A laboratory approach to instruction is employed in the basic speech communication course at a southern university. Approximately one-third of the semester is spent on public speaking and performance assignments, while the remainder of the course focuses on interpersonal communication. During the oral performance part of the course, half of the students are frequently excused from class attendance to complete laboratory assignments while the instructor works with the remaining 25 students. The lab was instituted during a period of rapid growth when there were insufficient funds to add several faculty positions to cover the demand for the basic speech course. The laboratory approach allows the department to handle twice as many students with the same number of instructors and sections. The study center coordinator is hired at a lecturer's salary, and the rest of the study center staff consists of undergraduates on work-study salaries. Students purchase a course syllabus that describes 16 self-instructional units on topics such as theories and models, self-disclosure, listening, and nonverbal communication. Students use a variety of media in completing these units, including computers, after which they demonstrate their mastery of one of five objective test forms. When the laboratory work is completed, the coordinator provides the instructor with a record of the students' lab work, which is added to their grades. Among the advantages of the system are the flexibility it provides the instructors with the syllabus units, the flexibility it provides students by being open during the day and the evening, and the individualized instruction of the mastery system. (HTH)