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The College of Mass Communication and Media Arts is caught up in the throes of change that was created by two transformative forces of the 20th century which have altered mass communication around the world. On the one hand, is the radical transformation of the structure, function and regulation of the media industries and, on the other, the emergence of new information processes and innovations in the creation and consumption of cultural commodities. The intellectual challenge for scholars is to study these changes, offer solutions to human problems, and prepare students who can become leaders in this so-called Information Age.

This College fortunately possesses some of the resources, the knowledge base, and the foundational values to embrace change and cope with the future. Based on our more than half century of leadership in journalism and media arts, we see the future as an opportunity to restructure, consolidate, and build to forge ahead to become national and international leaders in media studies.

This vision for the future will be negotiated on the basis of the following considerations:

• Interdisciplinarity. The College consists of artists, critical thinkers/social scientists, and producers of mass media. These are rich resources to build upon.
• Balance between Theory and Practice. There is a firm commitment to critical engagement with theory and practice in an interdisciplinary setting.
• Digital literacy. The future involves the pen, the camera, and the computer. The College has already made good strides in this regard and needs to build on that foundation.
• Diversity. We adhere to the principle that diversity of ideas, methodologies, students, staff, and faculty is critically important in a forward-looking, institution. The Collegeís core values embrace diversity and we envision strengthening that ideal across our programs by being inclusive in terms of course content as well as who is hired as faculty and staff.
• Student-centered values. The Collegeís faculty and staff are committed to the notion of our graduates being well rounded, critically thinking, media theorists/practitioners. We also want our students to be keenly aware of being global citizens.
• National and international recognition. We wish to build on our national reputation and aspire to be among the top 20 media studies programs in the country.
• New directions in research/creative work. We wish to internationalize our research/creative activity by creating a Center for Global Media Studies.
• Service. We plan to continue to provide service to the media professions and educational institutions at the national and international level.

• To educate and serve society as a public institution by engaging in critical, theoretical and practical scholarly/creative activity.
• To encourage first-generation college-going students of the region to thrive in the university setting.
• To build on our strengths of diversity and international orientations.
• To be one among the top 20 media studies colleges in the country and enhance the national and international reputation of SIUC.