From the Department Head

Greetings. These are exciting and challenging times for this department and Purdue University. Like many others, we are being asked to do more with less, but we see a bright future ahead for us. We have excellent students, dedicated staff, award-winning faculty and outstanding university leadership. It is a great time to be a student, alumnus or a newcomer to Purdue. This is a place you can be proud of, and I am very pleased to be the new department head.

I just returned from New Orleans, where we hosted a gathering for Purdue Communication alumni and friends. Over 300 crowded a room at the Sheraton Hotel to greet and exchange stories with alumni whose Purdue experiences spanned several decades. It was a wonderful experience for someone new to Purdue.

As most of you know, we are a large department with over 1,000 undergraduate majors and about 100 graduate students. Students can select a variety of concentrations, from journalism to interpersonal communication. We continue to offer both theory and skills based classes and host several student organizations, including a student chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America and the Petticrew Forum (our debate squad that is currently ranked fifth in the country!). This summer Communication students will take part in study abroad and internship programs in the UK, Asia and Europe. More Communication students study abroad than any other major in our school.

In the next few months, we will be announcing the formation of a new "Alumni Advisory Board." The members of this board will help guide our participation in the "Campaign for Purdue" and will assist us in efforts to develop our alumni networks in Indianapolis and Chicago. As tuition increases, we must find ways to make sure that excellent undergraduate and graduate students can continue to attend Purdue and study abroad. We need your help, and we will ask for it. We hope you will step up to the plate when we contact you.

This is a special place. This program has been consistently ranked among the Top 10 best Communication programs in the United States, and we need to continue to be innovative and forward looking in order to maintain these rankings. We are proud of our past and excited about our future. Please send us a note. We want to keep up to date on the accomplishments of our alumni.