Course Descriptions
MA in Corporate Communication
COM 9108
Communication and Information Technology
3 hours; 3 credits
The course covers the nexus of information and communication management. As information becomes, increasingly, the principal "asset" of public organizations, managers will need to know how to develop, control, and capitalize upon that asset. This course will provide students with both a broad overview of information issues in organizational environments and a more focused treatment of information and communication in public organizations.
COM 9139 (PAF 9139)
Communication Strategy
3 hours; 3 credits
This course builds on PAF 9103 Communication in Public Settings, which emphasizes strategic issues in communication. Here students will focus on the management of institutional communication rather than the basics of message design. The goal is to provide public managers with theoretical and practical tools to integrate communicative considerations into institutional decision making. The course will cover the basics of negotiation, consensus building, media selection, and thematic strategy.
COM 9501 (ENG 9501)
Corporations and Media
3 hours; 3 credits
This course will allow both business journalism and corporate communication students an "inside" look at the corporation. Knowledge of structure, organization, decision making, communications, culture, goals, and politics is crucial to students and practitioners in both specialties for very different reasons. The business journalist must know the inside of a corporation in order to report effectively to the public newsworthy events, decisions, and changes in course. The corporate communication specialist must intimately know how a particular corporation or an area of business works so that information most favorable to the outside world can be selected and effectively disseminated. This course will allow students in both programs to familiarize themselves with the internal working of organizations, focusing particularly on those areas of organizational structure where information about an organization is most readily available. Case studies, presentations by corporate executives, and visits to organizations will be an important part of this course.
COM 9505
Media Analysis for Corporate Communication
3 hours; 3 credits
This course will cover the history, organization, ownership, and functioning of print, broadcast, and electronic media with a special emphasis on the coverage of business. Some of the questions addressed include, How are stories selected? What sources are consulted? How do deadlines shape the news? What assumptions go unexamined? How does public relations shape coverage? The institutional contexts and intellectual underpinnings of the practices of business journalists and corporate communication specialists will also be stressed, including a number of historical case studies.
COM 9510
Legal and Ethical Issues in Corporate Communication
3 hours; 3 credits
Students in this course will improve their understanding of the underlying ethical theories and principles that guide journalists and communication specialists, develop their moral reasoning, sharpen their ability to apply various decision-making strategies to a range of ethical problems, and acquire familiarity with the ethical norms of both professions.
COM 9515
Graphic Design for Media Professionals
3 hours; 3 credits
An understanding of the interaction of image and word and the power of that interaction to affect perception and understanding is crucial for the media professional. In this hands-on course in the basics of graphic design, students will explore communication through the juxtaposition of image and word. A design can enhance or harm the ability to communicate. In addition, advancements in technology have simplified image manipulation, which has become a primary means of affecting how people think, something the media professional engages in every day. Students will study the basics of graphic design for print, including the language of type and how image and word interact to create a full message. Students will also explore the manipulation of word and image in electronic and moving media.
COM 9620
Corporate Communication
3 hours; 3 credits
This course will survey the field of corporate communication, with special emphasis on the following areas: corporate image and identity, corporate advertising and advocacy, media relations, financial communications, employee relations, and crisis management. At the completion of this course, students will possess an understanding of the theory, research, and practice associated with these corporate communication functions, all of which will serve as a foundation for more specialized study later in the program.
COM 9630
Corporate Media Relations
3 hours; 3 credits
This course examines the theory and practice of state-of-the-art media relations programs in business and industry. Topics to be covered include the nature of the mass media; history of the "business press"; the nature of business "news"; types of messages and channels; relationships with reporters and producers; training corporate spokespeople; and setting up, managing, and evaluating corporate media relations programs.
COM 9635
Research Methods in Corporate Communication
3 hours; 3 credits
Students in this course will learn about qualitative and quantitative research methods commonly employed in corporate communication research, with special attention paid to focus-group techniques and survey methods. At the completion of this course, students will be prepared to employ qualitative and quantitative research methods to address research problems in the corporate setting.
