The Banja Luka College of Communications is a private, liberal arts school of higher learning. The College was founded in the year 2000 as the first independent institution of higher education in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since its foundation, the College has been working in accordance with the Bologna Declaration, offering unique modular programs based on one semester courses expressible in ECTS credits. The first class of communications majors graduated in 2004. The College was relicensed by the Ministry of education and culture in June 2007.
The Banja Luka College of Communications is dedicated to the academic study of contemporary social communication. The focal themes of College's communication program are journalism, public relations and advertising. Another area of study at the college comprises the skills in shaping communication messages: writing, design and production. Digital design and communication are another area of study. In addition, students also study in areas such as semiotics, communication theory, management, intercultural communication, linguistics, foreign languages and cultural studies.
The College currently offers undergraduate majors in communication, journalism, advertising, public relations, graphic design, interactive design, and English.
Educational paradigm
The study of contemporary communication phenomena and education of future communication experts implies specific learning conditions that can provide for successful achievement of academic goals for a new communications era.
The Banja Luka College of Communications creates such conditions by its unique educational paradigm, pleasant working conditions and modern educational equipment.
Our educational paradigm is founded on modular curricula, teaching in small groups, dialogue of equals, practical work, attainment of knowledge as information in context, and the equal educational conditions and equal implementation of the same rules for all.
The curricula, based on ample educational experience and latest pedagogical standards, are modular and derived from one-semester courses based on credit principle. They are comparable to most North American and European programs and our courses are expressed in the ECTS, which allows for student and faculty mobility and exchange with other schools throughout the world.
Work in small groups is viewed as a prerequisite both for intellectual development and for the attainment of knowledge. Dialogue is not merely a major study theme at the College, it is also the main method of instruction. Students and instructors are equal participants in the scholarly dialogue – in the process of acquiring and creating knowledge – for only the equal can really talk. Besides, practical work at the College represents the method of learning information that makes sense. At the Banja Luka College of Communications, knowledge is information in context. One of our school's mottos is the concrete before the abstract.
Workspace and equipment
The College uses workspace that inspires dialogue and team work. Beside an array of books in the discipline, College's seminar library receives select regional newspapers and magazines as well as major communication journals and professional magazines. The computer labs contain latest generation PCs with fast internet access via ADSL, digital cameras, professional camcorders, as well as a digital studio, control room, and other non-linear editing and production facilities.
Statistics
The average number of students per class is 12. The ratio student – instructor is five to one. Every student has access to his or her own computer. The library currently holds over twenty books per student and the college has about 6 m2 of space per student.
Tuition
The College is an independent institution and the entire cost of operation is covered by tuition-based income. This also means that all students are charged tuition, which, is, for the 2007/2008 school year, up to 2970 KM per semester. Tuition covers classes, exams, use of library and other facilities. Tuition also covers administrative services as well as fees and forms for administrative services and documents issued to students.
Values and norms
During each school year students evaluate faculty and academic services by filling out evaluation questionnaires, and thus, among other things, continuously influence the educational process and work of faculty at the College. These evaluations are a form of direct democratic expression of students at the College.
The College supports and encourages objective grading by written examinations, carried out under standard criteria equally applied to all students. The objectivity of grading, right to privacy and dignity of students, faculty and the College is further secured by using the unique student numbers on all projects, papers and exams, rather than students' names. Finally, students can also cancel or file a complaint about a grade awarded.
The rule of law is consistently pursued at the College under which the same rules are applicable to all and are equally applied to all concerned.
In enrollment and employment, the Banja Luka College of Communications does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, age, religion, ethnicity or any other individual difference or characteristic not related to academic or professional requirments or abilities.
Address
We are located in dowtown Banja Luka, at 2 Vojvodjanska Steet,
in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Email: informacije @kfbl.edu.ba,
phone/fax: ++387-51-321-200/201.
