Curriculum and Advising Policies

Faculty Advisor

After being accepted as a major in the school, you will be assigned a faculty advisor. Get to know your advisor and seek his or her advice in planning your program. Because the school has only 13 faculty members and approximately 300 majors, the school secretary schedules appointments for students to insure that each student has equal access to an advisor. Each faculty member posts office hours each semester and the secretary maintains a copy of those hours. The school does not operate on a walk-in basis. Please phone (865-974-3048) or come by the school office to make an appointment to see your advisor. Advisors would much rather see you before you have an unsolvable problem rather than after.

Comprehensive Exam

While enrolled in either Advertising 470 or Public Relations 470 you may be required to take the School's Comprehensive Exam. It is part of an overall plan to improve instruction and learning in the School's programs. The exam is administered on a periodic basis.

Official Records

Your official folder is maintained in the College of Communication and Information Advising Center. The school does maintain a folder with your current address and phone number. Please let the School secretary know when your campus address or phone number has changed.

Course Sequencing

Advertising

The advertising curriculum is a program of highly-integrated sequential courses leading to mastery of a defined body of knowledge about advertising. Each course in the sequence assumes mastery of material in a pre-requisite course. Faculty begin each course with the assumption that you bring to that course all the knowledge required for successful completion of lower-level courses. The sequence of courses is outlined below. Plan your program accordingly. Exceptions are not made. Pre-reqs for advertising courses are as follows.

• Adv 310 is a pre-req for Adv 350.
• Adv 340 is a pre-req for Adv 360.
• Adv 350 and Adv 360 are pre-reqs for Adv 450.
• Adv 360 is a pre-req for Adv 480.
• PR 270 and Adv 450 are pre-reqs for Adv 470.
• Pre-reqs for Adv 490 vary according to topic

Public Relations

The public relations curriculum enforces the following pre-reqs:

• Adv 250 or PR 270 is a pre-req for Adv 310
• Stat 201 and Adv 250 is a pre-req for Adv 340
• CC&I 150 recommended for PR 270 who major in PR
• PR 270, Adv 310 and Adv 340 is a pre-req for PR 370
• JEM 200, Adv 310 and PR 270 is a pre-req for PR 320 and PR 370
• PR 320 and PR 370 is a pre-req for PR 470

Acceptable Course Substitutions

The following course substitutions are generally approved in the School of Advertising and Public Relations. Students may still need to file a substitution form with their advisor.

• Speech 210 is an acceptable substitution for Speech 240
• History 261-262 is an acceptable substitute for History 241-242
• Any course at the University can fill a general elective requirement

Math requirement

Advertising and public relations students are required to take Math 119 (College Algebra) and Math 125 (Calculus).

Students who by examination place in Math 125 need only take Math 125 to meet the math requirement. Such students will need to take 3 additional hours of electives to meet the overall requirement of 120 hours to graduate.

Students who begin other math sequences should be aware that a higher-numbered course in math does not necessarily substitute for a lower-numbered course. Students may meet the Math 125 requirement by (1) taking Math 125, (2) taking Math 141 and filing a substitution form, (3) taking Math 152 and filing a substitution form

Please note that neither Math 130 nor Math 151 is an appropriate substitute for Math 125. These courses are equivalent to Math 119. Students who have taken Math 151 should take Math 152 as the substitute for Math 125.