MMC 1009 Introduction to Media and Communications 1 Credit

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Introduces the tools, resources and academic and extra-curricular activities offered by the College of Journalism and Communications. Includes lessons on the history and organization of the college and academic and career preparation.

Prerequisite: 1JM or exploratory major, 2JM, or 3JM classification, or instructor approval.

MMC 2121 Writing Fundamentals for Communicators 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

One-third of the course is to ensure students have sufficient skill in grammar and punctuation to write with clarity. In two-thirds of the course, students put principles of good writing into practice with short writing assignments that have real-world applications.

MMC 3030 Personal Branding for Communicators 1 Credit

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Professional development course that stresses how to communicate and connect as professionals. Emphasizes mastery of writing, speaking, presentation and employment-seeking skills, working with media, handling media interviews and using social media to establish a professional identity.

Prerequisite: Journalism and Communications major of junior standing or higher.

MMC 3203 Ethics and Problems in Mass Communications 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

A cross-disciplinary introduction to ethics-relevant situations faced by media professionals. Topics include professional standards of conduct, audience representation and engagement and issues associated with the production, presentation and delivery of messages that reflect the best interests of audiences, clients and stakeholders.

Prerequisite: Journalism and Communications major of sophomore standing or higher and (ADV 3008 or MMC 1009 or MMC 2604 or PUR 3000 or RTV 3001 with minimum grade of C).

MMC 3254 Media Entrepreneurship 1 Credit

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Introduces media entrepreneurship with a focus on how digital technologies are transforming industries. Work in teams to develop new digital media businesses. Develop and pitch ideas, explore market analysis, develop business and financial plans, and study social media strategies.

Prerequisite: sophomore standing or higher.

MMC 3420 Consumer and Audience Analytics 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Provides practical analytical skill-sets, benefiting those who plan careers in analytics/research, social media, media business, advertising/marketing, and public relations.

Prerequisite: Junior standing or higher.

PUR 3000 Principles of Public Relations 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Nature and role of public relations in a democratic society, activities of public relations professionals, major influences that affect organizational behavior, and ethics and professional development of practitioners in the private and public sectors. Emphasizes management functions and developing effective public relations strategies.

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or higher.

PUR 3211 Diverse Voices 1 Credit

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Assesses the vital role of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (IDEA) in public relations. Public relations professionals play a key role in telling stories that shape the perceptions of stakeholder groups. Gain insight and direction on ways to help create and support a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 with a minimum grade of C.

PUR 3463 Sports Communication 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Instruction, analysis, and training in the principles and practice of public relations in sports organizations. Emphasizes media relations and skills essential for sports communication professionals, including handling media interactions across platforms, problems, crises, and integration of positive communications strategies with strategic goals of sports organizations.

Prerequisite: Junior standing or higher

PUR 3500 Public Relations Research 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Using principles of scientific research to establish, monitor and evaluate communications programs: research planning, theory, design - sampling, surveys, experiments, focus groups, content analysis and participant observation; qualitative and statistical analysis and reporting of research with advanced technologies.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 and STA 2023 with minimum grades of C and junior standing or higher.

PUR 3622 Social Media Management 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Social media management explores the use of the internet to build connections, market businesses, and engage audiences. With billions of people connected online, businesses are constantly cultivating new ways to join the online conversation. Highlights the various platforms and best techniques used in social media.

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or higher.

PUR 3801 Public Relations Strategy 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Develops skills in strategic public relations management based on an analysis of current and historical case studies.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 and PUR 3500 with minimum grades of C.

PUR 3943 The Agency Immersion 1-3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Gain credit while working for the advertising and public relations firm at the College of Journalism and Communications. Build expertise and gain experience in a hands-on environment by working directly with clients and industry professionals.

Prerequisite: PUR major, sophomore standing, accepted application to join The Agency.

PUR 4100 Public Relations Writing 4 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Prepare to meet the demands of the marketplace for persuasive and professional public relations writing skills.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 and JOU 3101 and ENC 3252 with minimum grades of C.

PUR 4203 Ethics and Professional Responsibility in Public Relations 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Ethical responsibilities of the public relations professional: identifying the moral dimensions of issues that arise in the practice of public relations, increasing the ability to employ reason as a tool for dealing with moral issues, providing knowledge and skills necessary to reach and justify ethical decisions, and eliciting a sense of personal and professional responsibility.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 with a minimum grade of C.

PUR 4204 Corporate Communication Essentials 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Focuses on why successful communication professionals must develop a fundamental understanding of business, whether they are in for-profit or nonprofit corporations, in-house or on the agency side, or aspire to creative or management roles. Delve into these and various other aspects of corporate communication with special emphasis on why they matter and what role tomorrow’s strategic communication professionals play.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 with a minimum grade of C.

PUR 4212 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Public Relations Professionals 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Build awareness of the vital role of inclusion, diversity, equity, and access (IDEA) in public relations. While acknowledging the problems that have existed in the PR field and beyond, the goal is to provide students with the tools to be active stewards of IDEA pillars.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 with a minimum grade of C and PUR 3211 with a minimum grade of C.

