The mission of the Department of Organizational Sciences and Communication is to provide a multi-disciplinary home for faculty and undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students interested in the study, interpretation, and improvement of organizational and communication phenomena. At the individual, interpersonal, group, organizational, societal, and global levels, the department seeks to increase our understanding of communication and organizations by incorporating a variety of epistemological and methodological approaches. Part of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, the department’s three programs jointly and uniquely contribute to the College’s and University’s missions.

Communication

The Communication Program has a history as old as the university itself, with academic work in rhetoric dating back to the original charter in 1821. The program explores how people constitute and share meaning in an abstract world. Current curricular offerings probe communication events as media-bound occurrences, studying the verbal and nonverbal, oral or written, live or mass media nature of communication phenomena.

Organizational Sciences

Organizational Sciences, founded in 1981 and centered within a social systems framework, offers an undergraduate and graduate program with a focus on the for-profit, not-for-profit, government, military, service, and other sectors. The premise is that success comes with a deep understanding of the theory and practice underlying individual and organizational effectiveness.

Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology, which traces its roots back more than 60 years, offers a graduate program in areas such as personnel selection, training and development, work motivation, leadership, and work teams. The program of study is designed in accordance with guidelines established by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.