University Of Texas At Austin College Of Communication

The Moody College of Communication is the communication college at The University of Texas at Austin. The college was established in 1965 in an effort to consolidate all Communication Studies under one roof including the Department of Public Speaking (1899), School of Journalism (1914), and independent department of Radio-Television-Film (1921). The Moody College is home to one of the country's top film programs as well as a Journalism department which consistently produces one of the nations' best college newspapers. The Moody College of Communication offers Bachelor of Science degrees in several communications disciplines as well as offering a robust postgraduate curriculum. The Moody College of Communication now finds a brand new home in the Belo Center for New Media, which opened in November 2012.

History

The Department of Public Speaking, now the Department of Communication Studies, at UT Austin was established in 1899, and the School of Journalism began in 1914 moving into its own building in 1952. An early interest in broadcasting on campus resulted in the formation of the Department of Radio-Television-Film. In 1921, a radio station was established to conduct experimental work in radio communication, and by the 1930s what was probably the first television broadcast in Texas originated on the campus. The first degree program in broadcasting began in 1939. Established in 1941 with the founding of The University of Texas at Austin Speech and Hearing Clinic and the introduction of coursework leading to Texas Education Agency certification, the program of Communication Sciences and Disorders is the oldest program of its kind in the state of Texas.

In 1965, the School of Journalism, the Department of Speech, and a newly formed Department of Radio-Television-Film became the three departments officially organized as the School of Communication. In that same year, the accredited sequence of advertising in the Department of Journalism was established as a separate Department of Advertising. Originally housed in the Department of Speech Communication, a separate Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders was established in 1998.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Austin had become a filmmaking hub due in part to several Communications alumni including Robert Rodriguez and Richard Linklater leading many people in the industry to begin calling Austin the "Third Coast" for film. This has spurred the Radio-Television-Film department on to national recognition, while also giving students more opportunities for internships and jobs after matriculation.

On November 7, 2013, the Moody Foundation of Galveston announced a $50 million commitment to establish the Moody College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin, resulting in the largest endowment for the study of communication of any public university in the nation.

In 2014, a $10 million fundraising campaign renamed the Department of Advertising and Public Relations as the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations, named in honor of Stan Richards, founder of Dallas-based advertising agency The Richards Group, largest independently owned agency in the United States.

Campus

The campus of the Moody College of Communication sits in a complex on the north west side of UT's campus, adjacent to The Drag and just north of the Littlefield House. There was no formal definition of the Moody Communication campus until all communication's studies were consolidated in the late 1960s. Construction of a three-building communication complex began in 1968, and the three Departments of Journalism, Radio-Television-Film and Speech Communication moved into new facilities in 1974.

In 2007, the first new construction project for the school in over 30 years was announced after a $15 million donation from the Belo Foundation. The Belo Center for New Media will augment teaching and research space for the college. Construction began in May 2010 and the new Belo Center was dedicated in November 2012. The five-story, 120,000-square-foot building serves as an interactive learning space for students and a landmark gateway to campus at the intersection of Guadalupe and Dean Keeton Streets. The total project budget was $54,770,000.

The Texas Student Media building, formerly known as the CMC building, was officially renamed the William Randolph Hearst Building after a significant donation from the Hearst Corporation in 2009. Texas Student Television, the FCC-licensed student television station located within the Hearst Building, K29HW-D, received an $80,000 digital transmitter retrofit to comply with the mandated digital television transition in 2009.

Academics

The Moody College of Communication serves as both UT's undergraduate department of communication, as well as a graduate school offering advanced degrees. Undergraduate majors can receive their Bachelor of Science degree at the school and have the option of enrolling in programs wherein the student can group his or her electives together towards a "concentration" in a particular field apart from their major including computing, business, Latino Media Studies, or a more general Bridging Disciplines Program.

Organization and research

Like the undergraduate portion of the University of Texas at Austin, the Moody College operates on a semester system. As part of the larger institution, the Moody College is ultimately administered by UT's President and Board of Trustees. The school is directly managed by a dean (currently Roderick P. Hart) who is advised by several associate deans responsible for various aspects of the administration. The Moody College offers a bachelor of science degree in five "academic departments" including: Advertising and Public Relations, Communications Studies, Communications Disorders, Journalism, and Radio-Television-Film as well as a more generalized communications studies. Additionally, the college offers a certificate program in Latino Media Studies.