COM 9651
Theories of Persuasion
3 hours; 3 credits
This course is designed to familiarize the student with various significant theories and research programs in persuasion, with special attention paid to the applications of these theories and this research in the world of corporate communication. "Persuasion" is an expansive term and therefore difficult to define. At its core, it concerns attempts to cause persons to change their beliefs or desires through the manipulation of symbol systems. This course approaches the study of persuasion from both "humanistic" and social-science perspectives. Accordingly, we will begin our study of persuasion with an examination of classical texts on rhetoric-the first systematic treatment of persuasion in the Western world. Here we will pay special attention to the relationship between persuasion and politics and also to the relationship between persuasion and ethics. Next, we will examine various theories of the human "self" with an eye toward understanding how adherence to one or another of these theories constrains our understanding both of how humans are persuaded and of how "persuadable" human beings are. Drawing on research in psychology, sociology, and cultural anthropology, we will explore the question of whether there are any cultural universals in the way of beliefs or desires, or whether the human self is entirely the construction of a particular social organization. In other words, we will explore the limits (if there be any) of persuasion. Finally, we will examine the role of persuasion in advertising, political campaigns, and social movements. In this section, we will attempt to tie together threads from previous examinations and to explore additional aspects of persuasion, including the extensive research on persuasion and the mass media.
COM 9652
Crisis Communication
3 hours; 3 credits
This course examines the theory and practice of crisis communication in business and industry. Topics to be covered include the nature of crisis in business and industry; the role of public opinion and the media in the crisis process; strategies of crisis management; the role of management communication in crisis management; and the development of crisis management plans. Numerous case studies of crisis communication in business and industry will be analyzed. At the completion of this course, students will be prepared to participate in the management of a corporate crises as a corporate communication specialist.
COM 9653
Investor Relations
3 hours; 3 credits
This course examines the theory and practice of investor relations as corporations both comply with legal requirements for financial communication and compete in the marketplace for investment capital. Topics covered include types of financial information, SEC requirements/guidelines, and the design of annual reports and other communications directed to shareholders and prospective shareholders, especially Web sites. At the completion of this course, students will possess a sufficient understanding of the theory, research, and practice of investor relations to work with other specialists in a corporate investor relations program.
COM 9654
Employee Communication
3 hours; 3 credits
This course will focus on understanding the various models of strategic communication in the organization. It will consider such goals for internal communication as sustaining morale and goodwill between employees and management; informing employees about internal changes, such as reorganization; communication of compensation and benefit information; communication to increase employee understanding of a company's products, organization, ethics, culture, external environment; and changing employee attitudes and behavior. Finally, the management of effective internal communication programs will be addressed.
COM 9655
Corporate Advertising, Image and Identity
3 hours; 3 credits
This course examines the nature of corporate image and reputation, the process of managing corporate identity process, and the role of corporate (nonproduct) advertising in a corporate communication program. Students will receive a sufficient understanding of the theory, research, and practice of corporate advertising, image, and identity to enable them to plan, manage, and evaluate corporate programs in this area.
COM 9656 (IBS 9756)
International Business Communication
3 hours; 3 credits
Analysis of the process of business communication across cultures and nations. Special attention is given to the impact of differences in language, nonverbal communication, social and political organization, and customs of how firms interact with their employees, customers, suppliers, competitors, regulators, and other relevant factors. Methods include the presentation and discussion of concepts as well as experiential learning situations such as communication exercises, role playing, and case studies.
COM 9657
Video Production for Corporate Communication
3 hours; 3 credits
This course in the theory and practice of video communication familiarizes students with the critical skills of moving-image analysis as well as with the technologies of the television studio, field recording, and video editing room. Students will learn the principles and techniques of scriptwriting and preproduction, studio and field recording, and audio and video postproduction through a series of written assignments and individual and group production projects. The relationships among film, video, and digital media will also be explored in this course.
COM 9660
Selected Topics in Corporate Communication
3 hours; 3 credits
COM 9800
Internship in Corporate Communication
140 hours; 3 credits
Students work within an organization under the supervision of both their professional mentors and the internship coordinator. Internship fields in Corporate Communication include: Public Relations, Media Relations, Investor Relations, Advertising, Human Resources, Government Relations, and Public Affairs. This experience must incorporate at least 140 experiential (work) hours during the semester.
Prerequisite: Departmental Permission. The internship is reserved for graduate students in Corporate Communication who have completed at least 24 credits and/or are in their 3rd semester in the program. All students must have at least 3.0 GPA. Students should arrange an interview with the internship coordinator during the prior semester.
