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Bachelor’s Degree in Communications

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Make Your Mark in Media Now

The College of Saint Rose’s Communications program will provide you with the tools and resources needed to reach your personal, academic, and professional goals.

But first, choose your area or areas of interest by choosing from concentrations in: journalism, public relations and advertising, broadcast news, media arts, communication and production, and critical media studies.

Throughout your program, you will receive one-on-one support from our dedicated faculty who have a breadth and depth of experience in journalism, public relations, advertising, film, and new media. You will use state-of-the-art technology and work in professional studios in the Hearst Center for Communications and Interactive Media.

And you’ll get to work with real clients on films, videos, or public relations campaigns to help them solve their communication needs and make a difference in the community around us.

In our communications program, you don’t even have to wait to land that internship to get hands-on experience. With our Theory in Action approach, you’ll feel like a seasoned professional by the time you graduate.

Even with all the hands-on experiences in our classrooms, the department also offers challenging and rewarding internships at media organizations such as advertising agencies, newspapers, and broadcast operations to give students the chance to network with leaders in the field. Saint Rose communications alumni have built lasting careers with many notable and diverse media outlets including ESPN, MTV, NBC News, Buzzfeed, and more.

Follow Saint Rose Communications on Social

Check our our student newspaper and SRTV, our student-run TV station

Program Highlights

  • Our communications courses introduce students to the evolving communications marketplace through a series of projects focused on serving our dear neighbor by helping community clients. Past project examples include: the development of a social media fundraising campaign and volunteer drive for the Regional Food Bank and a video and social media content for the RISSE, an area organization that offers refugee and immigrant support services.
  • Students can join the Capital Region’s only Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter, where students can network with professionals and work with various clients. Or students can join a student chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ) in conjunction with the University at Albany.
  • Utilize professional technology in the Hearst Center for Communications & Interactive Media including TV and audio production studios, video-editing suites, and performance studios with professional sound and lighting systems.
  • Apply for the student-exchange program through the Association of Colleges of the Sisters of St. Joseph for an opportunity to attend Mount St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles and get hands-on experience in the film and TV industry for a semester or full year.
  • Dive deeper into your studies by choosing one or more concentrations in journalism, public relations and advertising, broadcast news, media arts and production, and critical media studies.
  • Get hands-on experience in courses as well as through at SRTV (Saint Rose Television), Radio Saint Rose, and The Chronicle, the student-run newspaper.
  • Get the opportunity to present student scholarship at local, regional, national, and international communications-related conferences.
  • Follow in the footsteps of alumni who are award-winning film producers; television writers, reporters, and producers at national networks; and internationally recognized journalists.

Love This Class: Film Production

Professor Liz Richards

In this class, students produce a 22-minute show. Liz Richards, who served as a producer for the PBS series “American Experience,” guides students as they write and revise their scripts and then film in our TV studio or out in the field. Communications students at Saint Rose always get personal attention from faculty like Richards in our state-of-the-art Hearst Center for Communications and Interactive Media.

Curriculum and Internships

The communications curriculum encourages students to explore a breadth and depth of learning experiences that emphasize professional, academic, and personal development. Communications students are expected to fully engage in the theories and practices that prepare them for the communications field.

Course Requirements

Internship opportunities with local and nationally known organizations such as WAMC, WMHT, WTEN/Fox 23 News, NYS Assembly Radio & TV, Gramercy Communications, and Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Students will produce professional-level work for target audiences by:

  • Honoring the codes of ethics guiding the discipline
  • Using effective verbal and/or nonverbal communication
  • Demonstrating an understanding of histories, theories, concepts, models, and/or practices
  • Conducting effective research
  • Employing appropriate styles and approaches for various media

Meet our Communications Faculty

Our faculty are great scholars, but your success is their top priority. Unlike large research institutions, Saint Rose is a place where professors invest in their students and put their energy into teaching, making for compelling classes and great learning outcomes.

Emma Bedor Hiland Assistant Professor of Communications

I come to my research with an orientation toward social justice and trying to find ways my writing can improve the communities that I care about. Showing students that scholarship can make a positive difference in the world helps them see that what we learn in the classroom is interconnected to what happens in the real world, and that they can use research (or the skills needed for research) to pursue their own goals. When students see that they can become the creators of knowledge it is an empowering and transformative experience for them.

Jin Kim Associate Professor of Communications

My research and teaching interests include digital culture, film analysis, media industry, and video games. I’ve published articles on Black Mirror, Animal Crossing, YouTube, and more. Our discussions in my classes often influence my research, and it becomes a sort of co-working between myself and my students.

Karen McGrath Professor and Communications Department Chair

Working with a Saint Rose alum, I’m the co-author of two books related to generational differences: “The Millennial Mindset: Unraveling Fact from Fiction” (2015) and “Gen-Z: The Superhero Generation” (2021). I’ve also published chapters and articles on esports, Marvel Comics, “The Big Bang Theory,” and more.

