The University of Toledo Communication Department worries about restructuring rumors

After moving to the College of Visual and Performing Arts, the Department of Communication has found its success in CoCA, or the College of Communication and the Arts.

Recently, rumors surfaced surrounding another move for the department, though nothing has been confirmed at this time.

“I have yet to hear a concrete plan from the administrative level and so only God knows what will happen,” said John Eidemiller, media producer and director for CoCA.

Lisa Bollman, academic advisor of CoCA, said a new merger would be unnecessary because it has been a positive thing and students and faculty are happy with it.

“I don’t see that there has been a negative to students at all,” Bollman said, “It is a tribute to the faculty and staff that made sure the students had a seamless transition from one college to another.”

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Eidemiller said the college of communication’s enrollment has increased due to the change.

“That was a really good change, because just based on the fact that students are able to find communication as a major,” he said. “It’s helped our students I think, and it has certainly helped our enrollment numbers. “

Eidemiller stated that since leaving the College of Language Literature and Social Sciences, the communication department as a whole has seen more students interested in the program.

Both departments’ concerns were for the students, but they also wanted to make sure the transition was beneficial for the departments as well.

“The overarching idea is that you can make connections with new departments and create opportunities between both that weren’t as easily facilitated when they were in their own separate colleges,” Bollman said.

Gina Gass, a fourth-year communication and theatre major, prefers CoCA to LLSS.

“It’s a lot better,” she said. “They work a lot closer and bridge the gap between communication and the arts, while overlapping the skills students must be able to have.”

Katie Cepero, a communication graduate, thinks it was a smart move to leave LLSS.

“There are a lot of students who double major in film and broadcasting,” Cepero said. “When communication was in LLSS, we as students, felt a little excluded or out of place but now that communication is a part of the arts, it’s easier to collaborate and create some really cool projects.”

Cepero also said that COCA is helping adapt students to the new society we live in today.

“Communication is a social science but it’s also an art, and in this day and age even more so,” she said. “Our culture communicates in very different ways now than ten or so years ago, and this I think is adapting to that cultural change.”

The main goal, according to Bollman, is to make sure the students receive a quality education and make good connections during their time here.