Initiated in the 1960s as the Broadcast Research Center, the Institute assumed a new identity and mission when the School changed its name from Radio-Television to Telecommunications in 1983. Today, the School of Telecommunications is one of the top academic programs of its type in the United States, with strengths in international communication, critical/cultural studies, media management, multimedia production, policy and regulation, and technology and its effects. The research and development activities of the ITS are intended to support and enhance the School's multiple missions of teaching, research and service.