Media Arts and Studies, School of

Scripps College of Communication
Radio Television Building 202
Phone: 740.593.4870
Fax: 740.593.9184
mediaschool@ohio.edu
http://www.mediaschool.ohiou.edu

Roger Cooper, Director
Jeff Redefer, Associate Director for Undergraduate Studies
Mia Consalvo, Associate Director for Graduate Studies

The School of Media Arts and Studies offers programs of study leading to bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. The baccalaureate program is designed to prepare students for careers in the media industries. While pursuing a media degree, students are also actively involved in the liberal arts curriculum found at Ohio University. Coursework in the fine arts, humanities, social sciences, technology, and cultural and communication sciences are all part of this liberal arts foundation that is critical to the success of today’s media professionals. Areas of study include video production, audio production, digital media-special effects/games/animation, media management, and media studies.

Students interested in news writing, reporting, and anchoring should enroll in the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism. The School also offers an Honors Tutorial program to qualified students. (See the Honors Tutorial College section)

The classroom and laboratory experiences of students are augmented by a variety of practical experiences, including work with the School’s student production unit—Athens Video Works (AVWproductions.com), the All-Campus Radio Network (acrn.com), Brick City Records (brickcityrecords.com), and the three University-owned and -operated public broadcasting stations: WOUB-AM, WOUB-FM, and WOUB-TV (woub.org). Credit for such experiences is available.

The School maintains relationships with various professional organizations, including SIGGRAPH, the Ohio Association of Broadcasters, International Game Developers’ Association, the Society of Professional Audio Recording Services (SPARS), the International Radio-Television Society, the National Association of Television Program Executives, the Audio Engineering Society, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the National Association of Broadcasters, and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE).

Ohio University’s Zanesville and Southern campuses offer an associate’s degree program in electronic media, including a sequence in broadcast engineering. This program offers a smaller, more intimate setting for the first two years of University coursework. Students participating in the two-year programs at these campuses and who desire to continue their study with the School of Media Arts and Studies will apply for transfer into the School during the spring quarter (see transfer policy below). For additional information, see the Electronic Media program in the Regional Campuses section.

Students who wish to move to the B.S. program in media arts and studies and who are pursuing the associate’s degree should refer to the requirements under Transfer Policy.

Transfer Policy

Because the School of Media Arts and Studies sets high academic standards and limits enrollment, students from other universities or other programs and campuses at Ohio University must show strong academic performance. An accumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above will be required for consideration. Students at Ohio University wishing to transfer into the School of Media Arts and Studies must apply by the first Friday in March for transfer the following fall term.

In addition, transfer students from outside Ohio University must abide by the policies indicated in the Undergraduate Admissions section of this catalog.

In some exceptional cases, a student may be considered with less than the required 3.0 GPA. In these cases, the prospective transfer student must submit the transfer application, as well as supporting documents. These support materials should include three letters of recommendation (two from University instructors, one from the professional community), a resume, and a portfolio of work.

Students transferring into the School must be enrolled for a minimum of one academic year (three consecutive quarters) or their final 48 hours of earned credit in order to graduate from the program.

Further information regarding transfer policy can be found at http://mediaschool.ohiou.edu/undergraduate/transfer.html.

All transfer applications should be delivered to the School of Media Arts and Studies office (RTVC 202), to the attention of the associate director of undergraduate studies.

Internships

Students with majors in the School of Media Arts and Studies are strongly encouraged to undertake an internship. The School and the College have hundreds of professional internship opportunities available to students, with nearly every major media organization in the United States, as well as internationally. Students can receive one hour of credit for an on- or off-campus practicum (TCOM 390 or 391) as early as the summer following the freshman year. Students may undertake the formal internship (TCOM 490) by the spring or summer of the junior year, or during the senior year. An internship provides between 2-16 hours of credit (only four credits apply to the major; the remainder apply to overall hours) for full-time work with an approved sponsor during an academic term. To qualify for an internship, completion of 130-170 credit hours with a minimum accumulative GPA of 2.7 is required. For information regarding TCOM 391, 490, or 390, come to the School office at RTVC 202.

Other Requirements and Standards

Typically, no course may be counted toward more than one type of School requirement. For example, a course used to meet a Media Arts and Studies General Requirement may not also be used to meet a sequence requirement. However, certain courses in the required music minor for students in the audio music production sequence will count under the Tier II requirement.