Digital and Social Media Communication

Y2021-2022 Graduate New Program Request

completed

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General Information
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  • Welcome to the University of West Georgia's curriculum management system. 

    Please TURN ON the help text before starting this proposal by clicking  next to the print icon directly above this message. 

    Your PIN is required to complete this process. For help on accessing your PIN, please visit here.

    The link to the shared governance procedures provides updates on how things are routed through the committees. Please visit  UWG Shared Governance Procedures for Modifications to Academic Degrees and Programs for more information.

    If you have any questions, please email curriculog@westga.edu.

  • Desired Effective Semester*
    Scroll to the bottom and choose Fall, Spring, or Summer.
    Desired Effective Year*
  • Program Type*
  • If embedded, please list the parent program.
Routing Information
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  • Routes cannot be changed after a proposal is launched. 

    Please be sure all fields are filled out correctly prior to launch. If a routing error is made it can result in the proposal being rejected and a new proposal will be required. 

    Please refer to this document for additional information: UWG Shared Governance Procedures for Modifications to Academic Degrees and Programs.

    If there are any questions or concerns regarding the routing of your proposal please contact curriculog@westga.edu.

  • School/ Department*
  • Is this a School of Nursing Program?*
    Is this a College of Education Program?*
  • Is this a Department of Mass Communications Program?*
Program Information
Next
  • Program Name*
    Digital and Social Media Communication
    Digital and Social Media Communication
  • Degree Type*
  • Program Description*
    The Master of Science in Digital and Social Media Communication seeks to provide aspiring practitioners and current working professionals with the tools necessary to advance their career or pursue further graduate studies. At the same time, the program emphasizes the kinds of advanced critical thinking skills and theoretical foundations that will serve students beyond existing digital platforms or skill sets. With courses that cut across content creation, analytics, strategic communication, and more, students will leave the program with a better understanding of how to adapt to the evolving emerging media marketplace and adopt the kind of entrepreneurial spirit necessary to stand out in todays crowded digital/social media environment.
  • Program Location*
  • Status*
    Select Active-Visible unless the Registrars Office has notified you to do otherwise.
  • How will the proposed program be delivered?*
Curriculum Information
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  • Select Program below, unless creating an Acalog Shared Core.

  • Type of Program*

  • PROGRAM CURRICULUM

    This section allows departments to create the curriculum schema for the program which will feed directly to the catalog. Please click here for a video demonstration on how to build your program curriculum.

    Follow these steps to propose courses to the new program curriculum. 

    Step 1 - Adding Courses to the Program

    In order to build or edit a program, you must first add all courses to be included in the program of study through the view curriculum courses tab

    • If this new program proposal includes the UWG Undergraduate General Education Curriculum, scroll to the top of this form and click on the  icon to import the "University of West Georgia General Education Requirements."
    • For courses already in the catalog, click on "Import Course" and find the courses needed. You can select multiple courses at one time. 
    •  For new courses going through a Curriculog Approval Process click on "Add Course"-- a box will open asking you for the Prefix, Course Number, and Course Title.

    NOTE: A New Course Request proposal must also be submitted along with the New Program Proposal if the course is new. 

    Step 2 - Adding Courses to the Curriculum Schema

    Next, to add cores (sections of the program of study, e.g., Requirements, Additional Information, etc.) click on  "View Curriculum Schema." Click add core and title it appropriately. When you click on "Add Courses" it will bring up the list of courses available from Step 1. Select the courses you wish to add.


