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Sponsored by the Office of the Provost
Major map compass icon
2023-2024

Mass Communications

College of Humanities and Sciences

Concentration(s):
Advertising/Creative, Advertising/Strategic, Journalism/Broadcast, Journalism/Digital, Media Production, Public Relations
Program description

The Robertson School of Media and Culture prepares effective and skilled communicators through quality instruction, advising, and student services based on real-world applications. Through research, professional service and scholarship in applied communications, the school advances the knowledge, and practice of a multidisciplinary and evolving media environment. The School values truth, ethics, creativity, innovation, collaboration, cultural diversity, shared governance, and community engagement.

Career opportunities

The concentrations in advertising prepares students for careers at advertising agencies, marketing departments of corporations or service organizations, and media companies. These concentrations are a training ground that prepares students to join the world community of media practitioners and are centered on professional practice, studio intensive coursework, and experimental collaboration.


The concentrations in journalism train alumni for competitive careers in print and video media and in such places as print and video newsrooms, digital news, magazines, and special interest publications. The concentrations in journalism are transferable to many other fields like law, business, or government service. 


The concentration in media production prepares graduates to work as content creators in in film and television, sports media, local or national production studios, and online productions.


The concentration in public relations prepares graduates to successfully enter the public relations field. Graduates can be found representing professional sports teams, global clothing manufacturers, Hollywood production studios, energy companies, hospitals, international non-profits and small businesses. The public relations profession calls for professional communicators; all organizations, big and small, must communicate with audiences to succeed.

Change of major requirements

Students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5+, complete the change of major module, pass MASC 101 with a minimum grade of C,  and pass one of the concentration-specific classes listed below:


  • If pursuing the advertising concentration, pass MASC 201 with a minimum grade of C.
  • If pursuing the media production concentration, pass MASC 255 with a minimum grade of C.
  • If pursuing the public relations concentration, pass MASC 210 with a minimum grade of C.
Bachelor-level job titles
  • Art Director
  • Broadcast News Analyst
  • Development/Fundraising Manager
  • Digital Specialist
  • Grant Writer
  • Media Relations Coordinator
  • Nonprofit Communications Manager
  • Radio and Television Announcer
  • Videographer
  • Visual Effects (FX) Artist
Graduate and professional level job titles
  • Copywriter
  • Creative Brand Manager
  • Director of Digital Media
  • Experience Designer
Professional associations and resources
Degree requirements in Bulletin
Plan of study in Bulletin
Requirements
Highest level of math required
  • STAT 208
Science required
  • Natural Sciences requirement only
Foreign language requirements
  • Yes
Additional tuition/fees
  • No
GPA requirements (to progress/graduate in the major)
  • 2.5+ cumulative GPA, 2.5+ major GPA
Transfer Maps

Contact information

Department name:
Robertson School of Media and Culture
Building/room location:
Temple, 2nd floor
Phone:
(804) 828-2660
Email:
robertsonsmc@vcu.edu
https://robertson.vcu.edu/
Campus (where 75% of courses are taken):
Monroe Park
Major map compass icon
Major map

Explore
MAXIMIZE COURSE AND DEGREE PLANNING
  • Enroll in a student success course to connect with campus advisors and build community around your interests and goals.
  • Map out a 4-year course plan in the DegreeWorks Student Educational Planner.
  • Meet with a writing consultant to hone your writing skills.
  • Schedule an appointment with your academic advisor to review your CSI self-report, start goal planning, and choose electives.
  • Sharpen your study skills in supplemental instruction sessions at the Campus Learning Center.
  • Take MASC 101 and maintain a 2.5+ cumulative GPA.
  • Explore local communications agencies to discover which concentration is a good fit for your career goals.
GET CONNECTED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
  • Apply to live in a program-in-residence or a living learning community.
  • Consider applying to the Honors College.
  • Get involved, meet people, and develop your interests by joining one of VCU's 50 student clubs and organizations.
  • If living on campus, connect with your Resident Assistant, attend hall events, and participate in Community Council.
  • Participate in RAM CAMP to get a jump start on learning about VCU’s campus community.
  • Register to vote in Virginia and explore Richmond’s many museums and parks.
DEVELOP CULTURAL AGILITY
EXPLORE CAREERS AND DEVELOP ESSENTIAL SKILLS
PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE

