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Bachelor of Arts in Communication & Entrepreneurial Leadership

Engage in project management, teamwork, problem solving, and effective communication practices within a professional context.

The Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Entrepreneurial Leadership (B.A. COMEL) degree focuses on project management, entrepreneurship, team building, and message design and delivery to prepare our students for entry-level jobs in fields such as civic organizing, media production, public relations, management, and other positions that require organizational leadership and business development.

The B.A. COMEL prepares students to become leaders and entrepreneurs in today’s increasingly complex world.

Students in this major explore a wide variety of co-curricular opportunities as they find their focus, including producing content for the Landmark College TV and radio stations, contributing to the student-run magazine Voices, and participating in the Landmark College Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program (LEAP).


Learn more about the B.A. COMEL Degree

  • The B.A. COMEL degree was intentionally designed to draw from communication and business to capitalize on the dynamic intersection of those disciplines.

    The B.A. COMEL integrates practical experience with interdisciplinary understanding through a model that emphasizes collaboration and innovation. The degree promotes exploration of the nature of human communication and utilizes creative and appropriate modalities and technologies to accomplish communicative goals.

    Over the course of this degree, students will strengthen qualities of creative and resilient leadership and learn how to effect collaborative, transformative change in an ethical and culturally sensitive manner.

  • Find Your Passion!

    Become a DJ on our campus radio station WLMC, write for Voices, our student-run publication, create a show for Voices TV, or follow up on a creative business idea guided by our Landmark Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program (LEAP).

    These are a few examples of cocurricular activities drawn from the B.A. COMEL curriculum for students to expand upon for personal interest and growth. “After hours” participation is an opportunity to learn and apply skills and processes as well as practice teamwork development and project management.

    With an emphasis upon leadership and collaboration, our cocurricular opportunities build community and support campus life.
    • Check out the Idea Lab, our makerspace, to explore both high and low tech tools and techniques and engage in projects ranging from robotics to Legos to crafts.
    • Try out the Adobe Publishing Suite in the Mini Lab to generate polished videos and multimedia promotional materials.
    • Gain experience and build your resume by serving on the executive board of the TV Studio.
    • Earn credit with our one-credit courses such as Digital Storytelling, Launch a Business, and Editorial Leadership.
    • Participate in our Annual Pitch contest to gain start-up funds to test new business initiatives and enterprises.

  • The B.A. COMEL emphasis upon hands-on learning leads to many credit-bearing internship opportunities, both on campus and off.

    Recent internships include:
    • Grocery Marketing & Retail Management
    • Real Estate Assistant
    • Small Venue Management
    • Sports Broadcasting Production
    • Social Media Specialist
    • TV Production and Archive Assistant
    • Event Planning and Promotion
    • Brand Writing and Web Design
    The college has partnerships with the following organizations that offer neurodiverse friendly supportive workforce and internship programs:
    • Broad Futures
    • Dynamy
    • Disability IN
    • Neurodiversity Pathways
    • Hasbro
  • Where to Go From Here?

    The B.A. COMEL degree provides a foundation for the following career options. (To advance in some areas additional education and/or experience may be necessary.)

    • Advertising/Marketing: advertising or marketing specialist, copywriter, account executive, sales manager, media planner, media buyer, creative director, media sales representative, sales and marketing manager, media manager.
    • Electronic Media/Radio-Television/Broadcasting: program director, community relations director, film editor, news director, reporter, sales associate/manager, web designer, audience/market researcher, media buyer, announcer/news anchor, public relations manager, comedy writer, casting director, producer, business manager, floor manager, talk show host.
    • Health Communication: health educator, school health care administrator, medical grant writer, clinic public relations director, health communication analyst, medical training supervisor, communication manager for federal health agencies, medical center publications editor, hospice manager, health care counselor, health facility fundraiser.
    • Journalism (Print or Electronic): reporter, editor, newscaster, copywriter, script writer, publisher, news service researcher, technical writer, acquisitions editor, media interviewer.
    • New Media and Technology: digital graphic designer, web publisher, e-zine writer and editor, game designer, app developer, social media marketing specialist, website designer and administrator, new media researcher.
    • Organizational Communication: human resources/training/internal communication specialist, meeting manager, labor negotiator, recruiter, industrial media producer/director, technical writer, community/government affairs coordinator, research/knowledge manager.
    • Political Communication: press secretary, speech writer, political campaign consultant, elected official, political reporter, diplomat, lobbyist, lawyer, legislative assistant, communication director.
    • Public Relations: publicity manager, press agent, lobbyist, public affairs specialist, development officer, fundraiser, membership recruiter, sales manager, media analyst, media planner, creative director, audience analyst, community relations specialist, internal communication director, public opinion researcher.
    • Risk and Crisis Communication: public relations officer, corporate spokesperson, corporate trainer, communication consultant, spokesperson for government agencies.

    Source: Adapted from National Communication Association (2011). Pathways to communication careers in the 21st century. Washington DC: National Communication Association.

