Because innovation is essential to the future of our society and because there is a need to prepare college students to succeed in business organizations, it has become increasingly important to investigate the factors that enhance or discourage creativity and innovation. College professors have a vital role in introducing students to the fundamentals of innovation and, depending on how they do, can potentially encourage or discourage the innovation process. This study focused on the communication and motivation in the innovation process of faculty in a multidisciplinary course comprised of agricultural economics, biosystems and agricultural engineering, and agricultural communication majors at a large land‐grant university. Results demonstrated that students did not always find faculty communication effective, and findings among students in the three majors were different in faculty communication ratings. The data show there are positive relationships between students’ perceptions of faculty communications and students’ motivation in capstone courses.