Communication instruction in a mature institutional partnership: An examination of evolving methods

Since 1994, the University of South Carolina at Columbia and the Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration) have offered a joint master's degree in international business. Communication instruction was initially a stable component of the program, with a week-long course at the beginning and a report-writing workshop at the end, followed by individual instruction in preparing deliverables for a consulting field project. Since the field projects were phased out in 2003, students continue to receive the one-week communication course in Vienna; after that, they have voluntary access to individual instruction from the Center for Business Communication at the University of South Carolina and exposure to in-class communication workshops as scheduled by faculty across the business disciplines. Although student feedback is positive, these instructional methods currently lack consistency. To achieve such consistency, a communication center can help to integrate instruction within MBA programs through communication intensive courses, writing studios, or a communication capstone course.