Telecommunications

The best program in the country. Bold words. Can we back 'em up?  Yes... 

   
  1. Two student Academy Awards. 
  2. Forty-three regional Emmy Awards received by the university. 
  3. Several awards from the premiere sports/academic organization in the U.S.A.—the Sports Video Group—for the top digital sports media program in the country: Sports Link.
  4. A combined news operation allowing students to double-major in TCOM and journalism and leave Ball State as true multimedia journalists.
  5. One of the country's pre-eminent student-run radio stations, WCRD.
  6. A faculty whose credentials include: more than 30 books and counting, a former Federal Communications Commission and National Association of Broadcasters lawyer, a former executive producer at CNBC, a former NBC News foreign correspondent, a Fulbright Ambassador, a noted music documentarian, a former producer at CNN/CNN-SI/CNN.com, a freelance field production audio supervisor for ESPN, ABC Sports, and the Big Ten Network; a former senior manager at CNN Washington; a director for South Korean TV; a winner of 30 best radio newscasts including two Edward R. Murrow Awards; and, a freelance audio supervisor from Los Angeles and Washington, DC.

Yes We Do

Here, working, learning, and teaching are fun and exciting—but don’t mistake that for easy. Our academic environment is competitive, and we like it that way. Because that’s the nature of our industry. A TCOM degree and career take hard work, dedication, motivation, and even some late nights and weekends. So does life. And that’s what you’ll be prepared for. Just ask our nearly 3,800 alumni. They’ve set the bar high. Employers trust that our graduates will come ready to work, and our grads are eager to prove them right.

TCOM is part of one of the largest undergraduate communication colleges in the country—the College of Communication, Information, and Media. Together with the Departments of Journalism and Communication Studies and the Center for Information and Communication Sciences, we offer two of the country’s premier telecommunications facilities—The Ball Communication Building and the new David Letterman Communication and Media Building. Our state-of-the-art Visual Image Labs, Media Lab, fully integrated newsroom, several television studios, teleconferencing capabilities, wireless lab, and collaborative relationship with the Ball State Center for Media Design, allow TCOM students to crank out professional news and weathercasts, films, documentaries, movie soundtracks, and much more right here on campus.  See the course catalog for more details.

 Student Learning Outcomes (SLO):

After successful completion of a major in telecommunications, students will be able to:

  1. Plan and create content that exemplifies techniques of storytelling, concentrating on entertainment, news, or information.
  2. Employ skills which contribute to the operations of media organizations. 
  3. Assess ethical and socially responsible behavior of media professionals, both individually and within organizations. 
  4. Integrate First Amendment principles of freedom of speech and of the press within media content and operations. 
  5. Assess the critical and commercial value of content to media outlets and potential audiences. 
  6. Describe the historical importance of media technologies, institutions, and innovators, and their contributions to American society. 
  7. Analyze the roles of multiple forms of media in 21st century society.