  • Curriculum

    To earn the B.A. COMEL degree, students must complete 121 credits:

    • 57 major required courses:
      • 39 major required credits—CORE + Focus Area
      • 18 major required credits that also count toward general education
    • 22 additional credits to complete the general education requirements, 
    • 42 open electives (21 must be at the 3000/4000 level)

    Major Requirements

    [COMEL Core (15) + COMEL Gen Ed (18)] + Focus Area (24) = 57 credits total

    COMEL Core (Includes courses that could also meet a general education requirement)—33 credits

    • COM1011 Introduction to Communication (Gen Ed): 3 credits
    • Interpersonal Communications Requirement (Gen Ed): 3 credits

      • COM2021 Interpersonal Communication or BUS2011 Effective Business Communication: 3 credits
    • Media Production Requirement: 3 credits

      • JRN2011 Journalism OR COM2065 Radio Production OR completion of three 1-credit courses:
      • COM1101 Intro to Publications
      • COM1160 Radio Training
      • COM2066 Digital Storytelling
      • COM2102 Publication Staff
      • COM2073 Editorial Staff
      • COM3072 Editorial Leadership
      • COM3101 Publication Management
      • COM4101 Publication Leadership
      • COM4102 Radio Leadership
    • Entrepreneurial Leadership Requirement: 3 credits

      • BUS2021 Entrepreneurship and Innovation OR COM2041 Team-Based Communication
    • Organization Requirement: 3 credits

    • MGT2011 Principles of Management OR MGT2021 Human Resource Management OR completion of three 1-credit courses:
      • BUS1100 Employment Readiness Experience
      • BUS2012 Launch a Business
      • COM1130 The Practice of Leadership
      • COM1180 Mediation Skills
    • Messaging Requirement: 3 credits

      • MKT2011 Intro to Marketing OR COM2071 Public Speaking
    • Quantitative Reasoning Requirement (Gen Ed): 3 credits

      • ECN2021 Microeconomics OR ECN2031 Macroeconomics OR ACC2011 Principles of Accounting 2: 3 credits
    • Advanced Writing in the Discipline Requirement (UD Gen Ed): 3 credits

      • COM3041 Leadership and Facilitation OR WRT3011 Advanced Writing
    • Alternative Experience Requirement (Gen Ed): 3 credits

      • COM3061 Guided Leadership Practicum
      • COM4001 Senior Capstone (Gen Ed): 3 credits

    Focus Area Choice: (24 credits)

    Leadership for Organizational and Social Change

    Choose four:
    • ACC3031 Forensic Accounting
    • BUS3031 Opportunity Management
    • COM3021 Relationships & Relational Communication
    • COM3071 Professional Presentations
    • COM3075 Internatural Communication
    • COM3084 SpTp Persuasion: The Art and Logic of Argument
    • ECN3011 Analysis of 21st Cent Issues & Trends
    • MGT3031 Organizational Behavior
    • Relevant Internships in ACC, COM, ECN, MKT, MGT
    Plus Select four 3000/4000-level courses from the following disciplines:

    Accounting, Anthropology, Business, Communication, Education, Environmental Science, Interdisciplinary Topics, Management, Marketing, Political Science, Psychology, or Sociology

    Multimodal Communication and Storytelling

    Choose four:
    • COM3063 SpTp Narrative Non-Fiction
    • COM3077 SpTp Crisis Communication
    • COM3075 Radio Programming
    • COM3051 SpTp Intercultural Competence
    • COM3062 TV & Video Production
    • COM3064 Communication Ethics in a New Media World
    • JRN3011 SpTp Advanced News Reporting
    • MKT3011 Global Marketing
    • Relevant Internships in COM, JRN, MKT
    Plus select four 3000/4000-level courses from the following disciplines:

    Art, Business, Communication, Computer Science, Creative Writing, Interdisciplinary Topics, Journalism, Literature, Marketing, Music, Photography, Theater, or Video

    Additional General Education Core Requirements

    25 credits at the 1000/2000 level:
    • WRT1011 Composition and Rhetoric: 3 credits
    • WRT1012 Research and Analysis: 3 credits
    • EDU1011 Perspectives in Learning: 3 credits
    • EDU2061 Education and Identity: 3 credits
    • Humanities Distribution Elective: 3 credits
    • Natural Science with lab Distribution Elective: 4 credits
    • Social Science Distribution Elective: 3 credits
    • Mathematics Distribution Elective (as indicated through placement exam): 3 credits
    42 credits in Open Electives, 21 at any level and 21 at the 3000/4000 level

    121 total credits

  • Graduates from this program will be able to:

    Professional Communication Theory, Identity, and Ethics

    • Demonstrate an understanding of the role of communication in the professional workplace
    • Demonstrate the ability to accomplish communicative goals (self-efficacy)
    • Evaluate the ethical behaviors and outcomes of decisions within a professional environment
    • Utilize communication to embrace difference

    Entrepreneurial Leadership, Resource Assessment, and Project Management

    • Understand the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and social dimensions of leadership
    • Demonstrate knowledge of the organizational responsibilities of leaders
    • Evaluate conditions to identify challenges and opportunities to guide decision making and planning
    • Apply leadership skills to strategic development and change

    Message Development, Design, and Delivery

    • Appraise messages both sent and received
    • Demonstrate communication technologies and techniques
    • Create messages appropriate to the audience, purpose, and context
    • Influence public discourse

Questions?

Jeanette Landin headshot

Jeanette Landin
Program Coordinator, B.A. in Communication and Entrepreneurial Leadership
802-387-6830
[email protected]

 

Photo of Professor Eric Matte

Eric Matte
Chair, Department of Professional Studies
802-387-1675
[email protected]

 

Dean John Vitale headshot

John Vitale
Dean of Professional Studies and Science
802-387-6347
[email protected]

 

Interested in applying?

Whether you are new to Landmark College or are a former student interested in returning for a baccalaureate degree, you can apply here. (The reenrollment process for Landmark College alumni can be found under the Returning tab.)

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