Ripon Launches New Consortium to Prepare Grads to Communicate in the 21st Century

Recently recognized as the top undergraduate communication program in the United States, faculty in Ripon’s Department of Communication are collaborating with others on campus to launch a new program – the Ripon Communication Consortium.

The consortium, which involves not only faculty in communication, but also faculty from an array of academic departments as well as professional staff, is intended to foster growth and mentorship for broader forms of communication to appropriately prepare Ripon students to be effective and ethical communicators for the 21st century.

Collaborating across campus, the consortium will serve as an organizational hub for a wide variety of existing as well as new student organizations, teams and co-curricular programs related to speech, deliberation/debate, technology and media at the College.

Some of the more familiar groups include: Ethics Bowl, Intercollegiate Forensics, Ripon Speakers Bureau, College Days newspaper, WRPN Radio, Crimson yearbook, Photogenesis and Parallax literary magazine.

New groups slated to launch in fall 2015 – The Ripon Speech and Debate Society, Ripon Alumni Audience Network and “Hawk Talks” – will expose students to new forms of communication, new uses of technology, debate/discussion topics relevant to their interests and the chance to deliver speeches before live audiences of campus colleagues, alumni and more who can provide real-world feedback. RPN-TV also will make a resurgence as part of the consortium, under the direction of Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker Amardeep Kaleka.

As part of this new “hub” structure, students involved in any of the consortium groups will be able to take advantage of new mentoring opportunities and all Ripon students will have access to a new series of workshops that will feature professionals with expertise in speech and deliberation, journalism, audio, video, and broadcasting, just to name a few.

“Technology and globalization are changing the ways we communicate,” says Steve Martin, associate professor of communication and chair of the department. “The Consortium’s goal is to insure that we are providing Ripon students with opportunities to develop the skills and understanding they will need to succeed in a rapidly-evolving world.”

The College is looking for the Ripon Communication Consortium to help attract interest from a wide variety of current and prospective students who wish to be involved in a multiplicity of campus offerings as they prepare themselves for their futures. Qualified prospective students with an interest and demonstrated skillset in any of the consortium programs now have the chance to vie for a new Communication Consortium Scholarship of up to $5,000 per year.

Learn more at ripon.edu/communication-consortium.