Advertising

 

Welcome,

With over 300 majors, both the Advertising and Public Relations programs are attracting smart and creative students who want to excel beyond the norm. We offer a challenging, yet supportive environment.

Our slogan is "Think Out Loud." We encourage our majors to look at problems in fresh and novel ways. Our majors also have the best tools to help them innovate. We are housed in a new $18 million state-of-the-art building with easily accessible technology.

We embrace new media. Real world and hands-on. I mean really hands on! We also have a professionally managed Ad+PR agency called Imagewest. Our majors can cop class credit for doing real projects for real clients. We also participate in student competitions and stage real events to apply classroom material. The slideshow above features pics from Gameathon, our annual regional video game expo and competition. It's totally produced by students and faculty.

Want experience and a degree? This is the place. Look over the site. If you have any questions, please e-mail the Ad+PR Program coordinator, Cliff Shaluta, directly at cliff.shaluta@wku.edu. You can schedule a tour by clicking here for WKU TOURS http://www.wku.edu/Info/Admissions/newtours.html have admissions set up a campus tour.

Major in Advertising (reference number 727) (rev. 6/10)

The WKU Ad Program offers two concentrations of study. Students may choose between Branding or the Creative Design track. In the Creative track, there are two emphases in Print Advertising Design and Interactive Advertising Design. Students in Print Advertising are required to take the 30-hr minor in Graphic Design offered by the Department of Art exclusively for our majors. Students interested Interactive Advertising may also want to consider the Graphic Design minor.

The Ad major is designed to prepare students for corporate and agency advertising careers.

For students entering the University or declaring the major in fall 2009 and thereafter

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Prospective majors may take no more than 18 hours in the major before admission. Students must meet the following requirements before they can be admitted:

1. Completion of 48 hours of course work applicable to the baccalaureate degree with a minimum overall grade point average of 2.5.

2. Required courses include COMM 145 or COMM 161 (preferably COMM 161), HIST 119 or 120, the university math requirement, and at least a 'C' in ENG 100.

3. Completion of the following courses with at least a 'C': JOUR 201, 202, 232.

CURRICULUM:  For students declaring the major in fall 2009 and thereafter, the major in advertising requires a minimum of 36 semester hours and leads to a Bachelor of Arts Degree. Each major must have a concentration of study (minor or second major) outside journalism/mass communication/communication studies. Generally, students may select any other minor as long as the major advisor approves it, 80 hours are taken outside the major, and at least 65 hours of traditional liberal arts and science courses are completed.

Majors in the print advertising emphases on the creative track must have a minor in graphic arts. A grade of 'D' in any course will not be accepted toward the major and may not be used as a prerequisite. Refer to the University catalog for additional information.

Required courses outside the major:

One Course in Statistics: ECON 206, SOCL 300, AMS 271, MATH 203, or PSY 201;

MKT 220 and either GEOG 110 or GEOG 360.

 

Core Curriculum 18 hours -required for all ad majors (pre-reqs in parenthesis)

JOUR 201Media and Society

JOUR 202Intro Media Writing

JOUR 232Electronic Technologies for Journalism

JOUR 341Principles of Advertising (JOUR 201, 202) (Ideally Spring Soph)

JOUR 300Research in Ad & PR (spring)(JOUR 201,202,341, MKT 220, & Stats)

JOUR 344Advertising in a Digital World (JOUR 341or permission) (Fall Jr)

In addition, 18 hours in one track emphasis listed

 

BRANDING TRACK

JOUR 346Account Planning (fall) (JOUR 300 or permission)

JOUR 349Advertising Media (fall) (JOUR 300)

JOUR 446Advertising Campaigns (Capstone)(spring) (JOUR 349)

9 hours of electives selected from the following:

See the university catalog for prerequisite courses

MKT 328Marketing on the Web

BCOM 266Basic TV Production

BCOM 385Broadcast Commercial Sales

JOUR 131Intro. to Digital Photography

JOUR 340Creative Strategy/Copywriting (spring)

JOUR 343Print Design, Production

JOUR 348Intro Interactive Ad

JOUR 355Fundamentals Public Relations

JOUR 443Interactive Ad Design

JOUR 448Ad Internship or Practicum

JOUR 481Problems in Mass Comm.

