Seigfred Hall

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The College of Communication offers an interdisciplinary visual communication degree with five specialized sequences. The school has been twice recognized as a Program of Excellence in photography and visual communication by the Ohio Board of Regents. Students can earn a Bachelor of Science in Visual Communication.

The program is designed to provide students with realistic and thorough broad-based professionally oriented training in visual communication while providing the necessary liberal arts and cultural background for a strong educational foundation.

Intensive training is offered in informational graphics, interactive multimedia, photo communication for newspapers and magazines, photo illustration, and picture editing/page design.

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Goals of the School

1. To equip students with the necessary skills to be successful in the media,and the background and motivation to enable them to compete for leadership roles in the field.
2. Ro provide assistance and professional guidance in visual communication to working photographers,editors,and other personnel,newspapers,press services,magazines,industrial photographic departments,trade associations,multimedia and educational media production units,and cultural and scientific visual communicators.
3. To set high standards for visual integrity and communication ethics;
4. to foster and promote scholarly research.

Internships

In recent years, Ohio University visual communication students have worked on paid internships at newspapers and magazines and in advertising, photo illustration, and audiovisual production. Internships have been available in almost all states and several international locations, including Brazil, France, Japan, and Norway.

Many Ohio University visual communication students are active members of the Ohio News Photographers Association and other state press photographer groups and are student members of the National Press Photographers Association,the Society for Newspaper Design,and the American Society of Magazine Photographers. Ohio University students have been successful in state and national photography competitions,and have done particularly well in the annual William Randolph Hearst foundation photojournalism competition,which is open to any student taking photojournalism courses in any of the more than 90 participating colleges and universities.

Bachelor of Science

Admission Requirements-B.S.V.C.

The School of Visual Communication admits only the best academically and professionally qualified students who normally rank in the top quarter of their high school class or have a strong portfolio. If you have a lower class ranking,you are considered if you have outstanding SAT or ACT scores. In addition,if you demonstrate notable talent or experience or are a member of a historically under-represented group in the school,you will be given special consideration for admission. If you do not meet the minimum requirements for admission (low SAT/ACT and/or class standing), you may apply for admission based on talent. To supplement your application, you may submit a portfolio of at least 15 slides (copies of examples of original work) by January 15 to the School of Visual Communication, Ohio University, Seigfred Hall 301, Athens OH 45701.

Visual communication is a career-oriented professional program built on a still photography base. To be competitive in the photo communication and photo illustration sequences, you should have at least a 35mm camera with a minimum of two prime interchangeable lenses. One lens should have a 35mm or wider focal length with an f2.8 or faster aperture. The second lens should be in the 135mm to 200mm f2.8 range. The camera should permit you to have full manual control of aperture, shutter speeds, and focusing. Students aspiring to careers in picture editing/page design are required to take three introductory-level photographic courses requiring access to similar equipment. Informational graphics majors take one introductory photographic course with less stringent requirements. An automatic "point-and-shoot" camera will not meet the requirements of any VICO photographic class.

All students planning to become visual communication majors should enroll directly as visual communication majors entering the School of Visual Communication.

Transfer Students

You may receive additional consideration if you have demonstrated professional talent or experience or are a member of a historically underrepresented group.

These requirements apply to students transferring from other universities,from other programs within Ohio University,or from one program to another within the College of Communication. If you transfer from elsewhere in the university,you must satisfy the School of Journalism's English Proficiency Requirement before admission to the School of Visual Communication.

You must be enrolled for one academic year (three consecutive quarters) or the final 48 hours in the school to earn a degree.

General Requirements-B.S.V.C.

School of Visual Communication majors are required to meet all General Education Requirements of Ohio University, including Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III. A thoughtful selection from the Tier II list will enable you to meet the school requirements below while fulfilling many of Ohio University's Tier II requirements.

The general education requirements provide a liberal arts and sciences core for all students with the following courses:

   Anthropology 101 (1 qtr)
   History (2 qtrs)
   Philosophy 120 and 130 (2 qtrs)
   Political Science (2 qtrs)
   Psychology 101 (1 qtr)
   Sociology 101 (1 qtr)

Specialization Area Requirements

1. A minimum of 16 hours in advanced courses (200 level or above) in a single department within the College of Arts and Sciences.
2. A choice of three quarters of a foreign language or three quarters of natural sciences or Art History 211, 212, 213.

No course may be counted for more than one type of requirement. For example,a course used to meet a general requirement may not also be applied to a specialization area or sequence requirement.

Total Arts and Sciences Requirement

Visual Communication Core Requirements

All visual communication majors complete a basic core of eight courses totaling 32 hours:

ART 113     Three-Dimensional Design 4
ART 116     Drawing I 4
ART 117     Drawing II 4
            Studio art elective 4
AH 307      History of Photography 4
JOUR 133    Precision Language for Journalists 4
VICO 120    Intro to Visual Communication 4
VICO 221    Intro to Visual Communication Skills 4

Total core requirements 32

Standards

1. You must have a g.p.a. of 3.0 in VICO 120,221,and 222.
2. You must earn a C or better in JOUR 133 and in all professional courses (VICO, JOUR, PHOTO, and TCOM), including professional electives, to graduate. A grade of C- does not meet this requirement.
3. To qualify for admission to JOUR 231,you must achieve at least 25 words per minute on a typing examination administered on the first day of class.
4. No professional course may be taken more than twice.

Visual Communication Sequence Requirements

Major code BS6924

Two of the following four courses:

Total sequence requirements 50

University Publications and Computer Services revised this file ( https://www.ohio.edu/~ucat/97-98/colleges/viscom.htm ) August 24, 1998.

Please e-mail comments or suggestions to " ucat@www.ohiou.edu ."