Policy: COMM 131x and 141x are not available for credit by examination; furthermore, no student who has taken COMM 342, Advanced Public Speaking; or COMM 331, Advanced Group Communication, will be allowed to receive credit by examination for either of these lower level courses.

Rationale: Both basic courses are designed to provide sequential development of basic communication skills, together with an understanding of basic concepts in human interaction. Adequate assessment of the development of these skills can only be accomplished over time, in the context of classroom interaction. These conditions for assessment cannot be duplicated outside of the classroom, and demonstration of understanding of basic concepts is not a substitute for demonstration of the requisite skills. Credit by examination is therefore not feasible in these cases. This reasoning also applies to individuals who have taken an advanced level course in either small group communication or public speaking, that is, the skill development and conceptual knowledge involved in these upper level courses are different from those in the low level courses. An individual completing the upper level course would accordingly not have demonstrated the same skills or knowledge required in the lower level course.

Policy: A request to waive the Oral Communication Degree Requirement or the Oral Communication component of the core curriculum can be accomplished only by requesting to waive either COMM 131x or COMM 141x, preferably the latter. The request must take the form of a petition submitted by the student, and signed by the Head of the Dept. of Communication. The petition is valid for one year after being signed.

1. Waiver requests for COMM 131x (and COMM 222, formerly SpC 121) are to be handled on an individual basis. The application form is linked at the top of this section.
2. Waiver requests for COMM 141x are handled as follows:
   Requests to waive the requirement for COMM 141x will be considered only if, in the opinion of the Communication faculty, the individual can show clear evidence of substantive experience in formal public speaking situations. If the past experience is seen as sufficient, the individual will be asked to:
   1. to provide a videotape (not an audiotape) of a past speaking situation, and
   2. to present a ten minute persuasive speech before at least two members of the Communication
      faculty.

In either form, the speech must receive a grade of at least a B. The date for such speeches will be established each semester, at a single time during the first month to six weeks of classes that is convenient to the faculty involved. The date will be on a Tuesday at 1:00 in the second half of each semester, with the specific date and location negotiated with the Mentored Teaching coordinator for the semester. If these requirements are all satisfied, the student’s petition to waive the Oral Communication requirement, given demonstration of experience similar to that gained in COMM 141x, will be approved.

NOTE: Approval of a request to waive the Oral Communication Degree Requirement does not provide the student with credit for this course; it simply removes this specific requirement from his or her degree requirements.

If you would like to request a waiver, please contact Charles Mason, Department Chair, at cwmason@alaska.edu.