Fall 2009 Brigham Young University

Instructor: Dr. Dale Cressman Ofce: 308 BRMB, 422-1686 Consultations: Mon 3-5:30; Tues 9:30-11 a.m. e-mail: cressman@byu.edu Lab Instructor: Chad Curtis Ofce: 151 BRMB, 422-7110 Mobile: (801) 362-8973 e-mail: clcurtis@byu.edu

Prerequisite
Communications 325 (Broadcast News Reporting)

Required materials
Dow Smith, Power Producer: A Practical Guide to TV News Producing, 4th ed. (RTNDA, 2008). This book provides how-to information for your lab work and is the primary text for the opening weeks of the course. It is available at the Bookstore. The class schedule will refer to this book as Smith.

Tom Rosenstiel, et al., We Interrupt This Newscast: How to Improve Local News and Win Ratings, Too (Cambridge University Press, 2007). This book provides the latest research on what does and what doesnt attract audiences. It is available in the Bookstore. The class schedule will refer to this book as Rosenstiel.

AR&D (Audience Research & Development), Live, Local, Broken News: The Reengineering of Local TV (AR&D, 2009). This book is available on Amazon.com. The class schedule will refer to this book as AR&D.

The New York Times is available for free on the rst oor of the Brimhall Building and at the Kennedy Center (just south of the library). A limited number of copies are available on a rst come, rst serve basis. Weekly quizzes will be given on current affairs, as reported in the Times. You may also read online, but you may miss stories you might otherwise see in the print edition. Other readings: Additional readings will be provided on Blackboard.

Course Description
In this course you will learn what its like to be a television news producer. You will have the opportunity to learn in a laboratory newsroom under the direction of experienced broadcast professionals. During much of your twice-weekly lab, you will help to produce the award-winning daily newscast aired on KBYU-TV, Channel 11. Initially, you will serve as an associate producer to the lab assistants who will serve as the executive producers. Later, you will have the opportunity to be the producer in charge which means making editorial decisions and directing your colleagues and other personnel to get the newscast on the air. This class is unusual in that you will have a great deal of real-world responsibility. You will get to use the departments state-

of-the-art broadcast news facility, which includes the latest version of Grass Valley Ignite (control room automation) with robotic studio cameras, Pathre digital video delivery system, and the Avid iNews news management system which interfaces with Ignite and the Deko character generator. You have already worked with the Avid Newscutter in your reporting class, but you will come to appreciate it even more in your producing role. During part of the semester, some students will have the opportunity to have alternative producing experiences outside the newsroom. These assignments will be arranged in the rst weeks of the semester. Course Purpose Many students dont plan on becoming a producer, but nd they enjoy it and can nd gainful and fullling employment as a producer. However, even those who go on to be reporters, anchors, or managers will benet from this course. You will attain skills in newsroom leadership, team-building, editorial decision-making, and audience analysis. The overall goal is that you will be capable of competing with the best students in the eld (see Aims of a BYU Education).

Course Learning Outcomes

1. By the end of the course, you will be capable of producing a 30-minute television newscast (or other types of broadcasts). Relates to Program Learning Outcome that Students will be able to communicate effectively with their audience. 2. By the end of the course, you will be able to demonstrate excellent leadership and team-building skills. Relates to Program Learning Outcome that Students will act professionally in their practice. 3. By the end of the course, you will be able to critically analyze newscasts and their audiences. Relates to Program Learning Outcome that Students will be scholars of the mass communication process. 4. During the course, you will engage in issues related to diversity in the news and ethical decision-making. Relates to Program Learning Outcome that Students will be able to apply Gospel-centered values as they contribute to society.

Student Learning Goals

You are encouraged to set personal goals for this course and refer to them often throughout the semester.

Class Procedures
You will participate twice a week to your assigned lab position. While you are assigned to the newsroom, you will have weekly contact with the course instructor (Dr. Cressman) and will be under the daily supervision of the news director (Bro. Curtis) and his assistants. If you are assigned to a KBYU project, you will be supervised and mentored by a BYU Broadcasting professional. Throughout the semester you will be given reading assignments and brief video lectures. Learning assessments will come in the form of newsroom or studio evaluations, quizzes, and written assignments as described below. The deadlines for these assessments are listed in the class schedule. Assignments, readings, and and discussions will be placed on Blackboard, which, of course, requires that you maintain a Route Y account. The instructor will also use the email address associated with your Route Y account to communicate with you. Please ensure that you have updated your Route Y prole. If you have recently married and changed your name, please use the name by which you are listed on the class roll.

