Program Scope
The Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts (BECA) Department offers course work leading to the B.A. in Radio and Television. The curriculum is designed to provide extensive educational experience for those who intend to use the modern media of electronic communication to serve the artistic, cultural, educational, informational, and social needs of society. The program involves both theory and practice, and students are expected to work successfully in both types of courses and activities. Graduates of the program are prepared for work in the broadcast and entertainment industries, in cable and on-line media, in video and audio production, and other areas related to electronic communication. Many graduates go on for graduate-level study in the field of mass media.
The Master of Arts program reflects a comprehensive view of the communication discipline with an integration of theory and practice. Emphasis areas include media aesthetics, audio and video production, news and documentary, interactive media, writing, management, and mass communication theory and criticism.
Two important co-curricular activities are open to students of the BECA Department. KSFS, the campus radio station, is broadcast online on the Wold Wide Web and is distributed in San Francisco on stereo cable. The Television Center produces newscasts, dramas, interviews, musical performances, and other productions for campus distribution to the San Francisco community through cable television. Collegiate chapters of the Audio Engineering Society, College Students in Broadcasting (an affiliate of American Women in Radio and Television), International Students in Broadcasting, and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers provide opportunities for service and fellowship in the department and in the professional community. The San Francisco Bay Area provides a wealth of media organizations that cooperate with the Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts Department in a large, active internship program.
Centers and Institutes
The Institute of International Media Communication, housed in the BECA Department, offers training and educational opportunities for television professionals from around the world through production workshops and seminars. The Center for Graduate Opportunity in Broadcast and Electronic Media provides academic support to minority and international students enrolled in the department's M.A. program.
Facilities
The department's instructional laboratories include some of the most extensive audio and video production facilities in Northern California, including three color television studios (the largest measures 4,700 square feet), videotape editing laboratories equipped with off-line and broadcast quality on-line editing systems, an interactive media laboratory, an audio recording studio, a radio station, and audio post production laboratories. These facilities are dedicated exclusively to the support of the instructional programs in Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts and afford students exceptional opportunities for "hands-on" media production experience.
Career Outlook
Graduates of the BECA Department are to be found working in media organizations around the world, and include some of the top names in broadcast journalism, entertainment television, radio, and audio and video production. Long term career outlook for graduates is excellent. Most seek work with radio and television stations, audio and video production companies, networks, cable television companies, and in corporate and institutional media departments.
Many graduates of the department continue their education and pursue advanced degrees in mass communication or related fields. Students with the appropriate credential or graduate degrees in Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts may teach in elementary and secondary schools, community colleges, or universities. A significant number of the department's M.A. graduates have competed successfully for admission to the leading doctoral programs in the field of mass communication.
