Abstract
This article describes the development of a Master of Arts program in Telecommunications at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, designed during a period of retrenchment and shifting institutional priorities. The program emerged from challenges including rising undergraduate enrollments, limited faculty resources, and the collapse of a previous interdisciplinary master’s degree in public visual communication. Faculty and administrators framed the proposal rhetorically to emphasize career preparation in management and policy rather than production, aligning with institutional goals of “smaller but better” programming. A distinctive summer-through-summer schedule was introduced to attract non-traditional students with professional experience seeking to complete a degree in one year. Early results showed strong interest, though enrollment of women and minorities remained low. The article concludes that while not universally replicable, this case illustrates how resource reallocation and program design can sustain growth and meet student and institutional needs during times of constraint.
Recommended Citation
Oglesbee, Frank W.
(1987)
"A Small Rhetoric of Retrenchment: A New MA in Telecommunications,"
Association for Communication Administration Bulletin: Vol. 62, Article 19.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/aca/vol62/iss1/19