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Newsroom Lab Procedures

You must attend lab on the days for which you are registered. The lab is set up to be just like a working newsroom. Thus, you are expected to conduct yourself in a professional manner and in accordance with the Aims of a BYU Education. In the course of lab participation, the following policies must be followed: You are expected to arrive on time. This isnt just courtesy, but the behavior of the professional you are striving to become. Short of dire emergencies, you must advise a lab supervisor of any anticipated absences before a scheduled lab day. Planned absences must be approved in advance and may require that you nd a replacement. Any substitutions must be approved by the full-time lab staff. You should not plan on missing lab for outside work schedules, vacations, or other nonmedical or non-extraordinary circumstances. Note: During Fall 2009, the University is particularly concerned about a possible outbreak of the H1N1 u virus. If you show signs of the u, you are to contact the newsroom immediately and you are encouraged to stay home according to the guidelines provided by the University (included with this syllabus). You should come prepared to discuss the days events and news occurrences. In an effort to build a forward-thinking newsroom, we dont want to report yesterdays news, but rather what people will be talking about the next day. You are expected to dress professionally. BYU Dress and Grooming standards are a minimum requirement; more professional dress is recommended when representing the university in an ofcial capacity (this includes while working in the newsroom, as we often have ofcial visitors). Please refrain from using your cell phone for personal conversations or text messaging. Also, please refrain from browsing the internet, reading personal email or other materials not related to the class. You are expected to practice teamwork, treating others with dignity and compassion. You are urged to refrain from gossip and other activities that degrade the BYU learning experience. By helping to build a supportive environment for your colleagues, you will nd that you will gain friendships that will last a lifetime. You will also be developing a skill that will help you in the future. We are blessed with an excellent facility. Please treat the it with respect and remember that others sacriced for us to have it. Please remember to clean up after yourselves and take unused clothing home. In order to be treated as a professional news-gathering operation, we must act like one. Much trust is being placed in us by airing our newscast on KBYU-TV. Corrections will be made for factual errors or errors in judgment; clarications are expected when material is not actually inaccurate but is used in a context that implies something untrue (consult the newsroom style guide, the full-time lab staff, and the faculty for further guidance). We will not perpetuate bias against any person or group. You must not accept free trips, reduced rates, or subsidized travel in connection with your newsroom roles (this includes attending conferences sponsored by think-tanks). Exceptions may be made when free or reducedrate transportation is the only way to cover a news event, but prior approval from the news director is necessary. You are to refrain from taking any partisan positions in coverage of political events, as well as refrain from participating in public political activities while you are associated with the newsroom.
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All information used in stories (other than Associated Press wire stories) must be attributed. News is not to be taken from websites without proper attribution. Any form of plagiarism will be reported to the Honor Code Ofce. Please refer to the Honor Code for further information regarding plagiarism.

Participation
As your instructor and a former television news producer I want you to know how excited I am about sharing this course with you! One of my jobs is to share that enthusiasm for this subject and guide you through the learning experience. While I look forward to helping you however I can, I believe you are responsible for your learning. Together we will create an enjoyable and fruitful learning community. You are encouraged to visit me during my ofce hours Id love to visit with you and nd out more about you and how we can further your education and career. You are also welcome to call me if you have an emergency. I can typically return calls within 24 hours. However, please understand that I will not be able to return telephone messages for routine matters, such as covering material you missed in class. Please consult with your class colleagues to obtain such information. Please read the departments Statement on Professionalism, included with this syllabus and posted on the Blackboard site, as it will alert you of other expectations universal to all Communications majors.

Recommended Study Habits & Tips

Readiness to learn means that you will come prepared to discuss current events, newscasts, and the lab experience. It is absolutely vital that you read newspapers (New York Times, Salt Lake Tribune), listen to radio news (KSL, NPR) and watch television news (network & local). There are two purposes for this: one is to stay on top of the news; the other is to see how news is being delivered through the various news media. Finally, I have found that students who do well in this class attend all labs and classes, are eager to help their colleagues and do not fall behind on assignments.

Tips on Using the Syllabus

I recommend that you refer to the learning outcomes intended for this course to evaluate your progress throughout the semester. Please refer to the assignment due dates, evaluation criteria, and related information all of which will be posted on Blackboard. This schedule may be changed as the semester progresses. All changes will be announced through Blackboard.

