Student Media

Student Media

In Student Media, students create content for TV, radio, print magazines and newspapers, websites and social media. Together, they reach thousands of people every day, delivering original reporting, information, entertainment and advertising. 

IdeaBase

IdeaBase: Student-Powered Agency

IdeaBase is a Kent State student-powered design agency located in Franklin Hall. IdeaBase bridges the gap between classroom and career by bringing together top-performing Kent State students to tackle real-world client problems. The team represents a variety of backgrounds, including visual communication design, public relations, advertising, digital media production, computer information systems, emerging media and technology, marketing and communication studies students.

Nichole L. Egbert

Nichole currently teaches courses in Health Communication, Relational Communication and Foundations of Communication. Her research interests include social support and health, health literacy and spirituality/religiosity in health contexts.

Research Fields: Health Communication Interpersonal Communication Health Literary Social Support Spirituality/Religiosity social support in health contexts Health & Spirituality

American Advertising Federation

American Advertising Federation 

Kent State University’s chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAF Kent State) is a student-led advocacy organization for the advertising industry.

As an on-campus hub for undergraduate and graduate students interested in all aspects of advertising, AAF Kent brings together those interested in advertising, fashion design and merchandising, marketing, entrepreneurship, visual communication design, and communication studies. 

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Advertising - B.S.

The advertising major provides a perfect blend of creativity and business acumen, allowing you to launch a successful career in the dynamic advertising industry. With a digital-first mindset and hands-on experience early on, you'll learn how to develop compelling campaigns that connect to audiences and make an impact. Read more...

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Program Information for Advertising - B.S.

Program Description

Full Description

The Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising gives students the chance to connect with people through different media forms, by selecting the right audience, uncovering consumer insights and developing strategic and creative messaging, all with a digital-first mindset. Curriculum focuses on the advertising industry and the social responsibilities associated with this exciting form of persuasive media.

Coursework is supplemented with an internship. Other opportunities for experience include news, production, management, sales, performance and advertising positions with Kent State’s award-winning student media. Positions may also be available with IdeaBase, a student-run, full-service integrated marketing communications firm just down the hall from classrooms. Students teams also have the chance to participate in national competitions and make professional connections in the Franklin Advertising student group.

Students graduate ready for a career planning, buying and creating materials for digital and traditional outlets.

Students may apply early to the following master's degree programs and double count 9 credit hours of graduate courses toward both degree programs. See the Combined Bachelor's/Master's Degree Program Policy in the University Catalog for more information.

Admissions

Admission Requirements

The university affirmatively strives to provide educational opportunities and access to students with varied backgrounds, those with special talents and adult students who graduated from high school three or more years ago.

First-Year Students on the Kent Campus: First-year admission policy on the Kent Campus is selective. Admission decisions are based upon cumulative grade point average, strength of high school college preparatory curriculum and grade trends. Students not admissible to the Kent Campus may be administratively referred to one of the seven regional campuses to begin their college coursework. For more information, visit the admissions website for first-year students.

First-Year Students on the Regional Campuses: First-year admission to Kent State’s campuses at Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Salem, Stark, Trumbull and Tuscarawas, as well as the Twinsburg Academic Center, is open to anyone with a high school diploma or its equivalent. For more information on admissions, contact the Regional Campuses admissions offices.

International Students: All international students must provide proof of English language proficiency (unless they meet specific exceptions) by earning a minimum 525 TOEFL score (71 on the Internet-based version), minimum 75 MELAB score, minimum 6.0 IELTS score or minimum 48 PTE Academic score, or by completing the ELS level 112 Intensive Program. For more information, visit the admissions website for international students.

Transfer Students: Students who have attended any other educational institution after graduating from high school must apply as undergraduate transfer students. For more information, visit the admissions website for transfer students.

Former Students: Former Kent State students or graduates who have not attended another college or university since Kent State may complete the reenrollment or reinstatement form on the University Registrar’s website.

Admission policies for undergraduate students may be found in the University Catalog's Academic Policies.

Some programs may require that students meet certain requirements before progressing through the program. For programs with progression requirements, the information is shown on the program's Coursework tab.

Current Kent State Students: Active Kent State students who wish to change their major to Advertising must have a minimum 2.000 overall GPA to be admitted.

