Getting Advice

This past week was big for the Department of Communication Studies, as we convened our first meeting of the Communication Advisory Council. Doesn't sound like much at first to prospective and current students — but the CAC will play a big role in helping connect our program and students with industry professionals around the area and state.

We sent out about 35 invitations last spring, thinking maybe half of those invited would join the group. We were pleasantly surprised when nearly everyone accepted — and shocked when nearly everyone showed up for last Tuesday's first meeting at Simpson's West Des Moines campus.

The board is a Who's Who of media and communication professionals -- the area's newspaper, radio, television, multimedia, public relations, magazine, marketing and corporate sectors are represented. We even have a state legislator on board.

The first meeting was devoted to introducing the members of the board to our programs and to Simpson generally. We heard from President John Byrd, who told the board about Simpson's commitment to building communication studies into a centerpiece of what he calls Simpson's position as a "comprehensive college with a strong liberal arts focus."

The board's input will be crucial in the coming weeks, months and years as we look at changing our curriculum to reflect all of the major changes that are impacting communication education in specific and liberal education in general. Stay tuned: I'll be blogging about the board and our discussions in the weeks ahead.