Experience
MAXIMIZE COURSE AND DEGREE PLANNING
  • Explore innovation and business/non-profit creation classes with the da Vinci Center.
  • Get familiar with the research process with the VCU Libraries Research Basics Guide.
  • Schedule an appointment with your advisor to explore minors, certificates, and plan your required REAL experience.
  • Talk to professors about your research interests, electives, and strategies for success in your classes.
  • Take UNIV 200 in fall and a concentration requirement in spring.
  • File request/petition to declare concentration.
  • Maintain 2.5+ major and cumulative GPAs.
GET CONNECTED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
DEVELOP CULTURAL AGILITY
  • Apply for the Critical Languages Scholarship.
  • Explore social issues, develop cultural competency skills, and engage with faculty through iExcel pop-up courses.
  • Investigate globally-focused courses in your major by pursuing language coursework or setting language proficiency goals with advisors and faculty.
  • Make friends with diverse perspectives and join a cultural or identity-related student organization.
  • Attend the OMSA Social Justice Conference.
EXPLORE CAREERS AND DEVELOP ESSENTIAL SKILLS
  • Attend career and internship fairs and other professional development events.
  • Complete a gap analysis with your career advisor to identify key skills required for your professional field.
  • Explore global career options with a career advisor to set goals for getting your dream job.
  • Organize examples of your academic and professional experiences, accomplishments, and reflections in an ePortfolio.
  • Pursue a digital badge to highlight the knowledge, skills, and experiences employers and graduate schools value.
  • Seek out practical experience through independent skill-building, internships, shadowing, or part-time work.
  • Create a draft resume and come to drop-ins with Mass Communications' career development advisor.
  • Make things like CD covers, copy, logos, strategies, or client questions and post to a blog; compare brands.
PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE
  • Ask a faculty or staff member to be your academic and professional mentor and to provide future letters of recommendation.
  • Build a resume and LinkedIn profile with help from VCU Career Services, make at least 10 connections, and check out the VCU alumni career programs page.
  • Conduct informational interviews or shadow someone in a field of professional interest.
  • Connect with alumni on VCULink for career advice, industry contacts, and meaningful professional relationships.
  • Meet with a coach in the Financial Success Center to set financial goals, understand student loans, and create spending plans.
  • Gain practical experience related to career goals through internships, shadowing, part-time work, or independent skill building.
  • Check scholarship deadlines for your third year and plan when you will apply because many are due in January through March!

Experience
MAXIMIZE COURSE AND DEGREE PLANNING
  • Enhance your business, software, technology, and creative skills using LinkedIn Learning.
  • See your academic and career advisors to discuss graduation progress and career planning.
  • Take a virtual library tour to learn about library spaces, services, and research help.
  • In consultation with your faculty mentor, strategically choose your 300-400 level MASC elective to help you earn skills for your post-VCU dream job.
GET CONNECTED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
DEVELOP CULTURAL AGILITY
  • Build language proficiency and cultural competence by carrying out your plans for study abroad, internships, and service-learning.
  • Explore new cultures at one of Richmond’s wide array of festivals.
  • Get required REAL experience and effect community change by using iExcel’s Active Citizen’s Toolkit to vote and volunteer.
  • Prepare for future work on multidisciplinary and multicultural teams by showcasing your interpersonal skills on your resume.
  • Take a course that links diversity to your field of study.
  • Join a cultural organization.
EXPLORE CAREERS AND DEVELOP ESSENTIAL SKILLS
  • Apply for the Graduate School Mentorship Program to learn more about graduate school and the graduate student experience.
  • Get expert advice from VCU Alumni ranging from graduate school to your career simply by asking a question through Ask A Ram.
  • Take advantage of mock interview opportunities through InterviewStream or meeting with a career advisor.
  • Seek research opportunities and apply for funding through VCU Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.
  • Submit work to creative competitions.
PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE
  • Make a plan with your academic, career, and faculty advisors for applying to graduate school or land a micro-internship.
  • Prepare for job offer negotiation by researching salaries, benefits, and other opportunities for flexibility.
  • Study for and complete any standardized exams required for graduate school the summer before senior year. 
  • Talk to advisors, faculty, and VCU Career Services about graduate school versus a job.
  • Create a website.

