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Students who major in Telecommunication Studies are expected to devote a minimum of 10 hours per week, year round, to study and practice in their field.
Time spent in classes, labs and other regular course preparation does not count toward this requirement. The 10-Hour Rule deals with time and effort beyond what normally would be required for a capable student to do a competent job in the degree program.
Only time devoted to high-level learning effort qualifies in satisfaction of the 10-Hour Rule. Hanging out at a radio station or with a rock band doesn’t count. The 10-Hour Rule has been a part of the Telecommunication Studies major since 1997.
Rationale
When you finish your degree program and prepare to move on, you will probably face a gatekeeper. That’s someone who decides who may enter a place and who may not. Movie theaters, football stadiums and dance clubs all have gatekeepers (they look to see if you have a ticket or are of proper age). Employers have gatekeepers, too, as do graduate schools, professional schools and the military. Gatekeepers will decide whether you have the necessary “ticket” to enter the job world, the graduate program, or whatever other world you might like to enter.
It’s up to you to make sure you have the right “ticket” and can produce it.
Students often don’t realize that other people will ask the gatekeeper for admission, too. It stands to reason that the gatekeeper will allow to pass only those who have the best credentials.
Students in TCOM programs elsewhere are able to live on campus, eat in campus dining rooms, and work for just a few hours weekly for some quick cash. they are free to dedicate their extra time to their degree program. They can create programming for the radio station, make TV programs, do lights for a theater production, and more.
So the 10-Hour Rule aims to make sure you have invested the necessary time and effort to be able to compete with these other similarly-prepared graduates when it comes to getting a job or getting into graduate school.
What Counts
The 10-Hour Rule should encourage, not hobble you. So a wide range of activities might qualify. For example:
- Professional residency
- Internship
- Jambar assignments
- Working in radio, television or related fields
- Homework Express!
- Study abroad
- Audio theater
- On-campus leadership
- Field research projects
- Film production
- Sports PA announcer
- Telecom Webmaster
- Proposal for Construction Permit
- Voicing Spec Spots
- WYSU fundraising drive
- TV election coverage
- Radio/TV fair volunteer
- A/V at church
- Consulting for schools
- Videos on cruise ship or ski resort
- Entertainer at Disney World
The list is but a suggestion. The real test is whether your time in a particular activity will help develop your knowledge in a meaningful way. Once again, only the gatekeeper will tell.
Enforcement
Again, the 10-Hour Rule is but a tool to help keep you on the right path. That’s why we use our good judgement in enforcing it.
Our procedure is:
- A list of all TCOM majors is prepared and circulated among faculty each semester.
- Each person puts a check mark by those names whose 10-Hour Rule compliance is personally known.
- The names unchecked at the end of the process are contacted and asked to explain how they are satisfying the requirement. When such explanations are supplied and approved, those names are checked.
- Remaining names are sent appropriate notification, copies of which are sent to the 10-Hour Rule file for subsequent review in the Portfolio Review.
Clearly, the 10-Hour Rule also is designed to help you collect materials for your portfolio. Not only should you be able to provide an accounting of your time and energies to the faculty, but also to your gatekeepers!
For example, If I happen to know that Mary McGuggle reads at the Radio Reading Service and that Slim Snerd has an internship this semester, I would put check marks by each of their names. If I don’t know what Emma Nutt’s doing, then I put no check mark by her name.
Questions? Contact Drs. Mathews, Crawford or Owens.
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