Learning Outcomes

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate preparation for working in a global and diverse society.
  2. Develop SMART objectives to clarify and define communication goals.
  3. Apply strategic thinking and planning to build and execute elements of advertising campaigns.
  4. Analyze audiences using primary and secondary research.
  5. Craft well written material in a variety of lengths and formats to effectively communicate messages to a range of audiences.
  6. Create visually compelling materials to effectively communicate messages to a range of audiences.
  7. Apply best practices when utilizing a range of platforms for message delivery.
  8. Demonstrate professionalism in written, verbal and nonverbal communications, including maintaining strong ethical principles.
Coursework

Program Requirements

Major Requirements

Major Requirements (courses count in major GPA) (min C- grade in all courses)
EMAT 10310MY STORY ON THE WEB 3
or MDJ 20011 PRODUCTION FUNDAMENTALS
MDJ 20001MEDIA, POWER AND CULTURE (DIVD) (KSS) 3
MDJ 20004ADVERTISING WRITING AND STORYTELLING 3
MDJ 20008RESEARCH AND MEASUREMENT IN ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS 3
MDJ 21001PRINCIPLES OF ADVERTISING 3
MDJ 21015FOUNDATIONS OF STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATION 3
MDJ 31002ADVERTISING COPYWRITING (WIC) 13
MDJ 31003ADVERTISING MEDIA PLANNING 3
MDJ 31004DIGITAL ADVERTISING 3
MDJ 31007DIGITAL ANALYTICS IN ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS 2
MDJ 31011ADVERTISING STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT 3
MDJ 40006LAW OF MEDIA AND JOURNALISM 3
or MDJ 40016 LAW OF ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
MDJ 40011ETHICAL ISSUES IN INTEGRATED COMMUNICATION 1
MDJ 40027RACE, GENDER, CLASS AND DIS/ABILITY IN MEDIA INDUSTRIES (DIVD) 3
MDJ 40092INTERNSHIP (ELR) 1
MDJ 41099ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS (ELR) 3
or MDJ 41199 CAPSTONE: CAMPAIGNS IN ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS (ELR)
Media and Journalism Electives, choose from the following:6
CCI 45091
SEMINAR IN MEDIA AND MOVEMENTS (ELR)
MDJ 40092
INTERNSHIP (ELR)
MDJ 40201
PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTICE: PUBLIC AFFAIRS
MDJ 40202
PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTICE: CRISIS COMMUNICATION
MDJ 40295
SELECTED TOPICS IN MEDIA AND JOURNALISM
MDJ 41075
POLITICAL ADVERTISING
MDJ 41150
GLOBAL ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
MDJ 41192
PRACTICUM IN ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS (ELR)
MDJ 41395
SELECTED TOPICS IN ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
Additional Requirements (courses do not count in major GPA)
UC 10001FLASHES 101 1
College of Communication and Information Core Electives, choose from the following:9
CCI 10095
SPECIAL TOPICS IN COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION
CCI 40089
BRANDING AND SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES FOR ITALIAN LIFESTYLE (DIVG) (ELR)
CCI 40095
SPECIAL TOPICS IN COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION
CCI 40189
ITALIAN POP CULTURE (DIVG) (ELR)
CCI 40289
ITALIAN CINEMA (DIVG) (ELR)
CCI 40389
DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING (DIVG) (ELR)
CCI 40489
MULTIMEDIA EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING (DIVG) (ELR)
CCI 45089
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN THE COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION (DIVG) (ELR)
CCI 46089
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN THE COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION (DIVG) (ELR)
COMM 15000
INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN COMMUNICATION (KADL)
COMM 35852
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION (DIVG)
EMAT 25310
CREATIVE CODING
EMAT 33310
HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
LIS 30010
INFORMATION FLUENCY IN THE WORKPLACE AND BEYOND
UXD 20001
INTRODUCTION TO USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN
VCD 13000
VISUAL DESIGN THINKING
Kent Core Composition6
Kent Core Mathematics and Critical Reasoning3
Kent Core Humanities and Fine Arts (minimum one course from each)9
Kent Core Social Sciences (must be from two disciplines)3
Kent Core Basic Sciences (must include one laboratory)6-7
Kent Core Additional6
General Electives (total credit hours depends on earning 120 credit hours, including 39 upper-division credit hours) 228
Minimum Total Credit Hours:120
1

A minimum C grade must be earned to fulfill the writing-intensive requirement. If course is not being used to fulfill the writing-intensive requirement, a minimum grade of C- must be earned.

