Course and Admission Requirements
Curriculum
The Graduate Certificate in Strategic Communication is comprised of 15 credit hours including four required classes plus an elective.
- MC 6550: Organizational Communication: How communication works inside organizations, as a tactic for attaining objectives, and as a means of forming teams, enhancing retention, building structures and policies that permit effective and efficient operations. You’ll learn how these processes work and what you can do to contribute.
- MC 6551: Public Relations Research & Practice. Forming PR strategy depends on formative and secondary research that helps build plans that help the organization win in the marketplace and attract employees. Learn by doing in this interactive course, conducting research and applying it to plans and activities.
- MC 6552: Social Media Seminar. Social media debuted years ago as a revolution in communication. What is it now and how is it used in organizations? This practical seminar gives you the knowledge and tools you need to use social media for business purposes. You’ll learn the latest on social strategies, plus their limitations and applications.
- MC 6553: Advertising Research & Practice. Advertising has changed so dramatically over the past few years. You’ll conduct research and form campaigns that draw on the latest best practices and standards, gaining resources you can bring to bear immediately.
- You will select an elective course from the schedule to round out your certificate.Curriculum
Why a Graduate Certificate in Strategic Communication?
You’re eager for a promotion or looking to add responsibility for more of the communication mix in your organization. Maybe you’re a public relations pro and are expected to do more with paid media, or an advertising specialist looking to do more work in employee communication. Or you want to better understand all parts of your organization’s strategic communication portfolio and move from individual contributor to leadership. You need knowledge! With this certificate in hand, you’ll gain the combination of theory, practice and experiential learning to broaden your knowledge and make you more valuable to your organization. And, you’ll differentiate yourself as a communication professional, gaining an important credential for your resume and LinkedIn profile.
Why the Graduate Certificate in Strategic Communication at BGSU?
We’re the ideal blend of veteran researchers, instructors from business and industry, and creative and experienced thinkers. Plus, the Graduate Certificate will introduce you to graduate study; you could consider the Certificate a “test drive,” opening doors to even deeper and more substantive learning in a Master of Arts program later.
Admission Requirements
Applicants must hold a four-year undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited college or university and have a minimum 3.0 undergraduate grade point average (GPA). Applicants are required to submit scanned copies of official transcripts from all institutions attended. Upon admission, final official transcripts from each degree granting institution must be submitted. Applicants are also required to submit official scores from the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). Applicants with 3 or more years of professional work experience may be eligible for exemption from the GRE requirement. International applicants are also required to submit scores from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), the Pearson Test of English Academic (PTEA), or the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Successful completion of ELS 112 will also be accepted for this requirement.
