The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved Dalton State College’s application to offer a bachelor of arts degree in communication, bringing to 22 the number of four-year degrees offered by the College. The new program is effective fall 2016.
According to Dr. Andy Meyer, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs, “This is a great degree as it gives students the skills that employers are looking for. Students will be well versed in critical thinking, effective oral and written communication, leadership, interpersonal skills, and flexibility. This degree will appeal to a wide variety of students with concentrations in corporate and business communication, social media, and film studies. The concentration in film studies also includes internships at the Georgia Film Academy, a collaborative effort of the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia to create a qualified workforce to support Georgia’s growing film and television industry.
“This program is an excellent fit with our current bachelor degrees, and it emphasizes the so called ‘soft skills’ that are highly desired in a variety of jobs.”
The 121-hour program will consist of 42 credit hours in lower level “core” curriculum plus 18 hours of elective credit, one credit hour of physical education, 30 credit hours of upper level required courses, plus 30 credit hours of upper-level electives.
“There has been considerable demand for students for this program for a number of years,” Meyer said, adding that local employers have likewise supported development of the program. Dalton State currently offers an Associate of Arts (two year) degree in Communication as well as a communication concentration in its Interdisciplinary Studies bachelor of arts program.
“We expect this degree program to help round out our four-year degree program portfolio,” said Dalton State President Dr. Margaret Venable. “This degree will be a program that will fully prepare students for a number of career opportunities.”
Other bachelor’s degrees offered at Dalton State include, in the School of Liberal Arts: criminal justice, bachelor of science; English, BA; history, BA; interdisciplinary studies, BA; and psychology, BS; in the School of Education: early childhood education, bachelor of science in education; in the School of Business: accounting, bachelor of business administration; finance and applied economics, BBA; management, BBA; management information systems, BBA; marketing, BBA, and technology management, bachelor of applied science.
The School of Health professions offers bachelor’s degrees in health information management, BS; nursing, bachelor of science in nursing; organizational leadership, BS; respiratory therapy, BS; and social work, bachelor of science in social work; and the School of Science, Technology and Mathematics offers four-year degrees in biology, BS; chemistry, BS; mathematics, BS; and scientific technology, BAS. In addition, the College offers 17 associate degree and nine career certificate and mini-certificate programs.