Mar 28, 2024  
2015-2016 Graduate Catalog 
    
2015-2016 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Professional Communication, M.A.


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General Program Information


Web Page: http://www.etsu.edu/cas/comm_perform/academics/graduate.php

Graduate School Contact:

Angela Edwards; edwardag@etsu.edu; 423-439-4703

Dan Brown, Ph.D., Graduate Coordinator

519 Warf-Pickel Hall
Box 70667
(423) 439-4171
e-mail: brownd@etsu.edu

Amber Kinser, Ph.D., Communication and Performance Department Chair

218 Campus Center Building
Box 70667
(423) 439-7676
e-mail:kinsera@etsu.edu

Stephen Marshall, Ph.D., Mass Communication Department Chair

519 Warf-Pickel Hall
Box 70669
(423) 439-7676

 

Faculty:

Karen Brewster; Dan Brown; Wesley Buerkle; Pat Cronin; Kelly Dorgan; Andrew Dunn; Bobby Funk; Delbert Hall; Amber Kinser; Shara Lange; Stephen Marshall; Jack Mooney; Herb Parker; Rustam Sheridan; Melissa Shafer; Susan Waters.

The Master of Arts in Professional Communication is a partnership of the Department of Communication and Performance and the Department of Mass Communication. The degree offers training in both application and theory in three different professional areas. In seeking your master’s in Professional Communication, you may select from three concentrations: Strategic Communication, Communication Studies, or Storytelling & Theatre. Our graduates pursue a variety of careers, including positions in health communication, advertising, public relations, live stage performance, client relations, college or university teaching, and administration, among others. Several of our graduates pursue doctoral degrees from nationally ranked institutions. We offer small class sizes, close one-on-one mentoring relationships with faculty, and live and online course options.

The Strategic Communication concentration offers interdisciplinary foundation and training in public relations, advertising as well as social media management. The program’s core emphasis is focused on exploring communication strategies as they relate to branding, technological innovation, persuasive message effectiveness, digital content creation/consumption, and social media application/measurement. Students will be prepared for work in a broad range of professional communication fields that require the ability to lead others, create effective content, as well as work well with diverse populations and perspectives. This concentration collaborates with the Digital Marketing graduate degree in the College of Business and Technology.

The concentration in Communication Studies explores human interaction and how it functions in society.  It pulls together the study of leadership, culture, communication skills and competencies, relationships, team building, and the study of how messages work-verbal, textual, mediated, digital, nonverbal- and how they can be crafted to meet workforce needs, to respond to social concerns, and to accomplish professional and personal goals.  Communication Studies training prepares students for corporate, nonprofit, or academic careers in a variety of arenas, including those related to health care communication; organizational consulting; public communication, advocacy, and activism; intercultural communication; critical media studies; popular culture; and communication and technology.

The concentration in Storytelling & Theatre trains students to use performance across a variety of professional, entertainment, and artistic contexts and venues.  It prepares performance-focused students for employment in a contemporary workforce that increasingly recognizes the value of performance, narrative, and story in understanding organizational members, clients, and consumers.

Graduate Admission Criteria

Applicants may begin the Master of Professional Communication only in fall semesters. Completed applications must be received in the School of Graduate Studies by March 1 for preferred consideration for admission in the next following fall term.

Each applicant is evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

  1. At least a 3.0 overall undergraduate grade point average.
  2. Graduate Record Examination test scores predictive of success in the program.
  3. Three letters that recommend admission to graduate study and that sufficiently evidence the applicant’s potential for success in the Professional Communication program. When selecting persons to write recommendation letters, please choose people who can address your academic/intellectual abilities in the discipline (e.g., professors and/or professionals). Optimally, applicants should supply at least two (2) letters from former or current professors, especially from those within the discipline. Letters from professionals should address the applicant’s work ethic, ability to work autonomously, potential for intellectual growth, and applicable academic skills (e.g., research and writing abilities).
  4. A brief application essay of approximately 150-300 words (required by Graduate School).

In the application essay, the applicant should be certain to express why she or he desires a Masters in Professional Communication, referencing possible topics of interest identified in the PCOM program. The essay also is an opportunity for the applicant to highlight or address strengths and explain weaknesses in the application materials (e.g., GRE and GPA scores).

Applicants who are weak in one area may still be admitted if they have high credentials in other areas. Those who have not completed an undergraduate major or minor in communications may be required to undertake preparatory coursework. Such coursework will be specified by the graduate advisor, dependent upon the applicant’s background and designated emphasis area. Those applicants not meeting the admissions requirements as listed above may be conditionally admitted for 9 hours of graduate study at the discretion of the graduate committee.

Students must enroll in the first course in the program, SPCH 5100 , Foundations of Communication Studies, during their first semester. SPCH 5100  is offered each fall semester. The next course in the program is SPCH 5330 , Applied Communication Theory, in which students are advised to enroll in their first semester as well. During the period before candidacy, graduate students are advised by the departmental graduate coordinator. In consultation with the graduate advisor, the student devises an individualized Professional Communication program of study consisting of a core of common communication courses that all students are required to take, an emphasis in one of the six disciplines represented within the department, and a series of cognate courses from the department and from other units within the university.

Candidacy

A student must apply for admission to candidacy after completion of the core semester hours in professional communications. A program grade point average of 3.0 or higher and the removal of all conditions imposed at the time of admission to the School of Graduate Studies is required. Students admitted to candidacy will declare their concentration area at that time. At least 75 percent of the total course hours must be taken within the Department of Communication.

Degree Requirements


A minimum of 36 hours of coursework is required for both the thesis and non-thesis options. No more than 30 percent of all courses taken in the program may come from 5xx7 series.

Summary of Course Requirements for the M.A. in Professional Communication

 

Strategic Communication Concentration: 12 Credit Hours


Guided Electives: 9-15 Credit Hours


Non-thesis: 15 credit hours
Thesis: 9 credit hours

e.g.

Other


Communication Studies Concentration: 12 Credit Hours


Guided Electives: 9-15 Credit Hours


Non-thesis: 15 credit hours
Thesis: 9 credit hours

e.g.

Other


Other: Culminating Experience 6 Credit Hours


Comprehensive Examinations


Students in the thesis option defend the thesis orally before a Department of Communication faculty committee. Students in the non-thesis option take a written comprehensive examination, after the completion of 36 hours. Students failing either the oral or the written examination will be permitted to reschedule the examination no sooner than one semester later. Examinations are not offered during the summer.

Total Hours: 36 Credit Hours


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