Moody College of Communication


The Moody College of Communication is the communication college at The University of Texas at Austin. The college is home to top-ranked programs in advertising and public relations, communication studies, communication sciences and disorders, journalism, and radio-television-film. The Moody College is nationally recognized for its faculty members, research and student media. It offers Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Journalism degrees as well as robust graduate curricula. The Moody College of Communication operates out of the Jesse H. Jones Communication Complex and the Belo Center for New Media, which opened in November 2012. The college has a $106 million endowment as of April 14, 2016.

History

The Department of Public Speaking, now the Department of Communication Studies, at UT Austin was established in 1899, and the School of Journalism began in 1914 moving into its own building in 1952. An early interest in broadcasting on campus resulted in the formation of the Department of Radio-Television-Film. In 1921, a radio station was established to conduct experimental work in radio communication, and by the 1930s what was probably the first television broadcast in Texas originated on the campus. The first degree program in broadcasting began in 1939. Established in 1941 with the founding of The University of Texas at Austin Speech and Hearing Clinic and the introduction of coursework leading to Texas Education Agency certification, the program of Communication Sciences and Disorders is the oldest program of its kind in the state of Texas.
In 1965, the School of Journalism, the Department of Speech, and a newly formed Department of Radio-Television-Film became the three departments officially organized as the School of Communication. In that same year, the accredited sequence of advertising in the Department of Journalism was established as a separate Department of Advertising. Originally housed in the Department of Speech Communication, a separate Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders was established in 1998.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Austin had become a filmmaking hub due in part to several Communications alumni including Robert Rodriguez and leading many people in the industry to begin calling Austin the "Third Coast" for film. This has spurred the Radio-Television-Film department on to national recognition, while also giving students more opportunities for internships and jobs after matriculation.
On November 7, 2013, the Moody Foundation of Galveston announced a $50 million commitment to establish the Moody College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin, resulting in the largest endowment for the study of communication of any public university in the nation.

Campus

The campus of the Moody College of Communication sits in a complex on the north west side of UT's campus, adjacent to The Drag and just north of the Littlefield House. There was no formal definition of the Moody Communication campus until all communication's studies were consolidated in the late 1960s. Construction of a three-building communication complex began in 1968, and the three Departments of Journalism, Radio-Television-Film and Speech Communication moved into new facilities in 1974.
In 2007, the first new construction project for the school in over 30 years was announced after a $15 million donation from the Belo Foundation: the Belo Center for New Media augmented teaching and research space for the college with a new building on the north side of Dean Keeton Street. Construction began in May 2010, and the new Belo Center was dedicated in November 2012. The five-story, 120,000-square-foot building serves as an interactive learning space for students and a landmark gateway to campus at the intersection of Guadalupe and Dean Keeton Streets. The total project budget was $54.770 million.
The Texas Student Media building, formerly known as the CMC building, was officially renamed the William Randolph Hearst Building after a significant donation from the Hearst Corporation in 2009. Texas Student Television, the FCC-licensed student television station located within the Hearst Building, K29HW-D, received an $80,000 digital transmitter retrofit to comply with the mandated digital television transition in 2009.
Part of the Moody Foundation's 2013 donation was used to pay for the design and construction of the Moody Pedestrian Bridge, which links the college's departments across Dean Keeton Street.

Academics

The Moody College of Communication serves as both UT's undergraduate department of communication, as well as a graduate school offering advanced degrees. Undergraduate majors can receive their Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Journalism degree at the school and have the option of enrolling in programs wherein the student can group his or her electives together towards a "concentration" in a particular field apart from their major including computing, business, Latino Media Studies, or a more general Bridging Disciplines Program.

Organization and research

Like the undergraduate portion of the University of Texas at Austin, the Moody College operates on a semester system. As part of the larger institution, the Moody College is ultimately administered by UT's President and Board of Trustees. The school is directly managed by a dean who is advised by several associate deans responsible for various aspects of the administration, as well as a director. The Moody College offers a Bachelor of Science degree in four "academic departments" including: Advertising and Public Relations, Communications Studies, Communications Disorders, and Radio-Television-Film as well as a Bachelor of Journalism and as of fall 2016, a bachelor's in Communication and Leadership. The School of Journalism also offers minors in communication studies, science communication, health communication, Latin American media studies, journalism, and visual media. Additionally, the college offers a certificate program in Sports and Media.
KUT and KUTX - The Moody College is home to KUT FM 90.5 and KUTX FM, 98.9, National Public Radio member stations for central Texas. They are listener-supported and corporate-sponsored public radio station owned and operated by faculty and staff of the University of Texas at Austin.