Learning Assessment Breakdown

Learning Assessments Lab
(Attendance, participation, evaluations)

Weight 50% 30% 20%

Learning Activities
(Quizzes, News U, assignments, nal exam)

Learning Portfolio
(Artifacts & reections)

Assessment Descriptions
Attendance, participation, evaluations (Class participation) The frequency and quality of your lab participation will be assessed by lab supervisors or BYUB professional mentors. Any written feedback you receive should be saved for your learning portfolio, which will be explained below.

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Quizzes & Final Exam (Learning Activities) You will be quizzed on the assigned readings and on current events as reported in the New York Times and on local television stations. These quizzes will normally be administered on Blackboard approximately weekly. A nal exam is anticipated. More details will be given later in the semester. NewsU (Learning Activities) You will be asked to use several News University learning modules. Four are planned and each relate directly to the learning outcomes: Handling Race & Ethnicity Handling Difcult Conversations Advice for the Newly Named News Director New Habits of Media Consumers. These modules require you to use a computer that has Flash Player 8 or higher. It is recommended that Mac users use Firefox or Safari 2.x or higher to access these modules. You might grab a pair of headphones and access them in one of the BRMB open-access computer labs. In order to receive points, you must enter my email (cressman@byu.edu) when prompted. Please note, that I will not remind you to do these and that they will not be accepted after the due date. Newscast rundowns & critiques (Learning Activities) You will be assigned to reconstruct rundowns and provide critiques of Salt Lake City television station newscasts. Ratings analysis (Learning Activities) You will analyze some Nielsen data (from the not too distant past) of the Salt Lake City DMA. Artifacts & reections (Learning Portfolio) You will be asked to retain assignments, scripts & written evaluations to be artifacts that represent your progress throughout the semester. In addition, you will reect each week on what you have learned. These materials will be assembled into a learning portfolio, which will constitute a signicant portion of your grade. You will be given details on Blackboard on how to assemble this learning portfolio.

Grading Procedures
You will be able to check your progress in class and the lab through Blackboard's online grade book. Please do this throughout the semester and bring any discrepancies to our attention as soon as possible (to Chad Curtis for lab grades; to Dr. Cressman for non-lab grades). We will not welcome appeals for assignment grades after the last day of class. It should be noted that a certain amount of work and level of mastery is expected of all students in this class. As indicated in the BYU Undergraduate Catalog, satisfactory completion of the minimum requirements merits a "C" grade. Above average grades will require substantially more achievement. For example, in order to achieve an "A" in the lab, a student must make a superior contribution, displaying leadership, innovation, and an ability to make decisions under pressure. Minimum requirements for a "B" in the lab would include signicant contributions through displays of creativity, initiative, and an ability to work with your colleagues. Some aspects of this course (lab work, essay exams, presentations, class participation) will require that the instructor and lab staff subjectively judge the quality of students' work and competence. In such instances, the following guidelines are illustrative: A: Outstanding, superior, great, striking. (Wow! You're hired -- on the spot!) The quality of the work is reective of a young television professional.

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B: Above average, good, skilled, precise. (You're one of several qualied nal candidates.) This work is better than most done in this class or in the broadcast lab. There is something about this work -- but not everything -- that makes it stand out from the rest. Lab work in this category would be included in the newscast without signicant editing or assistance from the full-time lab staff. C: Average, normal, common, fair, typical. (You were in the running, but maybe next time a job opens up.) Lab work in this category would be typical of what runs on the newscast -- it may take a bit of editing and assistance from the full-time lab staff to make it "air-worthy." There's nothing necessarily wrong with it, but there's nothing in it that makes it stand out -- good or bad. D: Below average, unskilled, rough, decient. (Don't call us, we'll call you.) The quality of this work is somewhat like a "C" but is lacking in a major way. The student is not performing to the minimum level of the class in some basic way. Please seek help immediately. E: Failing

Grading Scale A A B+ B 94-100 90-93 87-89 85-86 B C+ C C 81-84 78-79 70-77 65-69 D+ D D E 60-64 56-59 50-55 Below 50

Course Schedule
A course schedule is attached to this syllabus. It may have to change depending on student needs, guest speakers, or breaking news. All changes will be announced in class and posted on Blackboard.

Course Policies
An incomplete grade will be granted only in unusual circumstances. You must submit a written request for an incomplete grade, describing the circumstances, then have it approved by me. Requests must be made prior to the end of the semester. Because so much of what happens in television news is deadline-critical, we will not accept late assignments.

