Faculty:

• Jennifer Jones, Ph.D.
• Frank Klapak, Ph.D.

The communication program prepares public relations specialists as leaders, entrepreneurs, and scholars in the diverse fields of communication, grounded in established theory, proficient in the principles and tenets of public relations, skilled in mobile technologies as communication tools, adept in scholarly investigation and research, and understanding of their ethical and moral responsibilities and accountabilities toward their communities.

Learning Objectives: Communication

The primary focus of the curriculum is preparation for careers in the public relations agency, within an entrepreneurial establishment, or as a consultant. Successfully completing the program will enable the student to:

1. Speak and write coherently, effectively, and ethically.
2. Apply theoretical constructs of communication to resolve practical communication problems.
3. Design, develop, and implement strong and effective campaigns and events to achieve stated goals.
4. Operate and manage information media and mobile technologies to produce desired resources for effect and affect.
5. Analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and resolve challenges to implement positive change within a community.
6. Engage in scholarly discussion on contemporary legal, social, moral, and ethical issues in the discipline and the profession.
7. Participate in developing individual career goals through application of course content, extracurricular activities, and service learning opportunities.
8. Provide leadership within the organization and in the community with principles and tenets of Catholic Social Teaching as a successful, valuable, and critical member of society.

The communication program offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication, with options for a specialization in corporate communication, political communication, and advocacy media.

All candidates for the Bachelor of Arts degree in communication must complete the Liberal Arts Curriculum requirements, the capstone assessment requirement, and the required courses for the major.

The capstone assessment includes a final project, a research paper, successful completion of an internship, and submission of a professional portfolio with a comprehensive paper assessing how the major and University learning objectives are integrated.

A minimum of 120 credits is required.