3. UAlbany Degree Requirements

Departmental Advice to Transfer Students

Department Website

Welcome to the Journalism Program at UAlbany.  Journalism has been part of the University curriculum since 1973, and in 2006 became the SUNY system’s first B.A. in Journalism at a University Center.  We prepare students for a wide variety of media careers in this Age of Information – careers not only in traditional print news, but also in broadcast journalism, Web journalism, photojournalism, digital imaging/design, magazine journalism, book publishing, public relations, advocacy communications, and more.  A student who is a Journalism major or minor, and who meets the qualifications, can work on a media internship in either the Fall, Spring, or Summer semester, and can work at any location, not just in the Capital District.

Journalism majors organize their upper-level curriculum by choosing one of four concentrations:

• General Journalism [most students choose this one, which is the most flexible]

• Digital and Visual Media

• Science, Technology, and Society

• Public Affairs Journalism

However, as a transfer student you do not have to choose one of these concentrations right now.  You should make an appointment with the Journalism Coordinator of Advisement early in your first semester here in order to discuss these options and other matters regarding the major.

The MAP (Major Academic Pathway) shows how the Journalism major might be completed in four years.

As a transfer student it is important for you to use your Degree Audit Report (DARS) to determine what you’ve already completed and what is left for you to finish at Albany.  As you do this, please consider the following information that we have found to be important to transfer students:

1. Previous Coursework: While the University at Albany has a particularly large transfer equivalency databank, the Journalism major is widely variable across institutions, and often might include courses listed under departments such as Communication, Mass Communication, or English. There may be instances in which your coursework at a previous institution does not have a University at Albany equivalent. If you find previous coursework has not been applied to the major, it may be re-evaluated by the Journalism advisors if you provide supporting documentation (syllabus, course description, written work from the course, etc). You can do this by making an appointment with the Journalism Coordinator of Advisement, Professor William Rainbolt, once the semester starts.

2. Core Courses (9cr): The Journalism major requires the completion of three core courses. You can take two of the three core courses simultaneously; you should take all three within your first two semesters at UAlbany.  It is important that you take AJRL 200Z as soon as you can because you cannot take upper-level workshop courses (at the 300 and 400 levels) until you have passed 200Z.  The three core courses are:

• AJRL 100, Fundamentals of Journalism and Media Studies

• AJRL 200Z, Introduction to Reporting and News Writing

• AJRL 270X, Strategies of Information for Journalists

AJRL 200Z satisfies the General Education requirement for lower-level writing, and AJRL 270X satisfies the General Education requirement for information literacy.

3. OTHER COURSES YOU CAN TAKE AS A TRANSFER.  Unless your Audit indicates you are being given equivalency credit for AJRL 200Z, you will not be able to enroll in 300-400 levels workshop courses.  However, you can enroll in our “lecture” courses – normally, courses which have enrollments of 40 or more – because they do not require 200Z as a prerequisite.  These lecture courses are:

AJRL 220, 320, 325, 330, 340, 410, 420, and 475 (when the topic is not a workshop)

4. Journalism majors are required to complete a minor.  For a list of minors and the courses required to complete them, click here.

5. Building a schedule.  We will work to ensure that you can enroll in at least one, and probably two Journalism courses for your first semester; for most transfer students, these courses will be drawn from AJRL 100, 200Z, 270X, lecture courses.  In general, we recommend that you build a schedule containing:

• 1-2 guaranteed Journalism courses

• General Education requirements

• Minor courses (if you know what your minor will be)

• Electives  (courses that do not fulfill a requirement, but will be counted toward the 120 credits you need to graduate)

ON-LINE REGISTRATION PROCESS
1. You are advised to complete and submit your Educational Plan as soon as possible, to maximize access to available seats

2. Your Educational Plan will be reviewed by a member of the Journalism faculty who will contact you by email with comments or questions.  When your proposal is approved, you will receive an email from her/him and this message will include your AVN number . You can expect to receive this by email within two weeks after receipt of your proposal.