The Moody College contains six separate "research units" focusing on different aspects of communication including the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas which focuses on promoting journalism in Central and South America and the UT Film Institute which worked in conjunction with the university affiliated "Burnt Orange Productions" allowing students a chance to participate in workshops and internship opportunities. The now defunct UTFI had employed over 200 interns on four feature films including The Quiet and Homo Erectus before financial difficulties .

UT Los Angeles Program

Founded in 2005, the UT Los Angeles Program (UTLA, Semester in Los Angeles Program) gives students the opportunity to intern in the entertainment industry while also completing upper division coursework. The program is open to all UT students who have completed core communications classes as well as a handful of non-UT students usually from universities around the world. UTLA encourages students to intern the last semester of their senior year and focuses on practical experience through interning 4 days per week with classes on Mondays. Students have access to a large database of internship opportunities but arrange interviews themselves prior to the start of the semester.

Rankings and admissions

Admissions for undergraduate students are handled by the university's undergraduate admissions. Along with the schools of Architecture, Business, and Engineering, admissions into the Moody College of Communication is highly selective. Of the 2,611 freshman applying to the school for fall 2010, 1,042 were admitted leading to an overall acceptance rate of 39.9%.,. For this reason, many UT students apply for an internal transfer while completing their core requirements. The school leaves on average 200 spots per year for internal transfers and 80 spots for external transfers though official numbers are not disclosed. Within the school itself, the Department of Advertising and Public Relations has the largest number of both undergraduate and graduate students, with 1,327 and 187, respectively, in the 2014-2015 academic year.

Longhorn Network

On January 19, 2011, the university announced the creation of a 24-hour television network in partnership with ESPN, dubbed the Longhorn Network. The Longhorn Network (the only partnership of its kind) gives a number of College of Communication students an opportunity to participate in internships and panel discussions that provide a first-hand look at the broadcast industry. For the Fall semester of 2011, the Longhorn Network hired five UT students for paid 12 to 14 week internships, who were given "a variety of tasks, including cutting highlights for programs, submitting story ideas and running the teleprompter during live broadcasts".

People

Student profile and student life

As of the 2013-2014 academic year, the Moody College of Communication has an enrollment of 4,105 undergraduates and 664 postgraduates. The school offers a number of professional and community service student groups, as well as social life governance councils for the student body. As a hub for all media on campus, the Communications College has historically been at the center of major issues on campus and a nexus of school spirit. The college operates TSTV, one of the few FCC licensed television stations entirely run by students. The station has interviewed several persons of note in the past including Pauly Shore, Mark Cuban, and Dennis Quaid.

Faculty

The Moody College currently claims 125 active instructors. Many professors have had successful careers independent of the Moody College as filmmakers, editors, and captains of industry.

Alumni

The Moody College has matriculated several distinguished alumni including Walter Cronkite, Lady Bird Johnson, and Matthew McConaughey. Individuals associated with the Moody College have received twenty-six Pulitzer Prizes, three Oscars, and forty-two Emmys. Filmmakers Wes Anderson, who graduated with a BA in Philosophy from the University of Texas, and Richard Linklater, who attended but did not graduate, are former students of the college. In 2008, Robert Rodriguez, graduated from the college with a BS in Radio-Television-Film, and was the University of Texas at Austin Spring 2009 Wide-Commencement Speaker.[1]. The College has also been the starting place for many famous cartoonists including Ben Sargent, Roy Crane, and Berkeley Breathed who had all drawn for The Daily Texan during their tenure.

