We all know that the generations before us came from a different time. A time that the Internet did not exist, tests were taken in blue books, drinking was allowed on campus, and “Deadheads” roamed the quad. I have always been curious about JMU’s past, and with Homecoming weekend and the return of alumni right around the corner, I decided to take a look into SCOM’s past. To do this, I interviewed two alumni who currently work here at the University, Dr. Eric Fife (‘90), the director of SCOM and Andy Perrine (‘86), associate vice president of JMU Communications and Marketing.
“JMU has always had the best mix of academics, social environment, and campus beauty, which is something hasn’t changed over the years,” said Fife. SCOM, however, has gone through some changes over the past 20 years.
One of the most major changes came when the then-called School of Communication Arts, which Perrine states was “more of a department than a school,” split into the School of Media, Arts, and Design and the School of Communication Studies. “These two schools have some overlap,” added Fife, “but, there have been a lot of changes.”
Some of the changes include the addition of the public relations concentration. “I think that the growth of the PR concentration is the main thing,” said Perrine, he continued to say, “if I were a student, I would have loved to be a PR concentration.” Additionally, there is far more variety in the current 70 classes that the school offers with seven major concentrations and five minor concentrations and 47 professors.
it was the love of learning, the commitment to doing your best. When somebody takes interest in how you’re developing as a thinker, as a person, as a doer, it really makes you think, ‘well maybe I really am worth a damn! – Andi Perrine (’86), Associate Vice President of JMU Communications and Marketing
The admissions process to the program is another improvement in Fife’s eyes. When he was a student, the admission process was very different. Two lecture-based classes were required to enroll in the program and the only form of evaluation was a couple multiple choice tests. With the SCOM 240/241 courses, Introduction to Comm Theory/Lab, which were introduced three years ago, “the school has a better chance of getting to know the students and helping the students into the program,” said Fife.
Then, what would be some good advice to students from these alumni? Developing close relationships with faculty was really important to both of them. “There’s a lot of advice I could give, one of them is seeing your advisor,” emphasized Fife, “I think seeing your advisor regularly help plan your academic career, which is crucial.” Perrine also found that investing in the relationships with faculty motivated him to be a great student. Perrine listed a number of faculty, including Dr. Steven Rollman, Dr. Ann Gabbard-Alley, and Dr. William Kimsey who have all retired. “They inspired me to be curious, intellectually rigorous, and to learn the commitment to stretching myself,” reflected Perrine, “it was the love of learning, the commitment to doing your best. When somebody takes interest in how you’re developing as a thinker, as a person, as a doer, it really makes you think, ‘well maybe I really am worth a damn!’”
I learned a lot from talking to these two alumni while flipping through their yearbooks. It was exciting to see how much they still loved JMU and how nostalgic they got about the good ol’days. That being said, happy Homecoming Weekend and welcome back SCOM Alumni!
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