Stony Brook University’s School of Communication and Journalism (SoCJ) has launched a new major, a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Communication.

First announced in July, the new program will launch at the start of the Spring 2024 semester. It will require 36 credits of coursework, broken down between 24 credits of required courses and 12 credits of electives. 

The major will join the SoCJ’s already existing academic majors, the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Mass Communication. 

Laura Lindenfeld, Dean of the SoCJ and Executive Director of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, said that the idea for the program originated from her own background in communications research, as well as a desire to expand the school and its academic offerings.

“When I took over, I thought, well, we have one undergraduate degree program. Oftentimes, communication schools and programs are some of the largest undergraduate programs in a university, and we have none of these programs,” Lindenfeld said. “Meanwhile, we have this incredible Alan Alda Center, and we have trained thousands and thousands of scientists. We really needed to [offer more] academic programs.” 

Lindenfeld also expressed a desire to grow the school’s graduate offerings with master’s and doctoral degrees centered around communication, although these programs would be concentrated and anchored at the undergraduate level.

The school has already brought in new faculty to teach the courses, some with and without backgrounds in journalism. In addition, two hires brought on through Stony Brook’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access (IDEA) fellowship program will be joining the SoCJ and teaching in the new communication program.

One of the new faculty brought on through the program, Mary E. Andrews, is a researcher who focuses on health disparities and outcomes through an intersectionality lens. The other, Matthew Salzano, focuses on the relationship between digital media and social change.

Required classes include Introduction to Communication, Introduction to Public Speaking, Intercultural Communication, Communication Research, Communication Theory, Team Collaboration and a senior capstone project. Electives offered include classes like Social Media Analytics, Strategic Communication and Political Communication.

The new degree program has already received approval from the New York State Education Department and (State University of New York) SUNY. According to Lindenfeld, two incoming students have already expressed interest in joining the department as soon as it launches next spring.

In the official proposal of the degree program, which was shared with The Statesman, Stony Brook University Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Carl Lejuez wrote that the program would prepare students to “analyze and synthesize the history, content, use, and effects of different forms of communication, and to apply this understanding to diverse situations.”

The proposal also contains information about projected enrollment numbers, which were calculated by taking into account the current number of journalism and mass communication students, as well as perceived demand for the program.

In the program’s first year of operation, it is anticipated that 22 students will be enrolled in the major. By the fifth year, that number is predicted to grow to an estimated 80 students.

But this isn’t the last undergraduate major the SoCJ is planning on adding to its offerings; the school is currently in the process of submitting a fourth program: a Bachelor of Arts in Writing and Rhetoric Studies, according to Lindenfeld.

“It’s partnered with the program in Writing and Rhetoric, and it’s a type of communication degree, similar to the [B.A. in Communication] but with a focus specifically on the field of rhetoric and writing,” she said.

Lindenfeld also described a lack of transfer options for students completing associate degrees in communications at Long Island community colleges, and how that was a motivator to begin opening up these new programs.

“There was a transfer pathway for people coming out of Suffolk and Nassau [community colleges] into other schools for journalism and [mass communication],” she said. “But if you had done something that was more like Communication Arts, there wasn’t necessarily a great place for you to go that’s public. So this is going to give a lot of transfer students a great opportunity to go to school.”

When the school opened up the Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication, enrollment to the major grew to more than 80 students almost instantly, a jump Lindenfeld attributes to several transfer students taking advantage of the new academic offering. She also explained that the school has been focusing on making its degrees achievable within four years and giving students more opportunities to double major and explore different areas of study.

All of the SoCJ’s undergraduate programs require relatively few credits and contain a lot of classes that satisfy Stony Brook Curriculum requirements.

The SoCJ was founded in 2006 as the only undergraduate journalism school in the SUNY system — a distinction it holds to this day. While Stony Brook launched the school with only the bachelor’s degree in journalism being offered, it has since expanded to include the three undergraduate majors, as well as master’s degree programs in journalism and science communication.

“Stony Brook is a known leader in science and we are also one of the best comprehensive institutions in the nation, so students and parents know the value of our degrees,” Dawn S. Medley, vice provost for enrollment management and retention, said in a Stony Brook News article. “Employers are looking for students with strong communication skills in the workplace and graduates who are able to convey the value propositions of their organizations. By launching this focused communication degree, Stony Brook further solidifies our place as the number one public institution in New York.”