Dr. Patrick Sutherland Chair, Department of Communication

         Welcome to this overview of the Bethany College Communication Department. For decades, “Comm” has been one of the largest departments at this small liberal arts college and that continues today. Approximately 100 majors and another 20 minors specialize in “hands-on” education in one of six “tracks” ranging from advertising, to documentary studies, electronic media, graphic design, print, and public relations. Our majors also study the principles, processes, and practices of the Communication field.

          If you are a prospective student (or parent of) feel free to e mail or call me with any questions about our program of study. As the chairperson of the Communication Department, it is wonderful to track our many successful Communication alumni as their careers unfold. Check elsewhere on this website for a listing of where some of our 950+ Communication graduates are working in the field. You’ll also find a listing of where our students have been doing their required internships.

         Our Communication majors are doing a lot of traveling this year. Three students attended an October workshop for college newspaper editors sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges and held at the New York Times in NYC. Our three Communication clubs have (or will) attend national conventions located in Las Vegas, Miami Beach, and Washington. D.C.

          I’ll be on sabbatical for a semester starting in January of 2006 and I plan do continue with my research on how technological innovations are affecting higher education journalism and mass communication instruction in the United States.

          Dr. Russell Cook’s new book titled The Vietnam War (Greenwood Press) is now available. Russell is an award winning video documentary producer and along with Professor Beverly Simas, is leading our department’s popular new documentary studies study emphasis. Russell also advises TV3 and the Bethany College Chapter of the National Broadcasting Society (NBS).

          Professor Ted Pauls is making good progress in his doctoral studies at West Virginia University. Ted advises our chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and also advises our student run agency “Bison Productions.”

          Professor Beverly Simas is also continuing her doctoral studies at WVU while teaching full time at Bethany and advising our chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).

          Professor Mike King has returned from a summer fellowship working in three states as part of the American Association of Newspaper Editor’s (ASNE) Journalism Excellence Program. Mike is the adviser to our Student Publications Center.

          Our broadcast engineer, Mr. Jeff Pfister, has helped to supervise installation of upgraded TV and radio equipment this past summer. The equipment includes a Grass Valley video switcher at TV3 and an additional digital audio workstation at WVBC-FM.

           Also, we welcome this year’s senior fellows Mr. Matt Heim (Electronic Media) and Ms. Megan Winnett (Public Relations). And we congratulate Bethanian Ms. Chelsea Boyd on the honor of her serving as the NBS’s National Vice President for Student Services. We hope that you find the information on our department’s web site useful.

Dr. Patrick Sutherland
Chair, Department of Communication
Bethany College