Shawn McIntosh Assistant Professor of Broadcast News and Mobile Journalism

I’ve been looking at new models for how journalism is practiced, and how news organizations may be able to survive as businesses. The new storytelling possibilities with digital media such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are two examples of new frontiers for journalists and storytellers, and I enjoy exploring how they can be used to engage audiences.

Good communication skills are the number one thing businesses ask of college graduates and underpin everything a college student does and will do. This includes not only solid writing, but also speaking and presenting skills, and being comfortable using different types of media. Learning good communication skills will benefit students in any field they are in and will come back to help them time and time again as they build their careers.

Emma Bedor HilandAssistant Professor of Communications

I come to my research with an orientation toward social justice and trying to find ways my writing can improve the communities that I care about. Showing students that scholarship can make a positive difference in the world helps them see that what we learn in the classroom is interconnected to what happens in the real world, and that they can use research (or the skills needed for research) to pursue their own goals. When students see that they can become the creators of knowledge it is an empowering and transformative experience for them.

Jin KimAssociate Professor of Communications

My research and teaching interests include digital culture, film analysis, media industry, and video games. I’ve published articles on Black Mirror, Animal Crossing, YouTube, and more. Our discussions in my classes often influence my research, and it becomes a sort of co-working between myself and my students.

Karen McGrathProfessor and Communications Department Chair

Working with a Saint Rose alum, I’m the co-author of two books related to generational differences: “The Millennial Mindset: Unraveling Fact from Fiction” (2015) and “Gen-Z: The Superhero Generation” (2021). I’ve also published chapters and articles on esports, Marvel Comics, “The Big Bang Theory,” and more.

Shawn McIntoshAssistant Professor of Broadcast News and Mobile Journalism

I’ve been looking at new models for how journalism is practiced, and how news organizations may be able to survive as businesses. The new storytelling possibilities with digital media such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are two examples of new frontiers for journalists and storytellers, and I enjoy exploring how they can be used to engage audiences.

Good communication skills are the number one thing businesses ask of college graduates and underpin everything a college student does and will do. This includes not only solid writing, but also speaking and presenting skills, and being comfortable using different types of media. Learning good communication skills will benefit students in any field they are in and will come back to help them time and time again as they build their careers.

Jessica Otitigbe Visiting Assistant Professor of Communications

I’m a communications leader and consultant who founded Creative Collaborations Consulting and has over 20 years of experience in higher education, community relations, corporate communications, public relations, and broadcast journalism.

Liz Richards Associate Professor of Communications Production

I’m a filmmaker, video artist, and sound designer with over 70 national and international screenings and presentations of my work. My teaching career spans over 20 years, with my non-teaching time spent in film, television, and web production, including the PBS documentary history series “American Experience.”

Jessica OtitigbeVisiting Assistant Professor of Communications

I’m a communications leader and consultant who founded Creative Collaborations Consulting and has over 20 years of experience in higher education, community relations, corporate communications, public relations, and broadcast journalism.

Liz RichardsAssociate Professor of Communications Production

I’m a filmmaker, video artist, and sound designer with over 70 national and international screenings and presentations of my work. My teaching career spans over 20 years, with my non-teaching time spent in film, television, and web production, including the PBS documentary history series “American Experience.”

Career Outcomes

Jessica Gerski '13

Jessica Gerski, a 2013 graduate of Saint Rose, won a NCAA women's soccer championship in 2011. Today, the California native is in Boston, working in a new sport: lacrosse.

Marissa Kilkenny '12

Marissa Kilkenny graduated in 2012 with a communications degree from Saint Rose and now works as the Catering Sales Manager at Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas. Watch her story to learn more!

Kyle Griffin '08

In this Alumni Spotlight, we got a chance to speak with Kyle Griffin, a Saint Rose Class of 2008 graduate that received his Bachelor's Degree in Communications. After graduation, Kyle began his career with an internship at MSNBC and has worked his way up to his current position as a Segment Producer at The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell.

Career Outcomes

I wanted to go to a school where you wouldn’t be a number, with small classes, and where I could have good relationships with the professors.

I enjoyed being able to branch off into whatever you wanted to get into, whether it was marketing, or advertising, or journalism, or writing."

Randy Hernandez '07

Segment producer for NBC News

“The school was the perfect size. I got involved with so many things, I tutored kids in an inner-city school, I was a cheerleader, I was the 1997 Student Association representative of the year. I felt intellectually challenged.

The classes were the right size, so you really got to know the people and the professor, and you felt guided.”

Megan-Claire Chase

Megan-Claire Chase '99

Breast Cancer Program Director for SHARE Cancer Support and freelance writer for WebMD and others

Contact Us Today

Of course, if you have any questions, please reach out. We’re here to help.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Karen McGrath
Department Chair
518.768.1511

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