Welcome COMM Majors & Minors

From: Professor Clampitt, Chair of Communication: Welcome to the Fall Semester

Now that we have a couple weeks under our collective belts, I wanted to formally welcome you – and share some brief thoughts. The Communication Department faculty is committed to helping you become career ready. Our commitment to three values helps us accomplish that goal: 1) Continuous Improvement, 2) Strategic Thinking, and 3) Collaborative Relationships. Here’s how you can help us infuse the department with these values:

Continuous Improvement
1.) Renew your commitment to professionalism. This means dressing appropriately for presentations, using proper forms of address in emails, writing professional reports and avoiding plagiarism. Unfortunately, we had several instances of plagiarism and misrepresentation in previous years and sadly, we had to ask someone to leave our program.

The faculty is vigilant on these matters because we know that helping you act professionally will enhance your career prospects for a lifetime.

2.) Sign up for COMM Department social media feeds.  COMM interns do all the Twitter, Instagram and Facebook posting. It’s for COMM students; run by COMM students:  Twitter > @UWGBComm, Facebook > UW-Green Bay Communication Department and Instagram > @UWGBComm.

3.) Embrace the new program tweaks based on the feedback we received from our recent study survey. This is Continuous Improvement in action:

Strategic Thinking
1.) Share your expertise and thinking with the Communication Week Team.  I’m thrilled to report that Communication Week is a huge success and gaining attention from senior UWGB officials.  It will be bigger and better this year!  We want to showcase our talented students to alumni, administrators and other UWGB students.  Your input and strategic thinking will be essential in helping us make the right decisions.

2.) Establish career enhancing networks.  This is a major strategic investment in you and your career. Specifically, that means:

• Join PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America). It offers many benefits including: networking, job opportunities and traveling to conferences;
• Start thinking about an internship (if you have completed your supporting level courses). The COMM website has the details;
• Participate in Comm Week. Participation opportunities will be announced soon;
• Follow The COMM Voice;
• Join more than 200 grads on:  UWGB Comm Grad group on Linkedin.

3.) Diligently work with your project teams during the semester.  COMM faculty take great pride in crafting cutting-edge experiences and projects that cultivate strategic thinking. In fact, it is one program feature that distinguishes us from most other programs! Debate, argue, and then come to consensus! And, please consider showcasing your project during Comm Week. This will give you the opportunity to share your expertise with other professionals and network in a supportive climate.

Collaborative Relationships
1.) Assist students who are newly admitted to the program.  We know that some of the most valuable advising is peer-to-peer. In fact, the 1+6+10 program structure is built on this premise.  As you know, after you complete five-of-the-six-skill courses (100-200s) you can take any of the upper-level courses. However, the course numbers are meaningful – the higher the number, the greater the challenge. So, keep this in mind as you advise colleagues.

2.) Keep an eye out for departmental and faculty sponsored events. These events and activities provide you a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with others.  For example:

• December: Jingle Brawl – a video game tournament/party and charity fundraiser;
• January: Global Game Jam;
• February: Communication Week;
• May: Comm grad celebration at Professor Clampitt’s house;

3.) Help others grow. Every student has the opportunity to cultivate collaboration and continuous improvement.  Last year, the faculty was pleased to hear about students challenging each other to get better during their group work. In several instances, there were group members who identified public speaking as an area of improvement. The project managers asked them to assume a major speaking role during presentations, even though the groups had some very skilled speakers. That’s exactly the kind of culture we want to have in our department. Challenging each other and holding one another accountable foster sustained excellence.

Our mission is to create the best applied communication program in the UW-system. Help us do that! Have a great semester – learn, laugh and grow…