Mass Communications Minor Requirements
The minor in mass communications is available to students pursuing any major other
than mass communications at USF. Students who wish to minor must apply for admission
to the School of Mass Communications and must meet all admission requirements of
majors.
Admission Requirements: After admission to the university, undergraduate
students who wish to minor in mass communications will be accepted by the School
of Mass Communications when they have (1) completed at least 30 semester hours of
courses including at least 15 semester hours for which grades and a grade point
average have been awarded, (2) achieved a GPA of 2.75 or better on all attempted
college work, (3) achieved a grade of C or better in freshman English courses (ENC
1101 and 1102) and all required mathematics courses, and (4) passed the school English
diagnostic test with a score of 120 (of 200) points. Students who have satisfied
the admission requirements should meet with the school undergraduate program assistant
in room 3084 of the Communication and Information Sciences Building on the Tampa
campus.
Curriculum: The minor in mass communications requires a minimum
of 18 hours of school coursework, including:
MMC 2100 (3 hours)
MMC 3602 (3 hours)
The other 12 hours may be selected from among School of Mass Communications offerings
and must include a minimum of nine hours at the 3000-level or higher.
All minor hours must be completed at USF. Students who transfer mass communications
courses to USF may not use these courses in fulfilling minor requirements. However,
students who have satisfactorily completed MMC 1000 or MMC 2000 or equivalents at
other institutions may substitute other USF mass communications courses for MMC
3602, and students who have completed MMC 2100 or equivalents may substitute another
USF mass communications course for MMC 2100 if they pass the school English diagnostic
test with a score of 140 (of 200) or more, which is the same score required for
the successful completion of MMC 2100 at USF. The English diagnostic test is given
frequently throughout the semester. Students must complete the core requirements
prior to taking other courses.
After admission to the minor and completion of the core courses, students should
see an adviser in one of the school's four academic sequences of study: advertising,
journalism (with magazine and news-editorial options), public relations and telecommunications
(with news and production options).
Other Requirements: This is typically a three-semester program
at a minimum because all major prerequisites must be satisfied before taking a course.
Students must maintain an overall GPA of at least 2.5 in all mass communications
courses and no grade of less than "C minus" in a mass communications course
will be acceptable for the minor. Failure to achieve a "C minus" in a
prerequisite course will delay or prevent graduation with the minor in mass communications.
Students who are mass communications minors are not required to complete the “required
courses outside mass communications” required of students who are majoring
in mass communications.