PUB TYPE Reports Evaluative (142)-- Speeches/Meeting Papers (150)

The present study was designed to assess perceptions of (1) the quality of American graduate programs in communication; (2) the qualities that communication scholars deem important in a communication Ph.D. program; and (3) the adequacy of the number of Ph.D. programs stressing specific specialties in communication. An online survey of 221 United States communication faculty members and 49 communication department chairs identified several themes. Evaluative rankings confirmed previous findings of a midwestern, public institution prominence. There was a high degree of correspondence between faculty and chairs in the evaluation of the importance of curricular factors; there, were lower levels of agreement on evaluation criteria for doctoral program quality. Among 17 doctoral program specialization choices, the only specialty for which a majority of respondents reported that there are "not enough " doctoral programs was Media Information Technologies. Over a quarter of respondents reported they felt that there are "too many " programs for each of the following specialties