Graduate Certificate in Strategic Communication
- Fall August 1st
- Spring December 1st
- Summer April 15th
- Global Campus: Yes
- 600 TOEFL Paper-based score
- 250 TOEFL Computer-based score
- 93 TOEFL Internet-based score
Degree Description:
Washington State University’s online Certificate in Strategic Communication is designed for those who want to excel in advertising, public relations, corporate communication, and communication management. The degree will advance and energize your career. Our multidisciplinary approach offers training in new and traditional media, critical for today’s strategic communications; teaches students how to gather and analyze information and use those findings in creating communication campaign; trains students, in the tradition of Edward R. Murrow, to create messages that are both strategic and responsible; includes weekly online instructor office hours, frequent student self-assessment tools, ongoing interaction with other students, and a flexible timeline for completion. The program offers hands-on training in the most advanced platforms, tools and techniques. You will work closely with industry professionals and faculty to learn audio and video software, graphic design tools, new media and publication layouts. By the time you are finished, you will have created multimedia materials that are evaluated by peers and produced as portfolio-quality items stored online. This work can be tailored to each individual career, or even your specific job needs.
Admission Requirements:
Application Materials
- Unofficial transcripts from all undergraduate institutions
- International students submit TOEFL
- Current professional resume that includes at least three professional references name and contact information
- Statement of Purpose articulating your perspectives, contributions, qualifications, and talents
Experience
The program is designed for individuals who are at least three years outside their undergraduate program and/or have at least three applied work experience. The coursework is bench-marked at a level best suited to those with solid work and life experience. Student engagement is built into each course and with it students benefit greatly from knowledge share and mutual exchange. We find that those with limited applied work experience are not fully equipped to contribute to those discussions in a meaningful way – nor are they as successful in completing the more complex course work. The decision to admit involves a full assessment of the applicant’s academic profile, the mix of experience they bring to the program and overall readiness for graduate-level work – not just undergraduate GPA or quality of their statement of purpose.
Student Learning Outcomes:
All graduates will:
- Excel in the fields of advertising, public relations, corporate communication, and communication management with demonstrated knowledge of strategic communication skills.
- Use advanced media tools, create data-based communication plans, and design and deliver integrated promotional campaigns across earned, owned, and paid channels.
- Acquire the skills to gather and analyze information and use those findings to create communication campaigns by designing courses rooted in research and theory in partnership with courses that teach best practices and industry standards in contemporary communication strategies and tactics.
Career Opportunities:
Advertising, public relations, corporate communication, and communication management.
Faculty Members:
Bolls, Paul, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair, co-chair, or member of graduate committee
Cooney, Rebecca Lynn, M.S.
Serves as: chair, co-chair, or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Media convergence, new communication technologies, social media persuasion, virtual world communication
Hust, Stacey Jolene, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair, co-chair, or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Use of Media to Reduce Sexual Assault and Promote Healthy Sexual Relationships
Parent-Child Communication About Media and Health
Media Effects and Strategies to Prevent Alcohol Abuse
Gender and the Mass Media
Pinkleton, Bruce E, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair, co-chair, or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Associate Director of the Murrow College Center for Media and Health Promotion. Communication campaigns, individuals’ use of the media, and media effects primarily in health and public affairs contexts.