Excel
MAXIMIZE COURSE AND DEGREE PLANNING
  • Choose REAL electives to diversify your skillset and round out your degree.
  • Schedule an appointment with your academic advisor the semester before you graduate to ensure that all graduation requirements will be met.
  • Attend a graduation workshop a semester before your anticipated graduation to ensure all graduation requirements will be met.
  • Take your 400-level MASC classes and complete your internship in your senior year.
  • Become a mentor to a freshman or sophomore MASC major.
GET CONNECTED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
DEVELOP CULTURAL AGILITY
  • Carry out globally-oriented research projects with multilingual faculty and international partners.
  • Master your answers to interview questions about your experience working with diverse populations.
  • Plan for how you will grow your cultural agility after graduation.
  • Read scholarly articles about diversity in your field.
  • Build intercultural competence by engaging with international students on campus.
EXPLORE CAREERS AND DEVELOP ESSENTIAL SKILLS
  • Consider becoming an educator through programs like RTR, which prepare graduates from a variety of majors to become teachers in high-need schools.
  • Meet with your academic or professional mentor and identify examples of your experiential learning to share with employers.
  • Publish your original research in Auctus: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creativity.
  • Gain feedback from professionals on your professional work.
  • Reflect on the experiential learning you have engaged in thus far, and discuss with current or potential mentors (peers, faculty, advisors, alumni, professionals).
PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE
  • Connect with the Office of VCU Alumni Relations at Grad Fair, Grad Bash, and the VCULink Industry Network or alumni chapter.
  • Have a personal statement or cover letter reviewed by Career Services. 
  • Prepare for graduation by making a plan to complete licensing exams, applications, and self-marketing activities.
  • Single out prospective employers and create a job or graduate school search strategy at least 8 months before graduation.
  • Develop/incorporate side project/interests into portfolio.
  • Serve in a leadership role on campus or as a board member of a local community organization.
Visit majormaps.vcu.edu for the online version with links.
Sponsored by the Office of the Provost
Major map compass icon
2023-2024