Academic Honesty
The rst injunction of the BYU Honor Code is the call to be honest. Students come to the university not only to improve their minds, gain knowledge, and develop skills that will assist them in their lifes work, but also to build character. President David O. McKay taught that character is the highest aim of education (The Aims of a BYU Education, p. 6). It is the purpose of the BYU Academic Honesty Policy to assist in fullling that aim. BYU students should seek to be totally honest in their dealings with others. They should complete their own work and be evaluated based upon that work. They should avoid academic dishonesty and misconduct in all its forms, including but not limited to plagiarism, fabrication or falsication, cheating, and other academic misconduct.

Honor Code
In keeping with the principles of the BYU Honor Code, students are expected to be honest in all of their academic work. Academic honesty means, most fundamentally, that any work you present as your own must in fact be your own work and not that of another. Violations of this principle may result in a failing grade in the course and additional disciplinary action by the university. Students are also expected to adhere to the Dress and Grooming Standards. Adherence demonstrates respect for yourself and others
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and ensures an effective learning and working environment. It is the universitys expectation, and my own expectation in class, that each student will abide by all Honor Code standards. Please call the Honor Code Ofce at 422-2847 if you have questions about those standards.

Plagiarism
Writing submitted for credit at BYU must consist of the student's own ideas presented in sentences and paragraphs of his or her own construction. The work of other writers or speakers may be included when appropriate (as in a research paper or book review), but such material must support the student's own work (not substitute for it) and must be clearly identied by appropriate introduction and punctuation and by footnoting or other standard referencing. The substitution of another person's work for the student's own or the inclusion of another person's work without adequate acknowledgment (whether done intentionally or not) is known as plagiarism. It is a violation of academic, ethical, and legal standards and can result in a failing grade not only for the paper but also for the course in which the paper is written. In extreme cases, it can justify expulsion from the University. Because of the seriousness of the possible consequences, students who wonder if their papers are within these guidelines should visit the Writing Lab or consult a faculty member who specializes in the teaching of writing or who specializes in the subject discussed in the paper. Useful books to consult on the topic include the current Harcourt Brace College Handbook, the MLA Handbook, and James D. Lester's Writing Research Papers.

Preventing Sexual Harassment

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination against any participant in an educational program or activity that receives federal funds. The act is intended to eliminate sex discrimination in education and pertains to admissions, academic and athletic programs, and university-sponsored activities. Title IX also prohibits sexual harassment of students by university employees, other students, and visitors to campus. If you encounter sexual harassment or gender-based discrimination, please talk to your professor; contact the Equal Employment Ofce at 801-422-5895 or 1-888-238-1062 (24-hours), or http:// www.ethicspoint.com; or contact the Honor Code Ofce at 801-422-2847.

Diversity
It is illegal to discriminate based on color, race, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability. Likewise, our classroom & newsroom should be welcoming and safe to everyone. Please make it known to the instructor if you have experienced such an offense in the classroom or the lab.

Students with Disabilities

Brigham Young University is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere that reasonably accommodates qualied persons with disabilities. If you have any disability which may impair your ability to complete this course successfully, please contact the Services for Students with Disabilities Ofce (422-2767). Reasonable academic accommodations are reviewed for all students who have qualied, documented disabilities. Services are coordinated with the student and instructor by the SSD Ofce. If you need assistance or if you feel you have been unlawfully discriminated against on the basis of disability, you may seek resolution through established grievance policy and procedures by contacting the Equal
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Employment Ofce at 422-5895, D-285 ASB.

Devotional and Forum Attendance

Brigham Young University's devotional and forum assemblies are an important part of your BYU experience. As Elder Dallin H. Oaks stated, "You neglect your education and fail to use a unique resource of this university if you miss a single one" (from the address Challenges for the Year Ahead, 6 September, 1973). Your attendance at each forum and devotional is strongly encouraged.

