Communications Curricula | Spencer Brenneman, LLC

Every year new communicators join the workforce—which is desperately needed. But how are college communication curricula preparing them for the world we have today and the world we’ll have tomorrow? This episode looks at what today’s students are learning and how are they preparing for careers in communications.

Key Takeaways

Careers in communication can play a key role in promoting important public health initiatives.

We should approach different generation cohorts because they have different expectations for media consumption, different levels of digital literacy, and digital access.

Communication curricula should include helping students in ways such as standing up for themselves and what they believe in, knowing the difference between credible and identifying non-critical research, and ethical and unethical behavior.

They also need to help create powerful leaders, writers, readers, and impactful communicators.

Future college communication curricula should focus on the developing strategic digital world. However, they should not lose sight of core elements like interpersonal communication, ethics, and being good colleagues and team members.

Managing new communication graduates requires listening, mentorship programs, challenges, and socialization opportunities.

Dr. Cody Clemens’ primary research and teaching foci are in Health, Organizational, Relational, and Gender Communication. His scholarly work has appeared in the Journal of Communication Pedagogy, Health Communication, Ohio Communication Journal, The Forensic of Pi Kappa Delta, and Carolinas Communication Annual. He also published a book chapter in The Handbook of Communication Training (Routledge) with his co-authors on Belbin Team Roles. His doctoral dissertation research focused on the experiences and identities of individuals living with the chronic autoimmune disease, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Dr. Clemens actively presents and participates at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry Conference, the International Association of Autoethnography and Narrative Inquiry Conference, the National Communication Association Conference, and the Ohio Communication Association Conference.

Episode Guest

For his research and service, he has been awarded numerous awards from institutions like Bowling Green State University and the National Communication Association’s Training & Development Division. He is currently the Vice President for the Ohio Communication Association, and he serves as a reviewer for the Ohio Communication Journal, Journal of Autoethnography, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, and Women & Language.

He has Ph.D. in Health & Organizational Communication from Bowling Green State University, an MA in Corporate Communication, Duquesne University; and a BA-Organizational Communication & Public Relations, from Marietta College where he serves as an Assistant Professor.

In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his many horses, and his dog, Betty.