Centers and institutes

The Moody College of Communication has 12 centers and institutes: The Annette Strauss Institute For Civic Life, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, Technology and Information Policy Institute, Voces Oral History Project, Center for Health Communication, Lang Stuttering Institute, Wofford Denius UTLA Center for Entertainment & Media Studies, Speech, Debate and Forensics, Center for Media Engagement, Speech & Hearing Center, Center for Sports Communication & Media andLatino Media Arts & Studies Program.

UT Los Angeles Program

Founded in 2005, the UT Los Angeles Program gives students the opportunity to intern in the entertainment industry while also completing upper division coursework.

Rankings and admissions

Admissions for undergraduate students are handled by the university's undergraduate admissions. Along with the schools of Architecture, Business, and Engineering, admissions into the Moody College of Communication is highly selective. Of the 2,611 freshman applying to the school for fall 2010, 1,042 were admitted leading to an overall acceptance rate of 39.9%. For this reason, many UT students apply for an internal transfer while completing their core requirements. The school leaves on average 200 spots per year for internal transfers and 80 spots for external transfers though official numbers are not disclosed. Within the school itself, the Department of Advertising and Public Relations has the largest number of both undergraduate and graduate students, with 1,327 and 187, respectively, in the 2015-2016 academic year.
Reviewing BodySurvey NameRankScopeYear
QS World University RankingsCommunication and Media Studies5World2016
U.S. News & World ReportTop Speech Language Pathology Programs7National2016
U.S. News & World ReportTop Audiology Programs13National2016
USA TodayBest Overall Journalism Programs3National2015
QS World University RankingsCommunication and Media Studies4World2015
The Hollywood ReporterBest Film Production Programs10National2014
Interactive Advertising BureauTop Digital Advertising Programs1National2013
U.S. News & World ReportTop Advertising Programs4National2003
U.S. News & World ReportTop Public Relations Programs7National2003'
U.S. News & World ReportTop Audiology Programs13National2003
U.S. News & World ReportTop Speech Pathology Programs12National2003
U.S. News & World ReportTop Print Journalism Programs11National2003
U.S. News & World ReportTop Film Programs7National2003
U.S. News & World ReportTop Radio-Television Programs4National2003
National Communication AssociationApplied CommunicationTop 3National1996
National Communication AssociationCommunication Theory and ResearchTop 3National1996
National Communication AssociationCritical/Cultural Media StudiesTop 3National1996
National Communication AssociationOrganizational CommunicationTop 3National1996
National Communication AssociationRhetoricTop 3National1996

Longhorn Network

On January 19, 2011, the university announced the creation of a 24-hour television network in partnership with ESPN, dubbed the Longhorn Network. The Longhorn Network gives a number of College of Communication students an opportunity to participate in internships and panel discussions that provide a first-hand look at the broadcast industry. For the Fall semester of 2011, the Longhorn Network hired five UT students for paid 12- to 14-week internships, who were given "a variety of tasks, including cutting highlights for programs, submitting story ideas and running the teleprompter during live broadcasts".

People

Student profile and student life

As of fall 2015, the Moody College of Communication has an enrollment of 3,837 undergraduates and 538 postgraduates. The school offers a number of professional and community service student groups, as well as social life governance councils for the student body. As a hub for all media on campus, the Moody College has historically been at the center of major issues on campus and a nexus of school spirit. The college operates TSTV, one of the few FCC licensed television stations entirely run by students. The station has interviewed several persons of note in the past including Pauly Shore, Mark Cuban, and Dennis Quaid.

Faculty

The Moody College currently claims 125 active instructors. Professors include distinguished scholars and those who have had successful careers independent of the Moody College as filmmakers, journalists, audiologists, speech language pathologists, and industry leaders.

Alumni

The Moody College has matriculated many distinguished alumni including Walter Cronkite, Lady Bird Johnson, and Matthew McConaughey. Individuals associated with the Moody College have received 34 Pulitzer Prizes, three Oscars, and 42 Emmys. In 2008, Robert Rodriguez, graduated from the college with a BS in Radio-Television-Film, and was the University of Texas at Austin Spring 2009 Wide-Commencement Speaker.. The Moody College has also been the starting place for many famous cartoonists including Ben Sargent, Roy Crane, and Berkeley Breathed who had all drawn for The Daily Texan during their tenure.

Notable Alumni