Mass Communications

College of Humanities and Sciences

Concentration(s):
Advertising/Creative, Advertising/Strategic, Journalism/Broadcast, Journalism/Digital, Media Production, Public Relations
MAXIMIZE COURSE AND DEGREE PLANNING GET CONNECTED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY DEVELOP CULTURAL AGILITY EXPLORE CAREERS AND DEVELOP ESSENTIAL SKILLS PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE
Explore Year 1
  • Enroll in a student success course to connect with campus advisors and build community around your interests and goals.
  • Map out a 4-year course plan in the DegreeWorks Student Educational Planner.
  • Meet with a writing consultant to hone your writing skills.
  • Schedule an appointment with your academic advisor to review your CSI self-report, start goal planning, and choose electives.
  • Sharpen your study skills in supplemental instruction sessions at the Campus Learning Center.
  • Take MASC 101 and maintain a 2.5+ cumulative GPA.
  • Explore local communications agencies to discover which concentration is a good fit for your career goals.
  • Apply to live in a program-in-residence or a living learning community.
  • Consider applying to the Honors College.
  • Get involved, meet people, and develop your interests by joining one of VCU's 50 student clubs and organizations.
  • If living on campus, connect with your Resident Assistant, attend hall events, and participate in Community Council.
  • Participate in RAM CAMP to get a jump start on learning about VCU’s campus community.
  • Register to vote in Virginia and explore Richmond’s many museums and parks.
Experience Year 2
  • Explore innovation and business/non-profit creation classes with the da Vinci Center.
  • Get familiar with the research process with the VCU Libraries Research Basics Guide.
  • Schedule an appointment with your advisor to explore minors, certificates, and plan your required REAL experience.
  • Talk to professors about your research interests, electives, and strategies for success in your classes.
  • Take UNIV 200 in fall and a concentration requirement in spring.
  • File request/petition to declare concentration.
  • Maintain 2.5+ major and cumulative GPAs.
  • Apply for the Critical Languages Scholarship.
  • Explore social issues, develop cultural competency skills, and engage with faculty through iExcel pop-up courses.
  • Investigate globally-focused courses in your major by pursuing language coursework or setting language proficiency goals with advisors and faculty.
  • Make friends with diverse perspectives and join a cultural or identity-related student organization.
  • Attend the OMSA Social Justice Conference.
  • Attend career and internship fairs and other professional development events.
  • Complete a gap analysis with your career advisor to identify key skills required for your professional field.
  • Explore global career options with a career advisor to set goals for getting your dream job.
  • Organize examples of your academic and professional experiences, accomplishments, and reflections in an ePortfolio.
  • Pursue a digital badge to highlight the knowledge, skills, and experiences employers and graduate schools value.
  • Seek out practical experience through independent skill-building, internships, shadowing, or part-time work.
  • Create a draft resume and come to drop-ins with Mass Communications' career development advisor.
  • Make things like CD covers, copy, logos, strategies, or client questions and post to a blog; compare brands.
  • Ask a faculty or staff member to be your academic and professional mentor and to provide future letters of recommendation.
  • Build a resume and LinkedIn profile with help from VCU Career Services, make at least 10 connections, and check out the VCU alumni career programs page.
  • Conduct informational interviews or shadow someone in a field of professional interest.
  • Connect with alumni on VCULink for career advice, industry contacts, and meaningful professional relationships.
  • Meet with a coach in the Financial Success Center to set financial goals, understand student loans, and create spending plans.
  • Gain practical experience related to career goals through internships, shadowing, part-time work, or independent skill building.
  • Check scholarship deadlines for your third year and plan when you will apply because many are due in January through March!
Year 3
  • Enhance your business, software, technology, and creative skills using LinkedIn Learning.
  • See your academic and career advisors to discuss graduation progress and career planning.
  • Take a virtual library tour to learn about library spaces, services, and research help.
  • In consultation with your faculty mentor, strategically choose your 300-400 level MASC elective to help you earn skills for your post-VCU dream job.
  • Build language proficiency and cultural competence by carrying out your plans for study abroad, internships, and service-learning.
  • Explore new cultures at one of Richmond’s wide array of festivals.
  • Get required REAL experience and effect community change by using iExcel’s Active Citizen’s Toolkit to vote and volunteer.
  • Prepare for future work on multidisciplinary and multicultural teams by showcasing your interpersonal skills on your resume.
  • Take a course that links diversity to your field of study.
  • Join a cultural organization.
  • Apply for the Graduate School Mentorship Program to learn more about graduate school and the graduate student experience.
  • Get expert advice from VCU Alumni ranging from graduate school to your career simply by asking a question through Ask A Ram.
  • Take advantage of mock interview opportunities through InterviewStream or meeting with a career advisor.
  • Seek research opportunities and apply for funding through VCU Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.
  • Submit work to creative competitions.
  • Make a plan with your academic, career, and faculty advisors for applying to graduate school or land a micro-internship.
  • Prepare for job offer negotiation by researching salaries, benefits, and other opportunities for flexibility.
  • Study for and complete any standardized exams required for graduate school the summer before senior year. 
  • Talk to advisors, faculty, and VCU Career Services about graduate school versus a job.
  • Create a website.
Excel Year 4
  • Choose REAL electives to diversify your skillset and round out your degree.
  • Schedule an appointment with your academic advisor the semester before you graduate to ensure that all graduation requirements will be met.
  • Attend a graduation workshop a semester before your anticipated graduation to ensure all graduation requirements will be met.
  • Take your 400-level MASC classes and complete your internship in your senior year.
  • Become a mentor to a freshman or sophomore MASC major.
  • Carry out globally-oriented research projects with multilingual faculty and international partners.
  • Master your answers to interview questions about your experience working with diverse populations.
  • Plan for how you will grow your cultural agility after graduation.
  • Read scholarly articles about diversity in your field.
  • Build intercultural competence by engaging with international students on campus.
  • Consider becoming an educator through programs like RTR, which prepare graduates from a variety of majors to become teachers in high-need schools.
  • Meet with your academic or professional mentor and identify examples of your experiential learning to share with employers.
  • Publish your original research in Auctus: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creativity.
  • Gain feedback from professionals on your professional work.
  • Reflect on the experiential learning you have engaged in thus far, and discuss with current or potential mentors (peers, faculty, advisors, alumni, professionals).
  • Connect with the Office of VCU Alumni Relations at Grad Fair, Grad Bash, and the VCULink Industry Network or alumni chapter.
  • Have a personal statement or cover letter reviewed by Career Services. 
  • Prepare for graduation by making a plan to complete licensing exams, applications, and self-marketing activities.
  • Single out prospective employers and create a job or graduate school search strategy at least 8 months before graduation.
  • Develop/incorporate side project/interests into portfolio.
  • Serve in a leadership role on campus or as a board member of a local community organization.