Learning Community

WHAT IS A LEARNING COMMUNITY?

A learning community is a group of students with similar interests who take classes together and share academic and social experiences designed to enhance the first-year experience. While the program runs through the first academic year, the benefits you’ll receive can last throughout all your college years and beyond.

Studies show that students who participate in learning communities are more likely to have higher grade-point averages, are less likely to be on academic probation, and are more likely to graduate on time than their peers. Plus, students say, learning communities make their years in college much more enjoyable and profitable.

WHAT ABOUT THE COMMUNICATION STUDIES LEARNING COMMUNITY?

Opening in the Fall of 2014, the Communication Studies Learning Community (COMM LC) has been set up to introduce 20 to 25 pre-communication majors to the department.

The program begins with a freshman seminar course in the Fall semester (UCOL1200). In this class, you’ll hear from representatives of student services – the writing center, the counseling department, the career center, the library, and other organizations – that have been set up to help you adjust to college life. You’ll learn about the five tracks in communication studies (health communication, mass media, organizational communication, public advocacy, and public relations) along with the journalism minor. You’ll meet professors from each of these tracks and discuss the requirements and the benefits of each course of study. Moreover, you will learn about student organizations that will help you develop as a professional.

In the Spring semester, you will take COMM 2101, a rhetorical studies course that is a required core class for Communication Studies majors. This course allows COMM LC students to gain a foothold into the major early on in their college career. This class affords COMM LC students the chance to learn some basic theory in a cohesive setting while putting the ideas into practice. The course centers as its anchor the importance of responsible public communication and its impact on citizenship.

Throughout the year, the COMM LC also provides opportunities for students to engage in professional, social, and recreational experiences both across campus and in Charlotte. For instance, COMM LC community members visit with alumni, tour media facilities in the city, visit PR firms and corporate communication centers, enjoy guest speakers on campus, and attend fun events such as football games, campus fairs, and coffee hours.

Ultimately, the COMM LC is set up to help develop a core of students who can become student leaders in the department and who may enjoy a close-knit first year experience with fellow freshman who – in many cases – become college-long and life-long friends.

HOW DO I SIGN UP?

First, you must be officially accepted to the University before you can be considered for the COMM LC. Then you must complete the Learning Community Application. To learn more about the Communication Studies Learning Community, email director Dr. Jason Black at jblac143@uncc.edu or call/text Dr. Black at 205-657-6755.