About the instructor

Dr. Cressman has worked as a television news producer in South Bend, Indiana (WSBT); as an Executive Producer in Waco, Texas (KWTX) and Salt Lake City (KUTV); as a Managing Editor in Green Bay, Wisconsin (WBAY); and as a line-up editor at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He was a chief liaison ofcer for the Host Broadcaster during the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympic Games. In 1995, Dr. Cressman won an Emmy for producing the television documentary "Russia: Hidden Memory." He has also worked as a newspaper reporter, at the Star-Phoenix in Saskatchewan. Before rst coming to BYU in 1993, he was an assistant professor and news director at Lyndon State College in Vermont. He was an assistant professor at Brigham Young University and news director of KBYU TV and FM between 1993 and 1996. He left BYU to work on a PhD, which he completed in 2003. Before returning to BYU in 2000, he taught at Utah State University for three years. Dr. Cressmans research is on broadcast news history and he has published in the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, American Journalism, Journalism History, and The Journal of Children and Media. In July 2009, his research was highlighted in the Columbia Journalism Review. He is working on a biography of former ABC News President Elmer W. Lower, to be published by the University of Missouri Press. He is currently Historian of the American Journalism Historians Association, and a past division chair for the Broadcast Education Association. He and his wife Rebecca (shes also a broadcaster; you can hear her middays on FM100 in Salt Lake City) are raising three active boys in Spanish Fork.

About the lab staff

Broadcast News Manager Chad Curtis comes to BYU after nearly 15 years as producer at NBC News Channel, the afliate service division of NBC News. An expert on remote news transmission, Chad has coordinated eld production for afliate coverage from major news and sports eventseverything from 9/11 to the presidential nominating convention, to Summer and Winter Olympic Games around the world. Chad is also known for his expertise in working with satellites in delivering video and data content. Before joining NBC News, Chad was lead news producer at WEYI-TV News (CBS, later NBC) in Flint, Michigan and a news producer at KVBC-TV (NBC) in Las Vegas. Chad holds a Masters degree in Communications from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte (where he also taught journalism as an adjunct instructor) and a Bachelors degree from Brigham Young University. Chad moved to Provo in time for the Fall Semester and is
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living here alone until his wife, Linda, and their 12 year-old son can join him later this year. Production manager Dale Green is an Emmy award-winning photographer with 18 years of broadcast production experience. Ten years as a news photographer working in Spartanburg, South Carolina and at KSLTV. He was the Utah County Bureau photographer with Robert Walz for 8 of those years. Dale started his own company 8 years ago and has traveled the world doing many documentaries and sporting events. His work has been seen on NBC, ESPN, CBS, A&E, OLN, CNN, PBS, and PBSHD, and several other local and national shows. He won an Emmy for a documentary on Foster Families and has been nominated two other times for documentaries that he has shoot. He won an Edward R. Murrow award for a documentary for the Childrens Miracle Network about guns and kids. Dale is a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War where he was activated with the 1475th engineer battalion and stationed in Germany. While there he reported on the activities of his unit and had a series of stories called Dales Diary, which won the 1991 SPJ-SDX on going coverage award. Dale has been married for 20 years and has 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls; his oldest is at SUU. He lives in Springville in a 100-year-old house that he has spent the last 12 years remodeling. He loves camping, water skiing, and hiking. His greatest love is working his 32 ft Cammate jib arm at music concerts. He has worked with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stain, B-52's, Peter Cetera, Pointer Sisters, Leann Rimes, and several others.

Important information regarding the u

The following information was sent to all students at the beginning of the Fall 2009 semester. Dear Brigham Young University Student: Welcome to Brigham Young University. Our wish for you is that this will be an enriching and productive school year. In order to help make this possible, we would like to include you in our plans to help prevent the spread of the uor any contagious diseasethis year. As you are aware, health experts are predicting that we will see a continuation of the H1N1 inuenza virus. We also will be experiencing the typical u season. Because the u can be spread so easily from one person
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to another, we are taking steps to prevent this from happening at BYU to the extent reasonably possible. However, we need your help. BYU is working closely with Utahs state and county health departments to monitor u conditions and make decisions about the best steps to take concerning our campus community. We will keep you updated with new information as it becomes available to us. For now, here are a few things you can do to help:

