirements | 120 | |
| * | Minnesota student residents refer to State of Minnesota Course Requirement statement for Humanities requirements. |
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Summary
120 Credits
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