After consultation with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and college leadership, the Department of Communication Arts has developed a concrete plan to advance its goals and guide its decision-making over the next several years. We invite you to read in detail about the many initiatives we are pursuing to make an even greater impact on student career preparedness, interdisciplinary communication research, and our shared communities. Your support can help us reach those goals even faster.
Vision:
We prepare our students for the future by engaging them in an expanding, interdisciplinary program of communication research and practice while showing them how to make a positive difference in the world through leadership in effective communication.
Goals:
By 2030, Communication Arts will modernize its undergraduate curriculum and empower graduate students as researchers, teachers, and practitioners. We will strengthen connections between our existing research areas and develop ways to sustain growth in that interdisciplinary work. To make a positive difference in the world, we will invest in public impact and cultivate a community of belonging that unifies students, staff, faculty, and alumni for a lifetime. Finally, we will revitalize our infrastructure and tell our story to demonstrate leadership in communication to the many communities we serve.
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Goal 1: Modernize the Undergraduate Curriculum to Promote Career Success
- We will enhance our existing programs through high-impact experiences, cohesive course planning, and requirements geared towards students’ needs after graduation.
- We will create new courses, pathways, and programs in Communication Arts while expanding efforts to teach essential media and communication skills to students across
campus. - We will offer professional development seminars, mentorship matches, internship support, “study away” programs, and research opportunities–all while reducing barriers that can put these experiences out of reach.
Goal 2: Empower Graduate Students as Researchers, Teachers, and Practitioners
- We will assess requirements and advising policies to ensure that students across our four Ph.D. programs enjoy a consistent graduate student experience.
- We will hone essential career skills through a professional seminar focused on navigating coursework, publishing, teaching, and inclusive excellence.
- We will develop curricular partnerships with other graduate programs, with industry, and with non-profits to help Ph.D. students make the greatest possible impact after graduation.
Goal 3: Strengthen Connections Between Disciplines to Lead the Future of Communication Research at UW-Madison
- We will encourage faculty collaboration across our four existing areas of research, envision new areas of inquiry, and recruit researchers who span these disciplines.
- We will provide leadership in campus initiatives focused on artificial intelligence, sustainability, and well-being while convening new partnerships that explore urgent issues of creativity and citizenship.
- We will partner with other units on campus to hire cutting-edge faculty while preventing loss of our existing expertise.
Goal 4: Sustain Growth by Diversifying Department Funding Sources
- We will maximize our access to campus resources by attracting new students to Communication Arts courses, working with other units on campus to identify efficiencies and increase impact.
- We will increase support from partners outside UW-Madison through increased applications to external granting agencies, collaborative research with partners in the media and communication industries, and stronger engagement with alumni.
- We will reinvest in our department and allocate new resources in support of strategic goals.
Goal 5: Invest in Public Impact
- We will provide support for students whose ideas can harness the power of media and communication to create change for local communities.
- We will provide direct service to the people of Wisconsin through our media preservation services, the Wisconsin Film Festival, and media literacy partnerships with local high school students and community groups.
- We will more actively engage the public in our research discoveries through webinars and public presentations to non-academic audiences throughout the state and the nation.
Goal 6: Cultivate a Community of Belonging that Unites Students, Staff, Faculty, and Alumni for a Lifetime
- We will increase support for student organizations, host student welcome events, sponsor alumni meetings on- and off-campus, recognize alumni achievements, and facilitate networking between alumni and students.
- We will open doors in our intellectual community by creating new scholarships for students who have family circumstances that have impacted educational opportunities, providing support for graduate students who demonstrate inclusive excellence in their research or teaching, and committing to inclusive excellence across our curriculum and our career support programming.
- We will recruit, hire, and retain students, faculty, and staff by working closely with campus partners, seeking resources where they are available, creating resources when they are not, and sharing strategies for success as widely as possible.
Goal 7: Revitalize Our Infrastructure to Support Stronger Communication Research and Learning
- We will improve the existing facilities of Vilas Hall by studying current uses and collaborating with other units to create a vision for transforming the building—including more effective use of the exterior terrace space and addressing accessibility needs.
- We will prioritize remodeling projects that improve student experience in the classroom, increase student access to essential workspaces, and create common areas for supporting our learning community.
- We will upgrade tools and equipment that students and researchers need to stay on the cutting edge of media and communication practice.
Goal 8: Tell Our Story to the Many Communities We Serve
- We will produce a comprehensive communication plan to make the department’s many achievements visible on local, national, and global platforms.
- We will increase public outreach and translate the accomplishments of our faculty, staff, students, and alumni for non-academic audiences through social media, videos, press releases, and infographics.
- We will coordinate with other campus communicators to amplify our efforts, contribute to the most important stories being told about UW-Madison, and provide leadership in effective department communication at the college and university level.