Beginning in September 2006, Rider University’s Communication Department will be unveiling a new name and a new curriculum, and adding two new faculty.

The department’s new name will be the Department of Communication and Journalism, in order to better reflect its various tracks and two majors, communication and journalism.

In addition, the curriculum has been entirely revamped. In concert with input from students, alumni, prospective students and professionals in the field, the faculty has worked hard to revise existing courses and introduce some new ones. Course sequences have been expanded and the core has been streamlined so students have more and better choices within their chosen areas of concentration. Also, a new and exciting minor has been added to the program, Event Planning and Production, and the Multimedia Minor has been revised to allow greater cooperation between the Department of Communication and Journalism and the School of Business.

Current students will have the choice of selecting the newly revamped tracks or remaining in their existing ones, while students entering in the fall of 2006 will take the new curriculum. Students are still encouraged to work with the department and seek internships that might ultimately make them more attractive to employers in the future.

Two new faculty members will also make their debut in September. “The department is fortunate to have Dr. Aaron Moore to teach public relations courses in the public relations track and the Events Planning and Production minor,” said Dr. Jonathan Millen, department chair. “Also, Rider alumnus Shawn Kildea, currently the department’s technology coordinator, will be working with students in a new capacity: assistant professor of communication. He will be teaching various courses within the TV/Radio track.”