Communication Major Survey

Jess Dunn, Becky Germscheid, Rachael Henteges, and Kinsey Mace

CMST 485 Senior Seminar
Dr. Swenson Lepper
3/6/15

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Executive Summary
This report analyzes the data found from the Major Survey, taken by 50 Communication
Studies Majors in the spring of 2014. The analysis focuses on the reasons students
chose a Communication Studies major, with the main reason being that the major leads
to many different opportunities because of its versatility. Other reasons students chose
this major were professors encouraging them, as well as enjoying the introductory
courses. This survey also shows that a majority of students heard about Communication
Studies from professors/advisors or family and friends. We found that the most popular
branch in the Communication Studies Department is the Leadership option.

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Analysis of Data

When asked how students were initially introduced to the Communication Studies major, the two
areas of influence that stood out most were professors/advisors (27%) and family/friends (29%).
These two groups of people were able to impact the students major choice based off of their
relationships. The two other sources that students learned about the major from were the WSU
website (22%) and introductory communication classes (16%). This graph represents that word
of mouth is a key factor when it comes to students learning about this major.

When asked why they declared a Communication Studies major the top response was that it is
a versatile degree that can be easily applicable to many career choices (32%). The other top

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responses were that it was a good fit for their personal skills (31%) and that they were
persuaded by a professor from the department (35%).

This graph shows that 86% of CMST students declared this major within the first two years of
school and only 14% declared in their last two years.

This graph is a breakdown of the different Communication Studies options that the participants
in this are study declared in. This is interesting information because it shows which options are
more popular with students, and which ones are not as popular. By studying the different
classes offered for each CMST option, we might understand why students prefer one branch
versus another. The key for the graph is below:
CS - Communication Studies Major - Old Major prior to 2012
CSL - Communication Studies: Leadership and Advocacy
CSO - Communication Studies: Organizational
CSG - Communication Studies: General Major

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Results show that out of the 50 respondents, there were 15 CSL majors, 13 CS majors, 13 CSO
majors, and 9 CSG majors. It is important to note that the old major CS and the new major CSG
are fundamentally the same. This clearly shows that Communication Studies: General Major
seems to be the most popular option among students, and Communication Studies:
Organizational major seems to be the least desired of the four.

This graph represents the generalized reasons students had for declaring a CS major, or the
old Communication Studies, which was only available prior to 2012. After 2012 the major was
broken up into three separate options (CSL, CSO, and CSG). Out of the 13 students that have
declared the old Communication Studies, four stated they were influenced because it was a
versatile degree. One said that a professor was the reason behind their choice. A friend or
family member influenced another. Three decided on the major because they enjoyed the
classes. One simply stated that the major fit their skills. Finally, three stated that they chose the
old major because it was the only communication studies major that was offered at WSU at the
time that they declared.

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This graph represents the idea that career outlook is the most important factor when it comes to
declaring the leadership and advocacy major, with seven students responding. The next
relevant responses are the versatility of the major and the fact that students feel like they are a
good fit for the major, with three responses to both.

Out of the nine students that listed their major as Communication Studies: Organizational
Communication seven students gave reasons as to why they chose that particular branch. The
majority of students (72%) stated that Organization Communication is directly applicable to the
career they want in the future. Other reasons for choosing this branch were because it was a
good fit for their personal skills (14%) and that they enjoyed the required classes (14%).

We found that 11 students had declared Communication Studies: General as their major. The
students only gave two different answers as to why they chose this. Nine students (81%)
reported that Communications Studies: General was a very versatile and broad degree. With

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that, they could go in many different directions. Two students (18%) said that this was a good fit
for their skills and personality.

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Discussion

Respondents also gave future recruiting advice for the department to expand on. These
students stated that it would be beneficial to promote the major through social media platforms
as well as offer and advertise informational meetings. These Communication Studies majors
also stated that students would be encouraged to declare if they heard about the major more
from peers and were also given more information on potential career options after graduating.

The survey also asked students to list classes or topics that they would like the Communication
Studies Department to offer. A few of the most requested new classes and topics that students
thought the department should offer were classes teaching professional skills like interviewing,
persuasive writing, and training, advocacy classes teaching social justice, nonprofit, and
missionary work, and business communication like marketing and selling. A lot of students
stated that they would like more in-depth sections of classes already offered in the program like
nonverbal, public speaking, social media, and intercultural communication. Integrating some of
these classes or topics into the program could have a positive effect on the amount of students
who choose to major in Communication Studies, and help further expand the program.

We found that the majority of students declared Communication Studies as their major within
the first year of college. This was a surprise to us, as we believed most students would declare
end of sophomore year or beginning of junior year. This proves that students do hear about
CMST here at Winona State University before starting their first semester.

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Appendix
Method of Analysis
The data was analyzed using Excel for the multiple choice questions, and a coding system for
the free response questions.