PUR 4220 Internal Communications 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

This course focuses on the influential roles that communication managers play to address the issues, challenges, and opportunities facing internal stakeholders. Employees have long been recognized as the No. 1 stakeholder of the organizations.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 with minimum grade of C.

PUR 4243 Industry Perspectives 1 Credit

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Provides insight into a particular industry topic area or focus within public relations.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 with a minimum grade of C.

PUR 4400C Crisis Communications 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Focuses on key elements of crisis and issues management: before, during, and after a crisis. In an age when a company’s every move is subject to instant, vivid, unfiltered, and global scrutiny and attack, the need for effective and proactive crisis management is greater than ever.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 with a minimum grade of C.

PUR 4404C International Public Relations 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Analyzes the impact of international activities on the public relations function.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 with a minimum grade of C.

PUR 4410 Principles of Fund Raising 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Fund raising: the high demand, low supply occupation unique to the charitable nonprofit subsector.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 and PUR 3500.

PUR 4442 Public Interest Communications 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Delves into strategies to drive social change, strategic planning process for social change communications campaigns, and tools and tactics that make these campaigns effective. Gain insight to the richness of the field and the power that communications has to address problems and profoundly affect peoples lives.

Prerequisite: Junior standing or higher.

PUR 4443 Global Social Change Communication 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Explains core elements of strategic communications to support global social change through case studies and the application of theory. Taught from the practitioner's perspective, extensive real-life examples provide an opportunity to learn the critical functions of effective communications.

Prerequisite: Junior standing or higher.

PUR 4480 Political Communication 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

The political landscape is constantly evolving and the function communication plays in these shifts is essential. This course is designed to serve as an introduction to the role played by all forms of communication in contemporary American political communication.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 with a minimum grade of C.

PUR 4501 Social Media Listening and Analytics 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Social media provide a wealth of data that can help organizations better understand and build relationships with their publics. Learn to leverage social media data to draw insights about an organization and its publics, provide actionable, data-driven recommendations, and inform social media strategy. Gain hands-on experience analyzing native analytics, using measurement tools, developing evaluation plans, and building and presenting analytics reports.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 with a minimum grade of C and PUR 3622 with a minimum grade of C.

PUR 4611 Corporate Reputation 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Focuses on key elements of corporate reputation which is one of the most important and yet least understood aspects of any company’s overall success and value. In today’s digital, global, highly interactive business ecosystem, where a company is subject to instant, vivid, unfiltered, and global scrutiny, the need for effective and proactive reputation management is greater than ever, and even more so recently as virtually all corporations navigate through multiple global crises.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 with a minimum grade of C.

PUR 4612 Integrated Communication 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

The development of successful integrated communications programs is best described as a cross-functional process. Students learn to integrate communication elements (e.g. public relations, advertising, social media, sales promotion, event marketing, and media relations) to advance an organization’s success while building brand equity. Readings, current and historical case studies and exercises help students learn how to develop effective integrated communications approaches and plans.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 with a C grade or better or ADV 3008 with a C grade or better.

PUR 4800 Public Relations Campaigns 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Utilizing the principles and techniques of public relations to create comprehensive campaigns for actual clients.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 and PUR 3500 and PUR 4100 and VIC 3001 and MMC 3203 and MMC 3420 and senior standing or higher.

PUR 4802 Public Interest Communications Campaigns 3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

In this capstone experience, apply the principles and techniques of public interest communications to create comprehensive campaigns for an actual public interest client. Master the elements of a strategic communications campaign through direct experience as a practitioner. Working in teams, develop a robust, strategic, measurable, and actionable communications plan for an assigned client.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 and PUR 3500 and PUR 4100 and VIC 3001 and MMC 3203 and MMC 3420 and PUR 4442 and senior status.

PUR 4905 Individual Problems 1-3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Students and the instructor choose a problem or project which will give the student experience in their major.

Prerequisite: at least 10 credits of professional courses and department chair approval.

PUR 4910 Public Relations Undergraduate Research 0-3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Provides an opportunity for firsthand, supervised research. Mentored but self-directed work that enables individuals or a small group to explore an issue of interest and to communicate their results to others.

Prerequisite: PUR 3500 with minimum grade of C.

PUR 4932 Special Study 1-3 Credits

Grading Scheme: Letter Grade

Variable content provides opportunity for advanced study in the principles, processes and effects of public relations.

Prerequisite: PUR 3000 with a C or better.

PUR 4940 Public Relations Internship 0-3 Credits

Grading Scheme: S/U

Work with the instructor to select an appropriate work area in public relations for on-the-job training. There is a work minimum of 100 hours per semester for 1 credit; 200 hours per semester for 2 credits; 300 hours per semester for 3 credits. Requires progress reports and summary.

Prerequisite: JOU 3101 and PUR 3000 and PUR 3500 with grades of C or better, and a 2.5 GPA and department approval.