Overall degree requirements
Students seeking the bachelor of arts degree from the Reynolds School of Journalism must complete at least 128 credits, 40 of which must be numbered 300 or higher.
Of the 128 credits required for graduation, at least 90 credits must be in courses other than journalism and journalism-related skills courses, and at least 65 credits must be earned in the liberal arts. A minimum of 36 credits must be in journalism, as described in this section.
Of the journalism courses, only JOUR 101, JOUR 107, JOUR 108, JOUR 207 and Jour 208 may be taken before admission to the major. Students are urged to enroll in liberal arts courses and to satisfy requirements of the Core Curriculum, as well as the journalism school's requirement for foreign language proficiency during the first two years of university-level study. Freshmen and sophomores are classified as pre-journalism majors.
Journalism majors are required to pursue a second major field or a minor in an approved outside field.
To gain approval to the major in journalism a student must have sophomore standing, an overall grade point average of 2.5 or higher, a journalism grade point average of 2.5 or higher and must have earned a C or better in JOUR 101 , JOUR 107 and JOUR 207. Journalism majors must maintain these GPAs to remain a journalism major. After two consecutive semesters below 2.5 in either journalism or overall cumulative GPA, the student will be removed from major.
Students majoring in journalism may count toward graduation no more than 15 credits taken for satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) grades. With the exception of journalism courses offered for S/U grade only, all courses satisfying specific requirements for the major must be taken for a letter grade.
Semester grade reports show a student's GPA based only on courses taken at the University of Nevada, Reno. All courses, including transfer courses apply toward the overall GPA requirement for graduation.
PRE-MAJOR AND MAJOR STATUS Students who did not declare themselves pre-majors when they entered the university may declare themselves pre-majors at any time by completing a change of major form and submitting it to the journalism dean's office. Pre-majors must be University of Nevada, Reno students in good standing. Being a pre-major does not mean a student is a journalism major, nor does it mean a student will become a journalism major. A student becomes a journalism major only when ALL of the following criteria have been met: Students accepted as pre-majors must meet with a journalism advisor during the first formal advisement period after their transfer of major is accepted by the school. Those advisement periods are November and April. Pre-majors are not allowed to take any journalism courses other than JOUR 101 , JOUR 102 , or JOUR 203 without written approval from the dean. Students who transfer in after July 1 of any year will be under the rules of the upcoming university catalog. For example, a student who transfers in July 2003 will be governed by the journalism rules in the 2003/2004 University of Nevada, Reno academic catalog. Students who have not been enrolled at the university for more than two semesters will be readmitted to journalism, if eligible, under the guidelines of the current year's catalog. Once admitted as majors, students must maintain a GPA of 2.5 overall and in journalism or they will not be permitted to take additional journalism classes without written approval of the dean. If a student's GPA, either overall or in journalism, falls below 2.5 after any semester, he or she will be dropped from all journalism classes unless the dean approves additional coursework. It is the student's responsibility to make an appointment with the dean's office to discuss the GPA deficiency before the start of the next term. ORDER FOR COMPLETING JOURNALISM COURSES First semester in journalism-- JOUR 101 ONLY , no other journalism courses. After the first three courses ( JOUR 101 , JOUR 102 , JOUR 203R ), which must be taken successively, students will work with their advisors to develop a program of study and an individual timeline. Students who have completed 24 credits or more may take JOUR 101 and JOUR 102 simultaneously, provided their GPA is 2.5 or above. RECOMMENDED SCHEDULE
Note: At least 65 credits toward the 128 required credits must be in Liberal Arts.
ECON 102--Principles of Microeconomics (3 credits)
ECON 103--Principles of Macroeconomics (3 credits)
Students must complete two ENG classes of at least three credits each numbered between 200 and 499 that are devoted to the study of literature. These courses must cover a variety of writings from a specific genre, period or author. ENG courses focused on composition, rhetoric or theory do not meet this requirement. A student's choice of English course must be approved by a journalism advisor and may not be used to satisfy any other requirement except diversity.
