Business Schools vs. Schools of Communications

On Schools of Communications and Journalism-Mass Communications:

Recent visits to the University of Southern California, Southern Methodist University and Boston University to speak with colleagues and their students left me with some impressions. One, the quality of communications school students at these prestigious institutions is impressive. They seem more aware of the significance of communications as an important factor in the success or failure of public and private organizations. This awareness is something that the business schools and their faculty have not recognized in the 30 year rise of their programs. From my experience as a student and faculty member in business, what the business schools at the graduate and undergraduate level have been able to do is to create a community of education and skill study that is highly cooperative and productive within the school. One of the reasons for the academic and professional success of the business schools is the degree of community that the faculty in accounting, human resource management, marketing, finance and production have achieved. They work well together and have built a series of degrees that fit the needs of society and individuals. On the other hand, it is my experience in schools of journalism and mass communications that the faculty, students and administration have not found a formula of cooperation and community. As a highly visible school in most leading universities the leaders of schools of communications, journalism and mass communication must seek to build a more unified educational opportunity for students and faculty to demonstrate the critical value of communications as a social, economic, political and environmental field of knowledge and practice. More to come.