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Milena Droumeva | School Director

The study of communication has always been a bit mysterious just like the field of communication as a profession is. In fact we teach both media studies (and media design) as well as communication studies including professional communication. So our biggest challenge is to more clearly convey to students, parents, and the wider industry community who we are and the type of comprehensive media communications training that we offer

Daniel Ahadi | Associate Director

Generative AI, as both challenge and opportunity, is, in my view, one of the most pressing issues we face today. We’re also actively exploring ways to integrate more applied learning elements into our curriculum. The launch of CMNS 200 this semester is especially exciting, as it builds on the excellent foundational work that our colleague and newly appointed faculty member, Jennesia Pedri, has already done in CMNS 120.

Manjeet Gill | School Manager

Rising operational costs, declining enrollments, and federal restrictions on international student and spousal visas are key challenges facing both the School and SFU. While these factors create uncertainty around budgeting and planning, they also offer an opportunity to focus on strategic priorities, reinforce core academic goals, and pursue innovative ways to attract, engage and support our students.

Zoë Druick | Graduate Chair

Graduate students are entering their programs at a time of enormous instability and change—from climate crisis and generative AI to war, dispossession and forced migration. The School of Communication provides a space to focus on these pressing issues, helping advanced students better understand the situation we find ourselves in and develop their analysis and praxis in relation to environmental, technological, cultural, social and political change.

Chris Jeschelnik | Undergraduate Chair

The greatest challenge currently facing undergraduate students is uncertainty. A sense that the challenges for young people in the present moment are so overwhelming that the future can seem bleak at times.

The greatest opportunity for our undergraduate students will come from the realization that finding the best way forward is not as complicated as it seems. Simple steps towards building a foundation of personal care, creating networks of meaningful human relationships and the development of practices geared towards positive academic and professional outcomes will create the conditions for future success.

Victoria Thomas | Honours Program Coordinator

The new Honours program, which focuses on a cohort learning format, allows students to participate in the collaborative space that is research. Although we are independent researchers, many faculty members rely on one another to revise and refine our research practices through peer reviews, grant writing support, and feedback on conference papers. In a cohort, our students will build connections with other Honours students by attending workshops and sharing their research successes and struggles with one another.