Strategic Communication - B.A.
The Strategic Communication major addresses the broad principles of communication that apply to organizational leadership and public relations engagement. It can prepare graduates for careers in public relations firms, advertising agencies, health care organizations, educational institutions, social service organizations, retail and manufacturing, financial institutions, government agencies, lobbying, and sports and entertainment industries. Grounded in the strengths of the division's core classes, the strategic communication curriculum develops students' practical skills and perspectives through coursework in theory, technique, and application of skills in partnership with nonprofit and on-campus organizations, and local media outlets.
Concentrations:
Public Relations: This concentration prepares students in the professional practices of the public relations industry. Students gain expertise in strategic planning, writing, promotion and publicity, graphic design, and media tools and techniques.
Organizational Communication: This concentration creates opportunities to evaluate and prioritize communication with internal and external constituencies of an organization. It applies traditional interpersonal and group communication skills in an organizational, structural context.
Students must receive a "C" or higher for all courses within their major. Any grade below a "C", including "C-" must be repeated with a "C" or higher to graduate with a Communication/Theatre major.
Requirements (46 credits)
Division Core (12 credits)
Choose one Communication Lab:
Each section of
COM-116 may be repeated up to 8 times.
Major Requirements (20 credits)
| COM-233 | Principles of Public Relations | 3 |
| COM-227 | Research Methods in Communication | 3 |
| COM-366 | Organizational Communication | 3 |
| COM-370 | Symbols and Imaging | 3 |
| COM-321 | Persuasion | 3 |
| COM-300 | Communication Research Practicum | 1 to 2 |
-
| or | |
| COM-201 | Public Relations Practicum | 1 |
| COM-445 | Communication Internship | 3 |
COM-201 must be taken two times but may be repeated up to 8 times.
COM-300 may each be repeated up to 8 times.
Concentrations (Choose one)
Public Relations Concentration (15 credits)
| COM-112 | Introduction to Multimedia Storytelling | 3 |
| COM-201 | Public Relations Practicum | 1 |
| COM-224 | Introduction to Newswriting | 3 |
| COM-331 | Public Relations Writing and Publicity | 3 |
| COM-431 | Public Relations Campaigns and Cases | 3 |
| DES-101 | Design Fundamentals | 3 |
COM-201 may be repeated up to 8 times.
Organizational Communication Concentration (15 credits)
Foreign Language (6 credits)
Foreign Language requirement - all students will be required to take 6 hours of one foreign language at the college level. (For students taking Mandarin Chinese courses, three hours of Mandarin Chinese will satisfy the Intercultural Experience requirement. However, Spanish and French courses currently do not meet the intercultural Experience requirement.) The following exceptions and guidelines will be used to implement the 6-hour foreign language requirement:
- Students for whom English is a second language will be exempt from the 6-hour foreign language requirement.
- Students who have completed four years of high school foreign language with no grade below a "C" will be exempt from the 6-hour foreign language requirement.
- Students who pass a foreign language competency test at a level equivalent to four semesters of a single language (Intermediate 2) will be exempt from the 6-hour foreign language requirement.
- Students who pass a foreign language competency test at a level equivalent to three semesters of a single language (Intermediate 1) will be exempt from 3 hours of the 6-hour foreign language requirement and will satisfy the other 3 hours by completing the Intermediate 2 course.
- Students will be allowed to transfer college credit hours to satisfy the foreign language requirement.