2

A maximum of 4 credit hours of Physical Activity, Wellness and Sport (PWS) courses may be applied toward the degree program.

Progression Requirements

  • No grade lower than a C- in a MDJ course will be counted toward graduation or as a prerequisite for a subsequent class.

Graduation Requirements

Minimum Major GPA Minimum Overall GPA
2.000 2.000
Roadmap

Roadmap

This roadmap is a recommended semester-by-semester plan of study for this major. However, courses designated as critical (!) must be completed in the semester listed to ensure a timely graduation.

Plan of Study Grid
Semester OneCredits
MDJ 20001 MEDIA, POWER AND CULTURE (DIVD) (KSS) 3
MDJ 21001 PRINCIPLES OF ADVERTISING 3
UC 10001 FLASHES 101 1
College of Communication and Information Core Elective 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
 Credit Hours16
Semester Two
EMAT 10310
or MDJ 20011
MY STORY ON THE WEB
or PRODUCTION FUNDAMENTALS
3
MDJ 21015 FOUNDATIONS OF STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATION 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
 Credit Hours15
Semester Three
MDJ 20004 ADVERTISING WRITING AND STORYTELLING 3
MDJ 20008 RESEARCH AND MEASUREMENT IN ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS 3
College of Communication and Information Core Elective 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
 Credit Hours15
Semester Four
MDJ 31011 ADVERTISING STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
General Elective 6
 Credit Hours15
Semester Five
MDJ 31003
or MDJ 31004
ADVERTISING MEDIA PLANNING
or DIGITAL ADVERTISING
3
MDJ 31007 DIGITAL ANALYTICS IN ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS 2
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
General Electives 3
 Credit Hours14
Semester Six
MDJ 31002 ADVERTISING COPYWRITING (WIC) 3
MDJ 31003
or MDJ 31004
ADVERTISING MEDIA PLANNING
or DIGITAL ADVERTISING
3
MDJ 40027 RACE, GENDER, CLASS AND DIS/ABILITY IN MEDIA INDUSTRIES (DIVD) 3
General Electives 6
 Credit Hours15
Third Summer Term
MDJ 40092 INTERNSHIP (ELR) 1
 Credit Hours1
Semester Seven
MDJ 40016
or MDJ 40006
LAW OF ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
or LAW OF MEDIA AND JOURNALISM
3
Media and Journalism Elective 3
General Electives 9
 Credit Hours15
Semester Eight
MDJ 40011 ETHICAL ISSUES IN INTEGRATED COMMUNICATION 1
MDJ 41099
or MDJ 41199
ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS (ELR)
or CAPSTONE: CAMPAIGNS IN ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS (ELR)
3
College of Communication and Information Core Elective 3
Media and Journalism Elective 3
General Electives 4
 Credit Hours14
 Minimum Total Credit Hours:120
Program Delivery
  • Delivery:
    • In person
  • Location:
    • Kent Campus
Accreditation

Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC)

Examples of Possible Careers and Salaries for Advertising - B.S.

Advertising and promotions managers

-1.1%

decline

28,600

number of jobs

$133,460

potential earnings

Market research analysts and marketing specialists

17.7%

much faster than the average

738,100

number of jobs

$65,810

potential earnings

Additional Careers
  • Brand Marketing Specialist
  • Media Planner and Buyer
  • Social Media Strategist
Notice: Career Information Source
* Source of occupation titles and labor data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook. Data comprises projected percent change in employment over the next 10 years; nation-wide employment numbers; and the yearly median wage at which half of the workers in the occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less.

Cristin Compton

Cristin A. Compton, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the School of Communication Studies. She teaches courses in organizational communication, gender and communication and qualitative methods.

Research Fields: Communication Studies, Sexuality, Organizational Communication, Gender and Communication

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