Communication Studies

Internships

Internships play an important role in the Communication Studies major.
Every student completes the internship course for upper-division credit as part of the degree requirements. The internship offers students the critical opportunity to apply their learning outside of the classroom by working in a non-academic setting, gaining feedback, while building experience to better prepare them for post-graduation life. Internships completed by Communication Studies majors take place in a variety of settings, such as private business, start-ups, non-profits, public institutions, and in non-government organizations, across a wide variety of professions. Internship opportunities are available throughout California, the U.S., and around the world so we offer our internship course in the summer, ensuring students can earn their internship credit wherever they chose.

Communication Activities

The Communication Studies program has three student led clubs.
The names of these clubs are as follows: Students of Communication Studies (SOCS), Lambda Pi Eta (LPE), which is the national honor society for Communication Studies, and Pi Kappa Delta (PKD) the oldest national collegiate forensic organization in the United States. Club activity has included career fair preparation events hosted with the Career Center, mixer events hosted by employers explicitly interested in Communication Studies majors, public speaking workshops, as well as community building events to support students with advising, studying, and relaxation assistance. We are also home to the nationally recognized Chico State Speech and Debate Team (Forensics). The team is a full-service intercollegiate forensics program. The term “full-service” designation means that we have competitors in both policy debate and individual event competitions. The term “intercollegiate” means we compete in tournament settings against other two- and four-year institutions of higher education. The team offers competition in NFA Lincoln Douglas debate, Parliamentary debate and individual events. Team members and CMST majors participate and help run the CMST Rookie Speech and Debate Tournament and Chico Great Debate event each fall and spring. Our students are active participants on and off-campus.

Career Outlook

The BA and MA in Communication Studies prepares students for management and professional positions in public, private, governmental, non-profit and corporate settings.
Students are trained in communication across numerous contexts; groups, teams, organizational, interpersonal relationships, as well as across cultures and communities, while developing critical understanding for the nature of language and symbols, and the essence of argument and persuasion in political settings and the role of social movements. Careers in the 21st century demand skills emphasized in Communication Studies: oral, written, interpersonal and team communication, critical thinking, information literacy, quantitative reasoning and the ability to consume and use information, media, and data efficiently and critically. Graduates work in a variety of fields and in management positions in corporate, nonprofit and government settings. MA graduates are trained in conducting communication research and are qualified to teach communication studies courses at community colleges and four-year universities, as well as go into community, business or governmental organizations.