Select one of the following three-credit courses:
PHIL 101--Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 102--Critical Thinking and Reasoning
PHIL 131--Introduction to Metaphysics
PHIL 135--Introduction to Ethics
PHIL 203--Introduction to Existentialism
PHIL 210--World Religions
PHIL 211--Introduction to Ancient Philosophy
PHIL 212--Introduction to Medieval Philosophy
PHIL 213--Introduction to Modern Philosophy
Select one of the following three-credit courses:
PSC 101--American Politics: Process and Behavior
PSC 208--Survey of State and Local Government
PSC 211--Comparative Government and Politics
PSC 227--Introduction to Political Philosophy
PSC 231--World Politics
PSC 304--The Legislative Process
PSC 305--The American Presidency
PSC 332--The Judicial Process
Choose additional Liberal Arts credits from any of the following prefi xes: AM, ANTH, ART, AST, BASQ, CHEM, CHIN, CH, COM, DAN, ECON, ENG, ENV, ES, FLL, FREN, GEOG, GEOL, GER, GK, HGPS, HIST, HON, IAFF, ITAL, JPN, LAT, MATH, MUS, PHIL, PHYS, PSC, PSY, RST, RUS, SOC, SPAN, THTR, & WMST (12 credits)
Note: Your total credits in this section may vary depending upon course choice in University Core Curriculum Requirements and depending on choice of minor.
(a) completion of one of the courses shown below, or
(b) passing a proficiency test at that level.
Note: 4 years of High School Foreign Language does not satisfy this requirement.
All journalism majors are required to complete one of the following:
1) A minor field of study
2) A dual major
To be admitted as a major, students must have an overall cumulative GPA at the University of Nevada, Reno of 2.5 or higher and have a journalism GPA of 2.5 for JOUR 101 , JOUR 102 , and JOUR 203 , having earned a C or better in each of those three courses. Once admitted as journalism majors, students work with their advisors to create a plan of study that involves a specific career emphasis (see below) or a group of related classes. Students must take at least six credits in 400-level courses, in addition to the core journalism courses listed below, for a total of 12 400-level journalism credits. To graduate as a journalism major, students must complete a minimum of 36 credits in journalism, including the 21 credit in the journalism core. In addition, they must meet the cumulative GPA requirement of 2.5 in journalism and 2.5 overall. Students who take more than 38 credits in journalism still must complete 90 credits outside of journalism to graduate.
Note: Premajors may not enroll in upper-division journalism courses without written approval from the Academic Chair.
Second semester in journalism-- JOUR 102 ONLY, no other journalism courses.
Third semester in journalism-- JOUR 203R ONLY, no other journalism courses.
Fourth semester in journalism-- JOUR 204 after being accepted as a major, and any other courses, approved by an advisor, with JOUR 203R as a prerequisite.
Fifth semester in journalism--May begin introductory career emphasis courses.
Due to the sequential nature of the prerequisites for many upper division courses, students who begin their journalism classes after the first freshman semester are advised that completing the journalism curriculum may delay their planned date of graduation, especially if following a career emphasis.
Print JOUR 310--Advanced Reporting OR
Broadcast JOUR 323--Radio News and Production OR
Public Relations JOUR 341--Public Relations Principles for IMC (3 credits
Print JOUR 411--News Editing (3 credits) OR
Broadcast JOUR 421--Television News and Production I OR
Public Relations JOUR 440--Public Relations Case Studies OR
Begin Advertising emphasis JOUR 331--Introduction to Advertising (3 credits)
Print JOUR 453--Online Reporting and Editing (3 credits)
Broadcast JOUR 423--Television News and Production II (3 credits)
Public Relations JOUR 442--Public Relations Case Studies for IMC (3 credits) OR
2nd Advertising class ( JOUR 430 , JOUR 431 , or JOUR 432 ) (3 credits)
