Advising & Counseling

If a prospective major is not familiar with the department faculty, any faculty member can tell the student which instructor's interests are most closely aligned with those of the student. Students who are not Communication majors or minors but who would like to pursue communication related careers after graduation can receive informal advising. An Economics major who desires a newspaper career, for example, can solicit advice from department instructors, often one from whom that student may have taken a course.

Peer Counseling

Peer Advisors are undergraduates in the Communication program who are available for advising any undergraduate about anything related to the major or minor. The Peer Advisors for the 2008-09 academic year are Mackenzie Banks, Ryann Blackshere, Alison Johnston, and Colin Murfree.

Please feel free to contact them individually or as a group for any questions or concerns you may have regarding the Communication Undergraduate Program.

Peer Advisors 2008-2009

Mackenzie Banks	Ryann Blackshere
Alison Johnston	Colin Murfree

Mackenzie Banks is a member of the class of 2009.  She is double majoring in Communication and Economics with a focus on marketing and advertising.  In her freshman year she worked in Development and Stewardship for the School of Engineering and volunteered for the community service group, SPOON. Mackenzie now works for the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and participates in the Peer Mentor program.  She also spent a quarter as a member of Prof. Jeremy Bailenson's Virtual Human Interaction Lab as a researcher and recruiter.  During the summer of 2006 she was an intern for Merrill Lynch and took Introduction to Marketing and Introduction to Advertising at UC Riverside, and in summer 2008 interned at Ignited Minds, an advertising agency in Los Angeles. Mackenzie would like to study in a Spanish speaking country during her time at Stanford. After graduation she hopes to pursue a career in advertising and is contemplating attending graduate business school.

Ryann Blackshere is a member of the class of 2009 from Monrovia, California. Double majoring in Communication and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, she is interested in the intersection of minorities and the media. Throughout her years at Stanford she has been involved in many organizations, including LEAD (Lead through Education Activation and Diversity), the Black Community Services Center and the coed community service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega. During her sophomore year she co-founded Ed on Campus, a student group for students pursuing careers in magazine journalism.  She has also written for many campus publications, including the Stanford Daily. After her freshman year she worked as an intern at both her hometown newspaper and Tiger Beat magazine. The following summer she interned at the LA Bureau of People Magazine. During her junior year she was fortunate enough to feed her hunger for travel while studying abroad in Santiago, Chile. She is currently the Editor-In-Chief of The Real News, a historically African American newspaper that services the students of color on campus. In summer 2008, she interned at O Magazine in New York City. After graduation she will pursue a career in journalism and media production. 

Alison Johnston is from Portland, Oregon and is majoring in Communication. She also has a love for languages and has dedicated time to studying Spanish, German and Portuguese and has studied abroad in Brazil and Germany. Since starting at Stanford, she has worked at two different start-up companies (Blue Lake Children's Publishing and Box.net) and possesses a strong interest in entrepreneurship. On campus, Alison has worked in Prof. Cliff Nass' lab, researching the effects of emotional juxtaposition in advertising. She plans to further this research in 2008-2009 and develop it into an honors thesis.

Colin Murfree is a member of the class of 2009.  He is majoring in Communication with aspirations of a minor in Spanish.  The Spanish language has played a large role in his academic career thus far, with numerous courses as well as spending fall quarter of junior year in Santiago, Chile.  During junior year he also worked as a Campus Consultant for Sports Illustrated and their marketing department.  His interests within the field of communication extend more towards the journalism side of the department, which may lead him towards the department's co-term program in the near future. 

Faculty Advisor

It is important for Communication majors and minors to meet with their advisors regularly. The more frequently they discuss their academic and career plans with their advisor, the better and more specific the advice will be.

The Student Services Administrator

It is equally important for Communication majors and minors to meet regularly with the Student Services Administrator who will offer guidance in terms of accurately completing the requirements toward your major or minor. It is recommended that you meet at least twice during an academic year. If you have any questions during your academic study at Stanford, course related or otherwise, and do not know with whom to speak, please consider the Student Services Administrator as your first point of contact.

Transfer Students

Required Communication courses must usually be taken at Stanford. Not more than 10 units of transfer or Summer Session credit may be applied to departmental requirements. The Office of Undergraduate Admissions asks transfer students to furnish an official transcript, which is evaluated by the University. Students who transfer to Stanford and enter the Department of Communication should know the only Communication course likely to be waived is Communication 1A or 1B.

Combined and Multiple Majors

Formal options exist for all Stanford undergraduates who are interested in pursuing more than one academic discipline. Students should refer to Stanford Bulletin and the Academic Standing office. Remember that participation in any multiple major program requires declaration of each major via Axess.

Students who pursue this option, and also those pursing a minor, must complete a Multiple Major Form in their year of anticipated graduation indicating which courses they plan to apply toward each major and/or minor. Multiple Major Forms are available on the Registrar's Office website. Students will not be eligible to graduate until this form has been completed, signed and submitted. Single majors (with or without honors) do not need to submit this form.