BYU-Idaho's communication department is under restructuring, but communication professor and department chair, Brian Howard, said there is no need for students to stress or worry about their classes or degree.

Changes in the department will be affecting emphases, practicums, internships and senior capstones and practicums. This is due to the department going through a sustainability process where elements including number of students in the program and their return of investments were analyzed. This lead the University to ask that the number of course and emphasis offerings be adjusted.

Howard said that though the department is shifting, its to benefit the students and their future career options. He also added that its important that students keep an eye on their school emails and canvas announcements for any future communications updates.

What are the new emphases?

Deborah Owen, the communication department's Student Media General Manager, said the number of emphases will be going from seven to four. The department will be keeping it's two largest, video production and public relations, and will be adding two new emphases, advertising and multimedia creation.

Howard said that the two new emphases will include concepts that will be consistent with past emphases.

"We got some new courses that consolidate some areas, for example, like in the journalism area, even though there's no emphasis, there's several courses that focus on journalistic stuff like storytelling and things like that," Howard said. "When [students] come in, then we'll let them know what's going on with the different courses or emphases. There is a pretty clear path for what they can do."

When will the changes be implemented?

Howard said official changes to the program won't be implemented until the spring 2027 semester. He added that due to there having been a catalog change a year ago, students across the department may be in one of two current curriculums. Depending on where students are in their college career, how they move forward may look different person to person.

Howard, Owen and James Rognon, another communication department professor, recommended that students who aren't sure how to move forward meet with their faculty mentor.

"Sit down with an advisor in your department, have them look at your grad plan, and figure out again 'What order should I take these classes in? Should I take practicums now or later? Should I switch my emphasis now or later,''" Owen said. "Your faculty will know best how to give that specific feedback on what courses to take and when, because they know when classes are being discontinued or redesigned."

Will there be classes I need to take before the change?

Howard said that the upcoming semester's classes will remain as they have been offered, but in the future, classes will either be discontinued or phased out.

"Currently, we'll teach in all the same classes, and then we'll work it out," Howard said. "For some students who are about done, there might be a class or two that maybe has changed. And so we have to work out either subs or teaching out of class for a little while, and that's to be determined, to try to figure out how to get that all done, but we'll make it work."

What will happen to practicums and internships?

The department will be changing its requirements on practicums and internships. Owen said completed practicums will still count for credit, but starting in spring 2027, some practicum requirements will be replaced. Students who still need credits for classes like Photojournalism or Community Outreach practicums will be able to take COMM 297 or COMM 397 instead.

"Everyone's going to have an opportunity to get involved with Scroll or Soapbox Agency, so instead of offering 15 different options, it's going to be consolidated into these two core experiences," Owen said. "You could take either Scroll twice, or you could do Soapbox twice. We let students choose what they want to do, and they're going to have opportunities to get a variety of media creation experience within those. There's also the possibility that we'll have other experiences outside of Soapbox and Scroll as we continue to evolve this program."

Internships will no longer be required in the new catalogue but students who still want that opportunity can take it.

"Students will have the choice to still do an internship if they want to, but we really want to prioritize students having quality experiences, and with the cuts, limitations, the restrictions we had, we had to compromise on things, so an internship is no longer required, but it's still an opportunity," Owen said. "Starting spring 2027 students will be able to enroll in a dedicated section of 397 that's specific to internships. Instead of doing Soapbox or Scroll at a 397 level, they would do an internship instead. They'll go through all the other normal internship approval processes, but they would enroll in that specific internship section of 397, so they can get their internship."

What does the capstone and senior project look like?

Abby Nelson, a communication professor, said that in the beginning of the Fall 2025 semester, the department has been utilizing a combined capstone course, where students from the digital and social media, public relations, visual communication, journalism, and organizational leadership emphases join together. In the capstone they will be working on both a group project and a personal project.

Rognon said the capstone class gives students a sense of real world collaboration and lets students share their different skills to work for an real client.

"It's a combination of things all coming together to work on a project for a client," Rognon said. "This semester we're working with the City of Idaho Falls, and they need, basically a communication strategy, both internal and external. And so, when you're looking at that, does it require every emphasis? It depends on what we decide to do and pitch to the client, but it definitely does, and it can, and basically that's kind of what it is looking forward in the capstone. You work on a big group project all semester long, and then you work on an individual project all semester long."

Whether or not a student will need to do a senior project in addition to the personal capstone project can be discussed with a faculty mentor.

Disclosure: Deborah Owen oversees Scroll and its operations.