Notable Alumni

• Walter Cronkite ('33) - Television journalist, anchor of CBS News, multiple Emmy-winner
• Lady Bird Johnson (B.J. '34) - Former first lady of the United States
• Liz Carpenter (B.J. '42) - Former press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson
• Liz Smith (B.J. '50) - Syndicated columnist
• Bill Moyers (B.J. '56) - Journalist, writer and producer, multiple Emmy-winner
• Oscar Griffin, Jr. (B.J. '58) - Journalist, Pulitzer Prize-winner
• Arch Campbell (B.S. '68, M.A. '71) - Broadcast journalist, multiple Emmy-winner
• James C. Oberwetter (B.J. '69) - Former press secretary to George H. W. Bush, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
• Karen Elliott House (B.J. '70) - Journalist, editor and publisher of The Wall Street Journal, Pulitzer Prize-winner
• Lynn Latham Lechowick (B.S. '70) - Producer, writer, Emmy-winner
• Tim McClure (B.J. '70) - Co-founder of GSD&M Idea City
• Ben Sargent (B.J. '70) - Political cartoonist, Pulitzer Prize-winner
• Honorable Judith Zaffirini (M.A. '70, Ph.D. '78) - Texas state senator
• Judy Trabulsi (B.S. '71) - Co-founder of GSD&M Idea City
• George Christian (B.J. '71) - Press secretary to Lyndon B. Johnson
• Tommy Schlamme (B.S. '72) - Director and executive producer, Emmy-winner
• Jane Chesnutt (B.J. '73) - Journalist, former editor-in-chief of Women's Day magazine
• Gayle Reaves (B.J. '74) - Journalist, Pulitzer Prize-winner
• Cappy McGarr (B.J. '75) - Producer, writer, Emmy Award-nominee
• Michael Barker (B.S. '76) - Co-president of Sony Pictures Classics
• Honorable Henry Bonilla (B.J. '76) - Former U.S. congressman
• Jeff Cohen (B.J. '76) - Executive editor of the Houston Chronicle
• Bruce Hendricks (B.S. '76) - Former President of Walt Disney Studios
• Bill Geddie (B.S. '77) - Executive producer of ABC Television, Emmy-winner
• Admiral William H. McRaven (B.J. '77) - U.S. Navy commander, directed raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden
• Larry C. Price (B.J. '77) - Photojournalist, multiple Pulitzer Prize-winner
• Michael Zinberg (B.S. '77) - Screenwriter, producer, director, Emmy Award-nominee
• Dan Malone (B.J. '78) - Journalist, Pulitzer Prize-winner
• Berkeley Breathed (B.J. '79) - Cartoonist, Pulitzer Prize-winner
• Earl Campbell (B.S. '79) - Athlete, Heisman Trophy-winner
• Eileen Welsome (B.J. '80) - Journalist, Pulitzer Prize-winner
• Mark Dooley (B.J. '82) - Journalist, Pulitzer Prize-winner
• Carolyn Cole (B.J. '83) - Photojournalist, Pulitzer Prize-winner
• Edith T. Hill (B.J. '83) - Journalist, Emmy-winner
• Jeff Hunt (B.J. '84) - Co-founder of PulsePoint Group
• J. Lynn Lunsford (B.J. '86) - Journalist, Pulitzer Prize-winner
• Arthel Helena Neville (B.J. '86) - Television journalist
• John McConnico (B.J. '87, M.A. '94) - Journalist, Pulitzer Prize-winner
• Judy Walgren DeHass (B.J. '88) - Journalist, Pulitzer Prize-winner
• Jean-Marc Bouju ('90) - Photojournalist, multiple Pulitzer Prize-winner
• John Moore (B.S. '90) - Photojournalist, Pulitzer Prize-winner
• Matthew McConaughey (B.S. '93) - Actor, producer, Golden Globe and Academy Award winner
• Jordan Levin (B.S. '89) - TV Executive of The WB, Generate, Xbox Entertainment Studios
• David Karabinas (B.S. '94) - Sports journalist, multiple Emmy-winner
• Rick King, Jr (B.S. '94) - Writer, producer and director, Emmy-winner
• Michael Jenkins (B.J. '95, M.A. '96) - Sports journalist, Emmy-winner
• Betty Nguyen (B.J. '95) - Television journalist, Emmy-winner
• Heather M. Courtney (M.A. '00) - Filmmaker, producer, Emmy-winner
• Mark P. McClune (B.J. '00) - Sports journalist, Emmy-winner
• Craig D. Allen (B.S. '03) - Art director, Emmy-winner
• Robert Rodriguez (B.S. '08) - Director, producer
• Kovid Gupta (B.S. '10) - Screenwriter, author, social activist
• Noël Wells (B.S. '10) - Actress, comedian, SNL cast member

References

External links

• The University of Texas at Austin College of Communication
• UT Los Angeles Program