Current Program

Students enroll in Speech Communications classes to meet requirements for transfer to a four-year institution, for personal enrichment, and for retraining or upgrading job skills. In recent years, changes in technology and the increasing use of technology, as well as the addition of weekend classes and changing facility needs at the college have all affected course offerings. The program has been limited to one course, Speech 101, and no co-curricular activities have been offered

Degrees and Certificates - No degrees or certificates are offered.

Personnel - Currently one full-time faculty member and three part-time/limited faculty members teach Speech Communications courses.

Teaching Methodologies - Lecture, lecture/demonstration and student participation (speeches) are the primary teaching methods employed in the classroom.

Technology - No technology is used at this time in the classroom.

Equipment - New computers with Internet access are needed for faculty.

Facilities - The condition of classrooms is poor, with furniture and fixtures looking old, worn out and dingy. Room F210 is a poor choice in which to hold a Speech Communications class, as there is a considerable amount of noise from outside hallways, from the nearby high school patio and from cars on the roof of the building. There is a lack of technology in all classrooms, constricting the type of instruction in the use of audio-visual aids that can be offered.

Future Program

In the next ten years or so, Speech Communications will need to adapt to ongoing changes in technology, curriculum development and student academic preparation. To revitalize the current program, a Five-Year Development Program has begun that offers additional courses beyond the basic courses, that adds new courses to the curriculum and that establishes co-curricular activities that extend classroom experience, including a Debate Program. In the mid term (five years), enrollment is expected to increase at a faster rate than overall college enrollment, as new courses are being added to the curriculum. In the long term (ten years), enrollment growth in Speech Communications is expected to match the overall college enrollment growth. See Program Projections.

Degrees and Certificates - No degrees or certificates are planned.

Personnel - See Projected Faculty and Staff Needs.

Teaching Methodologies - As the college integrates additional technology into the classroom, instruction may begin to include more computerized and self-paced methodologies for theory-based classes.

Technology - New technologies may be integrated into theory-based classroom instruction, but alternative delivery systems such as online courses and interactive video are difficult to implement in speech performance classes. Therefore, distance education methods might be used in classes such as Interpersonal Communication and Intercultural Communication, but probably will not be used for traditional Speech classes. Increasingly, new audio-visual technology is in use for professional and workplace presentations, and students need exposure to this new technology as well as practice using it

Equipment - In the mid term (five years), a multi-media projector with computer, VCR, DVD, CD and opaque text reader attachments is needed.

Facilities - Two classrooms, with at least one equipped for electronic audio-visual devices, are needed, preferably away from high noise/high traffic areas. A Speech Lab seating 25 students and containing computers, video cameras, VCRs and a speech rehearsal stage is needed. Offices for each full-time faculty member, plus an office for part-time faculty, are needed.

Staff Development - A workshop on building the "Electronic Classroom" and using technology in the classroom would be beneficial.