• South Dakota State University
Our Department of Journalism and Mass Communication has a long and successful history. Continuously accredited since the first year national journalism accreditation began in 1948, the department has been recognized as one of the best midsize journalism programs in the U.S. In the 1950s, the department added a master's degree, and graduates are making a mark in the industry and higher education around the country and world.
Students in the program will take many of the classes together, but in other cases students will have several classes from which to choose. Each student's plan of study will also be individualized in two other ways: an independent study allows students to pursue a topic of interest under a professor's supervision, and the capstone course, a research paper or project, will be tailored to individual student interests and needs.
All of the classwork for this degree will be available 24/7. Online discussion and lectures will substitute for face-to-face traditional instruction. Internet-based courseware functions as a virtual classroom for students and instructors who can participate at any time, from anywhere. Faculty post lectures and assignments; students turn in papers and tests and discuss their work with classmates online. Whether you are a student in South Dakota or elsewhere in the world, online learning adjusts to your own schedule.
The program uses an instructor-led cohort-based learning model — a relatively common online learning approach in higher education. Because interaction with peers is an integral part of any graduate program, a cohort or group of students starts the program and takes most classes together. By taking two eight-week classes back-to-back each semester and one each summer, the group will finish the program in just under two years time.
SDSU MCOM graduate faculty
Graduate Faculty

Mary Arnold, Professor and Department Head, Ph.D., University of Iowa, Mass Communication, teaches courses in law, media management and women in media.
She has been department head since 2002 and was professor at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., and the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She also managed youth editorial and diversity programs for the Newspaper Association of America Foundation in Vienna, Va.

Matthew Cecil, Associate Professor, Ph.D., University of Iowa, Mass Communication, teaches courses in new media, media production and history. He has seven years of media experience. He was an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., and the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma.

Jack Getz, Professor, Ed.D., University of South Dakota, teaches courses in news-writing and reporting. He handles the classroom lecture sessions and two or more studio sections of Basic Newswriting and Public Affairs Reporting and History of Journalism. He is a veteran of 18 years in daily newspapers, serving a variety of newsroom positions and worked for two years in corporate communications.

Dennis Hinde, Associate Professor, Ph.D., Southern Mississippi, Advertising, teaches courses in public relations and advertising. He is also the department's Internship Coordinator. His 16-year business career focused on banking and retail advertising/public relations, and he is particularly interested in restaurant advertising.

Lyle Olson, Professor and Graduate Program Director, Ed.D., Oklahoma State University, teaches courses in graduate studies, design, magazine writing, and international media. He has previously taught a semester in China. He is known nationally for his research in scholastic journalism and the teaching of writing courses.

Jennifer Tiernan, Assistant Professor and Online Graduate Coordinator, Ph.D., University of Iowa, Mass Communication, teaches courses in digital media, honors and women in media. She was a visiting lecturer in the Department of Communication at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Ind., and an assistant professor in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla.