CIC Undergraduate Student Services

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USC Grads: What's next?

We love to hear where our grads are headed and what they're doing next. Share your journey with us.

Complete the survey and provide your personal email at the end to get a $5 Starbucks e-gift card. If you complete it by your May 2025 commencement, you'll be entered for a chance to win $25,000!

Course Registration Tips

Helpful Links

Having trouble getting into your courses?

Some academic departments temporarily restrict their courses at the start of the registration period.

If you're having trouble getting into a class you need, check the Course Information and Restrictions tabs in the course schedule posted in Self Service Carolina.

When will JOUR courses open to non-majors?

Most JOUR courses will be open to all Columbia campus students as soon as registration opens. However, pre-requisites will still be enforced, and there are some JOUR courses that will always be restricted to SJMC majors only.

You can check the restrictions of the class you're interested in taking by clicking on the course title and going to the Course Information and Restrictions tabs.

When will ISCI courses open to non-majors?

ISCI courses are open to all Columbia campus students as soon as registration opens.

Courses Requiring Contracts or Applications

An Independent Study offers you the opportunity to create an individual plan of study with a specific professor.

Your first step is to reach out to the professor you want to work with and propose a topic that is not already covered by an existing class. Together, you and the professor may then design a unique plan of study and complete an Independent Study Contract.

Your contract must then be sent to your academic advisor, the Director of the School of Information Science, and your academic dean for their approvals.

The contract, including all of the approvals, must be complete before you can register for the class.

Independent studies are not guaranteed approval and are only offered on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the professor and Director of the School.

Contract required.

Get more information »

Contract required.
Get more information »

Each year, a South Carolina student team faces a real client challenge and tough competitors from across the country. We call it Ad Team. The American Advertising Federation calls it the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC).

Invitation required.

Get more information about Ad Team or speak to your advertising faculty.

Application required. Students must identify and apply to at least one of TCA’s four divisions: Advertising, Creative, Public Relations or Research. For more info, visit the TCA website.

The Bateman Case Study Competition is PRSSA’s premier national case study competition for public relations students. The Bateman Team course is offered in Spring semesters only and requires that interested students have taken a specific section of JOUR 531 in a prior semester.

Get more information »

Contact Senior Instructor Kelly Davis if you're interested in applying for next Spring.

Get more information about the Summer 2024 trip to the Miami Ad School in Atlanta.

Get more information about this Summer's trips.

Contract required.
Get more information »

An Independent Study offers you the opportunity to create an individual plan of study with a specific professor.

Your contract must then be sent to your academic advisor, the Director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, and your academic dean for their approvals.

The contract, including all of the approvals, must be complete before you can register for the class.

Independent studies are not guaranteed approval and are only offered on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the professor and Director of the School.

Want to request an ISCI or JOUR override?

Complete this online form »

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