Mass communication and communication studies will be merging into one communication degree by Fall 2013, according to communication department head Carl Thameling.

Erik Lepp, a senior communications studies major, is disappointed by the merger.

“I think it’s a shame that the university is getting these budget cuts that are effecting degrees,” Lepp said.

Thameling tried to calm students’ fears saying that they shouldn’t have any resentment to the changes and that everyone has the students’ interests in mind.

“No one likes change,” Thameling said. “If they have hurt feelings about it, [they should know] their degree is still coming from a SACS accredited program.”

SACS is the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which accredits over 13,000 schools.

Mass communications freshman Lenzy Pipkins is upset he won’t be able to follow in his dad’s footsteps.

“I was looking forward to a mass comm. degree,” he said. “It’s what my dad has and what my brother is getting, but now they’re taking it away from me.”

Bette Kauffman represents mass communication on the curriculum committee.

“I think they’re going to continue to have a degree that’s worth a great deal,” Kauffman said. “We’ve developed a good curriculum.”

The three concentrations in mass communication will be kept. And the department is adding a new concentration called communication advocacy, which will fit those who want to work for non-profit advocacy groups.

Lepp said he doesn’t like the idea. But he also said the professors know what they’re doing.

Certain courses are no longer going to be required due to the merger.

An example is Media Law. It doesn’t fit into the general course work so it will not be required.

Kauffman said that public relations and journalism students need media law the most, so she and the other professors would “strongly advise” their students to take it.

“They’re the ones most likely to get sued for defamation,” she said.

“This new curriculum is going to require students to be more responsible,” Kauffman said.

Pipkins said he thinks it’s going to hurt the degree.

“The classes I need to be effective are no longer being required,” said Pipkins.

Thameling said all changes to the are pending until the curriculum committee finalizes the plan and the administration signs off.