While much of our learning will take place inside the classroom, you are also expected to devote a unit’s worth of time and effort to exploring the SJSU Department of Communication Studies and the opportunities for success available to its graduates. The goal of this assignment is for you to engage with our community in a much more in-depth manner than can be provided in a three-unit course.

To that end, you will select five Department Engagement Activities (25 points each). For each activity, which must take place during this semester, you will write a 1 1/2 to 2-page summary of what you experience and learn. You will also add a single half-page summary of how you organized the 45 hours dedicated to this activity [due when you submit your final draft].

Organize each paper into two sections: (1) summary and (2) reflection (make specific connections to your personal goals, concerns, and/or ambitions).

Select from this list (others will be added throughout the semester).

• Study our core values. Select and examine ONE of our four departmental cornerstones. Reflect on the degree to which that cornerstone is reflected in our history, classes, assignments, and/or culture. Start your research at this site: http://www.sjsu.edu/comm/aboutus/ - and branch out to other web resources as you see fit.

• Get to know a faculty member. Schedule a half-hour visit with a department faculty member whose interests and expertise align with yours. Offer plenty of advance notice of your interview request, work around your chosen professor’s office hours, arrive promptly at the designated time, have thoughtful questions prepared in advance, engage in pleasant conversation, and send a thank-you note after the interview. Keep in mind that some faculty members are not available for this activity. Learn more about departmental faculty at: http://www.sjsu.edu/comm/aboutus/faculty/.

• Plan your career. Attend COMM Career Days, scheduled for Oct 10 and 11 in the COMM Lab. Spend between one and two hours listening to guest speakers, working on your resume, and participating in other aspects of that event. Learn more about Career Day at: http://www.sjsu.edu/comm/events/career_day/index.htm.

• Plan your pathway toward graduation. Schedule a visit with a department advisor and produce or revise your plan to complete a degree in our department. While a thank-you note is less necessary for this assignment, you are expected to follow the other courtesy guidelines listed in the get to know a faculty member activity. Learn more about departmental advising at: http://www.sjsu.edu/comm/advising/.

• Learn about our graduate program. Review our departmental Graduate Program website, focusing your attention on New Requirements, Learning Objectives, and Our Master's Students sections. Use this opportunity to summarize your knowledge about the program and to contemplate the possibility of applying to our program one day. Conduct your research at this site: http://www.sjsu.edu/comm/graduate/.

• Attend a department performance. See a play or other scheduled performance directed or supervised by one of our departmental faculty members [Remember that not all performances are supervised by COMM department faculty; please double-check your selection]. Opportunities to witness thought-provoking performances by members of our community are frequently advertised in Hugh Gillis Hall. You might also consider attending Califia First Friday evening performances (first Friday of every month for the rest of the
semester) at 7:00pm in HGH 231.

• Interview a department alumnus. Search your personal network of friends and colleagues for an SJSU grad with a degree in communication studies. Schedule a half-hour visit with that alum and learn about professional life after college – and follow the same courtesy guidelines listed in the get to know a faculty member activity. Learn more about the kinds of careers available to SJSU COMM grads at: http://www.sjsu.edu/comm/advising/careers/.

• Build your own module. Email your proposal for a clever and unique way to learn more about the department and its community. Please note: you may only include one build your own module activity in your Department Engagement Project.

Additional instructions:

• Place one Engagement Activity rubric behind each activity: http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda/101/FourthUnitRubric.pdf.

• While the page length does not allow for formal paragraph-length introductions you are still required to attend to other relevant instructions – including the inclusion of a one-sentence forecast and review – found on the gradesheet (which, for this assignment, does not need to be attached): http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda/gradesheet.pdf.

• You may not duplicate activity types or interview the same person for two or more activities.

• COMM 80 workshops (while a valuable resource) do not count for this assignment.

• You will submit two Engagement Activities near the mid-semester point for informal feedback.

• Toward the end of the semester, you will submit a professionally organized packet that contains all five Activities (including your first two, revised as necessary, and your single-paragraph summary of how you organized the 45 hours dedicated to this project) to be formally evaluated. Again, place one rubric behind each activity.

• Keep electronic copies for your portfolio.