Graduate Certificate Requirements
Overview
Requirements for a Concentration

All interested students can apply online at this link.

Admissions Requirements:

• Official transcripts from all previously attended colleges, minimum GPA 2.5
• Written essay (1000 words on a topic related to Communication)
• There is NO required GRE test. Letters of reference are strictly optional.
• Letter of intent (must express a clear plan, whether to acquire skills for a professional position or to potentially meet requirements for a future master’s degree).

Requirements for a Graduate Certificate (12 hours)

The core sequence of the following four stand-alone courses constitutes this certificate:

COMM 501 Research Methods in Communication
Qualitative and quantitative methods employed in scholarly communication research, including experiments, surveys, textual analysis, and ethnography. Students will design research projects, learn to analyze data, and write publishable reports/essays.

COMM 510 Communication Theory
This course focuses on three epistemological approaches to the study of communication--empirical, interpretive, and critical. The student will learn to consider each of these approaches, and in particular, what constitutes ways of knowing from each of the three perspectives, leading to an advanced understanding of the main theories of human and mediated communication.

COMM 507 Seminar in Communication Management
A seminar course on the problems, issues, and practices affecting the management of complex organizations, with an emphasis on conflict communication and negotiation.

COMM 535 Public Relations Campaigns
The course has a primary emphasis on group work on behalf of an outside client based on current theories of organizational communication. Students will engage in significant research elements such as focus group and surveys, as well as budgets and timetables. Students formally present comprehensive findings and proposals to the client.

COMM 580 is a possible substitute for either COMM 507 or COMM 535 (or both 507 and 535, if different 580 topics are taken):

COMM 580 Special Topics
This course offers graduate students advanced understanding of theory and research in special topic areas. The focus is on topics most applicable to the areas of organizational communication and public relations.