ABSTRACT
During the 1990s, universities have experimented with a variety of new internal confi gurations to cut costs, balance supply and demand, and create synergy among units. Communication programs have been particularly vulnerable in these realignment struggles partly because they come in so many disparate confi gurations. Communication can be found in colleges of agriculture and departments of English and range from being an independent free-standing college or school to being just one among many departments in an arts and sciences colleges. Nelson (1995) of Ohio University found 19 different names of communications departments in Alabama. He also reported that telecommunications might mean radio-TV or voice and data and that speech communication might mean as many as seven different specialties. Given the confusing and inconsistent breadth and diversity of its homelands, communication units are hard-pressed to make a compelling case for unambiguous placement.