JOUR 495Collaborative Journalism

One of the following two law classes

JOUR 301 Press Law & Ethics

BCOM 301 Mass Media Law & Ethics

CREATIVE DESIGN TRACKS

 

Interactive Advertising Design (IAD) Emphasis

BCOM 264Digital Video Production

JOUR 340Creative Strategy and Copywriting (spring) (JOUR 341)

JOUR 343Print Design (JOUR 201, 202, 232)

JOUR 348Intro. to Interactive Ad Design (spring) (JOUR 341 or permission)

JOUR 443Interactive Ad Design (fall) (JOUR 343,348 or permission)

JOUR 444Advance Interactive Ad Design (spring)(capstone) (JOUR 443 or permission)

Print Advertising Design Emphasis

[minor in Graphic Arts #385 required]

JOUR 340Creative Strategy and Copywriting (spring) (JOUR 341)

JOUR 343Print Design (JOUR 201, 202, 232)

JOUR 345Copywriting & Layout (fall) (JOUR 343 & satisfactory rating on portfolio review)

JOUR 445Advanced Copywriting/Layout (spring) (capstone) (JOUR 345 & senior standing)

6 hours of electives selected from the following:

See the university catalog for prerequisite courses

BCOM 266Basic TV Production

BCOM 385Broadcast Commercial Sales

JOUR 131Intro. to Digital Photography

JOUR 346Account Planning (fall)

JOUR 355Fundamentals Public Relations

JOUR 348Intro to Interactive Ad (spring)

JOUR 443Interactive Ad Design (fall)

All 4-year plans require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view. If you do not have Acrobat Reader installed on your browser, simply click the image below for a quick and easy FREE install.

Advertising Major- 4-year track

 

 

For students entering the University and declaring the major prior to fall 2009 the following curriculum applies.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Prospective majors may take no more than 18 hours in the major before admission. Students must meet the following requirements before they can be admitted:

Completion of 48 hours of course work applicable to the baccalaureate degree with a minimum overall grade point average of 2.5.

Required courses include COMM 145 or COMM 161 (preferably COMM 161), HIST 119 or 120, the university math requirement, and ENG 100 with at least a 'C'.

Completion of the following courses with at least a 'C': JOUR 201, 202, 232.

CURRICULUM:  The major in advertising requires a minimum of 36 semester hours and leads to a Bachelor of Arts Degree. Each major must have a concentration of study (minor or second major) outside journalism/mass communication/communication studies. Generally, students may select any other minor as long as the major advisor approves it, 80 hours are taken outside the major area of journalism and mass communication, with no fewer than 65 semester hours in the liberal arts and natural sciences.

Majors in the print advertising emphases in the creative track must have a minor in graphic arts.

A grade of 'D' will not be accepted toward the major. Refer to the University catalog for additional information.

All majors in advertising are required to take a statistics course (ECON 206 if a Marketing minor), MKT 220 and GEOG 110 or GEOG 360.

Required core courses - 18 hours

JOUR 201Media and Society JOUR 202Introduction to Newswriting, Reporting for Journalism JOUR 232Electronic Technologies JOUR 341Principles of Advertising (spring Soph) JOUR 344Advertising in a Digital World (fall Jr) JOUR 300Researching in Advertising & Public Relations (spring Jr)

 

additional 18-hours in one of four concentrations listed below

Account Services Track Account Services JOUR 346Account Planning (fall Sr) JOUR 349Advertising Media (fall Sr) JOUR 446Campaigns (Spring Sr) Restricted Elective Restricted Elective Restricted Elective Restricted Elective List: BCOM 266, 385; JOUR 131, 301, 340, 343, 355, 443, 448, 481; MKT 328

 

Creative Track Print Advertising JOUR 340Creative Strategy and Copywriting (spring Jr) JOUR 343Print Design (fall Sr) JOUR 345Copywriting & Layout (fall Sr) JOUR 445Advanced Copywriting & Layout (spring Sr) Restricted Elective Restricted Elective Restricted Elective List: BCOM 266, 385; JOUR 131, 301, 346, 355, 443, 448, 481; MKT 328 Creative Track Broadcast Advertising JOUR 340Creative Strategy and Copywriting (spring Jr) BCOM 261Basic Radio Production (fall Jr) BCOM 266Basic TV Production (spring Jr) JOUR 347Broadcast Advertising or (effective 2009) BCOM 264 Digital Video Production BCOM 366Video Editing, Aesthetics and Techniques (fall Sr) BCOM 367Field Production or JOUR 448 Ad Internship Creative Track Interactive Advertising JOUR 340Creative Strategy and Copywriting (spring Jr) JOUR 343Print Design (spring Soph) JOUR 443Interactive Ad Design (fall Sr) JOUR 444Advanced Interactive Ad Design (spring Sr) Restricted Elective Restricted Elective Restricted Elective List: BCOM 266, 385; JOUR 131, 301, 346, 355, 448, 481; MKT 328

 

Restricted Elective Course Titles JOUR 131Digital Photography JOUR 301Press Law and Ethics JOUR 340Creative Strategies and Copywriting (spring)   JOUR 343Print Design, Production and Typography JOUR 346Account Planning (fall) JOUR 355Fundamentals of Public Relations JOUR 443Interactive Advertising Design (fall) JOUR 448Advertising Internship or Practicum JOUR 481Problems in Mass Communication BCOM 266Basic TV Production BCOM 385Broadcast Commercial Sales MKT 328Marketing on the World Wide Web

The following four-year plans are designed to help students implement their program in the advertising major.

All 4-year plans require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view. If you do not have Acrobat Reader installed on your browser, simply click the image below for a quick and easy FREE install.

Advertising Major- 4-year track