Dean: H. Brown
Associate Dean for Graduate Studies: R. Goodman
Graduate Coordinators:
- (Advertising) H. Chen
- (Public Relations) J. Hmielowski
- (Professional Communication) T. Spiker
- (Research and Theory) J. Hmielowski
Through the Division of Graduate Studies, the College of Journalism and Communications offers the Doctor of Philosophy degree and the Master of Arts in Mass Communication (thesis or project option) degree, which is divided into two areas: PhD preparation and professional development.
Requirements for these degrees are given in the Graduate Degrees section of this catalog.
Doctoral students work closely with faculty members in research leading to a dissertation embodying a humanities, law/policy, or social sciences approach. Emphases within these approaches for which faculty members have expertise include advertising, AI and emerging technology, cultural and social change, health communication, journalism, law/policy/history, media industry and consumers, media psychology, public interest communication, public relations, science communication, social media, sports communication, trust in media, visual communication, and political communication. Details of doctoral faculty research interests and other aspects of the program are given in the College’s Ph.D. Handbook and is available online at: https://www.jou.ufl.edu/home/about/faculty-staff-directory/doctoral-faculty-directory/.
The master’s program is a two-track system, one focused on PhD preparation and one on professional development. In the PhD-preparation program, you learn the ideas and skills you need for satisfying life-long careers in mass communication. You can choose to obtain a Master of Arts in Mass Communication degree by selecting either the customizable research and theory concentration or the public relations concentration. master’s students in the PhD-preparation track may complete a thesis in many areas, including but not limited to advertising, journalism, public relations, media and technology, and science/health communication. A project in lieu of thesis option is available for some specializations.
The Professional Communication track allows recent graduates or professionals to develop additional skills for today’s communication job market.
General admission: Admission is granted to applicants with and without backgrounds in mass communication. Students without academic preparation in mass communication or appropriate experience may be required to take articulation work. These courses are taken concurrently with general graduate courses, starting in the first term of registration.
The master’s degree normally can be earned in three to four semesters of full-time study. Doctoral studies require three or more years of full-time study and research. Students who may require articulation courses should contact the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies.
Grading policy: Any student whose cumulative GPA falls below 3.0 will be placed on probation. Any doctoral student who receives one grade below B- or a Master’s student who receives one grade below C+ will be placed on probation, with the exception of courses taken from the Levin College of Law. For these courses, any student receiving one grade below C in any course from the Levin College of Law will be placed on probation. A requirement of the probation is that the student must achieve or maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher at the end of the next academic term in residence. A student who fails to satisfy the requirement will be suspended. A Doctoral student who accumulates two grades below “B-“– or a master’s student who accumulates two grades below C+ during graduate studies will be suspended. Students will be allowed only one suspension.
Combination degree program: The College offers a combination bachelor’s/master’s program. For information, contact the Combination Degree advisor.
For additional information, please see our website: http://www.jou.ufl.edu/grad.