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that you talk with your health care providers about whether you should be vaccinated for seasonal u. Also if you are at higher risk for u complications from 2009 H1N1 u, you should consider getting the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available. People at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 u complications include pregnant women and people with chronic medical conditions (such as asthma, heart disease or diabetes). For more information about priority groups for vaccination, visit www.cdc.gov/h1n1u/vaccination/acip.htm. Practice good hand hygiene by washing your hands with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are effective also. Practice respiratory etiquette by covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. If you dont have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your elbow or shoulder, not into your hands. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth; germs are spread this way. Know the signs and symptoms of the u. Symptoms of the u include fever and cough or sore throat. In addition, symptoms of the u can include runny nose, body aches, headache, tiredness, diarrhea or vomiting. (A fever is a temperature equal to or greater than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Possible signs of fever include feeling very warm, having a ushed appearance or sweating or shivering.) The CDC recommends that if you have the u or a u-like illness, you should stay home for at least 24 hours after you no longer have a fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit or greater) or signs of a fever. This should be determined without the use of fever-reducing medications. If your symptoms worsen, contact your health care provider. Know your health care options in the event you need to see a health care provider. Make sure you have the required information regarding your health care insurance. Obtain the e-mail addresses and telephone numbers of at least a few other students in every class who could share notes if you become ill and cannot go to class. Alert your professors through email or by telephone if you have the u or are showing signs of the u. You should not come to class ill, since your attendance will risk further spread of a serious virus. Communicate with your professors the seriousness of your illness and discuss ways you can submit work and make up any missed work without attending class.

For more information about the u, please visit www.u.gov or http://u.byu.edu, or call 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636). We will continue to stay in contact with you either by e-mail or through BYUs Web site. Thank you for doing all that you can to stay healthy and reduce the spread of any illnesses.

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A Statement on Professionalism Department of Communications Brigham Young University Professionalism A key mission of our department is to prepare students for their eventual workplace experiences. Whether a Communications graduate pursues a career in journalism, advertising, public relations, law, business or any other eld, he/she will be evaluated, in part, on professionalism. Because we feel our responsibility strongly and because it is essential to the career growth of our graduates the Department of Communications instituted a Professionalism policy effective at the beginning of Fall Semester 2004. This policy applies both to students who have been admitted to one of our ve emphases and to precommunications students. Some key features: Any major found in violation of the university Honor Code, especially with regard to cheating and plagiarism, will receive a zero for the assignment involved, may receive an E in the course and will be referred to the Honor Code ofce. Execution of this policy will be at the instructors discretion. In addition, the offending students case will be reviewed by the department chair and/or associate chair for undergraduate studies. If the offense is sufciently serious, the student may be removed from his/her major no matter how close graduation may be. A second violation of academic honesty, whether done concurrently or subsequently, will automatically result in dismissal from the major. Any pre-communications student found cheating will be denied the opportunity to apply to any of our ve emphases. This decision rests with the department chair and associate chair for undergraduate studies. Students who demonstrate consistently unprofessional behavior in class may also be dropped from his/her major or not allowed to apply in the rst place. Examples of unprofessional behavior include but are not limited to excessive absences, disruptive behavior, sleeping in class, chronic tardiness, reading non-course material during class, playing computer games and/or checking e-mail during class, use of cell phone or textmessaging, and regularly leaving class early without making arrangements with the instructor. Policy Enforcement If an instructor feels he or she has a student in violation of this policy, the following should be followed: First warning: This will come from the instructor. A meeting between the instructor and the student will be conducted to resolve the issues of unprofessional behavior. If the violation is excessive enough, the department can be involved (cases of cheating and plagiarism). Following this consultation, the professor and student will sign a letter that describes the problem and subsequent resolution. The department will keep this letter in the students le. Second warning: This will come from the department (either the Chair or Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies). At this time, the student will be reviewed for removal from the department. Both sides of the case will be presented to a review committee composed of faculty from the students emphasis, and a decision will follow a deliberation. A letter explaining the decision must be signed by the members of the committee and will be placed in the students le. Appeal: The rst appeal will be to the Undergraduate Committee. Second appeal will be to the Department Chair. Final appeal will be to the College. Why a policy on Professionalism? It begins with the demand for entrance into our emphases and the fact that some students are being turned away. However, some who are successful in their pursuit of a particular major then demonstrate unprofessional behavior. We have decided we would rather take a student who has a less-impressive academic record but will work diligently than a higher ranking student who treats the major casually and without respect.

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A second factor is the tendency of some majors to coast once in an emphasis. This behavior is potentially serious to a student, who is unlikely to suddenly develop professionalism if hired by an agency, newspaper or television station, nonprot organization or other employer. This, in turn, reects on the reputation of the university, our department and the degree conferred. Our new policy is consistent with those already in effect elsewhere in the university. With thousands of young people desiring to attend BYU many with an interest in Communications we feel an obligation to admit and retain the students who demonstrate the kind of work ethic and behavior that will enhance our collective academic and professional performance.

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