CHESS to merge Writing, Rhetoric & Digital Studies with Communication Studies

The College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences will merge the Department of Writing, Rhetoric & Digital Studies (WRDS) into the Department of Communication Studies, effective July 1. The merger was approved by the Faculty Council at their meeting on Jan. 15 and subsequently approved by Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber.

WRDS, established in 2019, houses the University’s First‑Year Writing Program. Under the merger, WRDS will become an academic program within Communication Studies and will retain its writing, rhetoric and digital studies major and program director.

As part of the transition, management of the Writing Resources Center will move into the Department of Communication Studies, while its director will join the Department of English to work more closely with the graduate students who serve as tutors in the center.

Chris Boyer, dean of the College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences, described the merger as “a visionary initiative that could further establish our university’s reputation as a nimble and forward‑thinking institution.”

The Department of Communication Studies will retain its name following the merger.

Read more about the departmental merger on the CHESS website.