  • Prospective Curriculum*
Justification and Assessment
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  • Rationale*
    The proposed degree program is one of the first of its kind in the USG because it emphasizes digital and social media communication via an online delivery mode. Of the 18 graduate degrees and certificate programs in the USG, only three are dedicated to digital media. Georgia Tech offers an in-person Master of Science degree in Digital Media, but its focus is advanced study in digital media design and critique. The degree used to be known as Information Design and Technology, and it relies on a studio and seminar-based curriculum. It is quite different from the proposed degree program. Georgia State offers a Digital Media Strategies concentration within its Master of Arts in Communication program. The program is delivered on-campus. Kennesaw State University offers a post-baccalaureate certificate in digital and social media in a fully online format. The four-course certificate program delivers each course in seven-week increments. The proposed 100% online masters degree in digital and social media communication offers much more depth than KSUs certificate program and centers on digital content creation for multiple digital and social media platforms. Further, the new degree program is designed to train students in communication theories, strategies, and analytics to ensure effective messaging to key stakeholders. Moreover, UWGs mission includes its commitment to academic excellence and to community engagement, offering high-quality undergraduate, graduate, and community programs on-campus, off-campus, and online (UWG Mission, 2021). The proposed degree program readily aligns with the Universitys pledge to offer educational opportunities that will enable students to receive high-quality training at the graduate level in an online environment. Furthermore, the degree program builds on the existing strengths of the Mass Communications program and its faculty to offer graduate students learning opportunities that will impact economic development and address the demands of the job market in the digital and social media communication arena. The relevance of this program is extremely high given the digital communication landscape that permeates across multiple disciplines and career fields. Additionally, the program will keep UWG highly competitive in the graduate degree area since, as noted before, a digital and social media communication degree will be the only fully online degree of its kind in the state and among a limited few that focus on digital communication in the USG. Mass Communications alumni are among the target audiences for the program, and these individuals already feel a sense of place at UWG based on their undergraduate experiences. A graduate program will only serve to enhance the feeling of belonging and reinforce the third pillar of UWGs strategic plan.
    Max 400 characters
  • Program Learning Outcomes - Please provide PLOs in a numbered list format.*
    1. Create engaging digital and social media content within ethical and legal parameters
    2. Apply foundational theories in digital and social media communication
    3. Apply effective digital and social media campaign strategies
    4. Evaluate metrics and interpret digital and social media analytics
    5. Design and execute a rigorous, portfolio-building, capstone project

  • SACSCOC Substantive Change

    Please review the Policy Summary and Decision Matrix
    Send questions to cjenks@westga.edu

  • Check all that apply to this program*
  • SACSCOC Comments
    Per discussions in Fall 2020, this program will constitute substantive change for two reasons: new course content at a different level than currently offered (prospectus), and the program requires notification because it is 100% online.
    To submit new tracks/concentrations together with a new program, list them here. For instance, "New Tracks/Concentrations: name 1, name 2, name 3....

  • REQUIRED ATTACHMENTS

    ATTACH the the following required documentsl by navigating to the Proposal Toolbox and clicking  in the top right corner.

    1.) USGBOR One Step Proposal

    The one-step new academic program proposal combines elements of the previous two-stage process into "one-step" for a more accelerated review of final, new program proposals submitted by university system institutions. The one-step proposal requires institutions to provide prioritized academic programs that demonstrate a clear need (and separately demand) for the areas served by the college or university. Programs may be directly tied to state economic development efforts, other initiatives, and may follow disciplinary changes and norms. The one-step new academic program proposal requires that institutions provide evidence that the proposed degree and/or major meets various needs and does not warrant unnecessary program duplication.

    2.) Program Map and/or Program Sheet

    For advising purposes, all new programs must include program map. Please download the program map template from here, and upload.

    3.) Academic Assessment Plan/Reporting

    All new major programs must include an assessment plan. Stand-alone minors must have an assessment plan as well.  A stand-alone minor is a minor that can be earned in a program that does not offer an undergraduates degree with a major in that discipline (for example, a student can earn a minor in Africana Studies but cannot complete a bachelor's degree with a major in Africana Studies). Minors in a discipline where a corresponding major is offered, are not required to include an assessment plan.

    Please download the Academic Assessment Plan/Reporting template and attach to this proposal.

    4.) Curriculum Map Assessment

    Please download the Curriculum and Assessment Map template and attach to this proposal.

  • Program Map*
  • USGBOR One Step Proposal*
  • Assessment Plan*
  • Curriculum Map Assessment*

  • LAUNCH proposal by clicking  in the top left corner. DO NOT implement proposed changes before the proposal has been completely approved through the faculty governance process. 

  • FINAL TASK: After launching the proposal, you must make a decision on your proposal. Select the  icon in the Proposal Toolbox to make your decision.

  • User Tracking

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