Master of Arts in Strategic Communication
If you have excellent writing skills and the capacity to influence others with your words, you might be a strong candidate for a career in strategic communications. Berkshire’s Master’s in Strategic Communications is designed to teach you how to develop and implement marketing communications strategies that meet client-specific goals.
As a Strat Comms professional, you’ll use principles of persuasion to craft and adapt messaging to different audiences and media platforms. You’ll develop the skills necessary to effectively evaluate corporate communication strategies, write compelling messages and press releases, and implement messaging across traditional and emerging channels, such as social media, podcasts, and mobile media.
Core Requirements
COM 600 Comm in Global Environment – 4.50
Explores the major theories in the field of communication with an emphasis on the workplace, focusing on the ability to communicate with others in professional interactions. Covers the development of professional relationships between people with different characteristics, cultures, and backgrounds to provide learners with tools for encoding and decoding verbal, nonverbal, and mediated messages.
COM 603 Emerging Interactive Media – 4.50
Explores communication technology focusing on the history, theoretical implications, and strategic uses of social media and new media. Provides theoretical and practical understanding of how engagement works in new media platforms. Engages with the toolkits necessary to plan and develop social media marketing campaigns.
COM 610 Integrated Marketing Comm – 4.50
Covers IMC process for creating and fostering relationships with customers and public through strategically controlling or influencing messages sent to and exchanged with these groups. Course teaches effective integration of an organization’s marketing communication initiatives. Through case analysis, students learn how IMC has become critical to marketing efforts.
COM 615 Research Methods – 4.50
Presents fundamentals of research underlying communication campaigns and programs. Covers qualitative and quantitative methodologies, secondary research, internal market intelligence, and data analysis. Offers practical experience with techniques to identify and reach audiences and publics and to track results of campaigns. Teaches research strategies to develop communications that fulfill organizational goals.
COM 620 Crisis Communications – 4.50
Provides learners with principles and procedures for handling multiple stakeholders and publics under crisis conditions. Offers training to deal with media in less-than-optimal situations, when they may be faced with indifference or even hostility. Looks at case studies of strategies and tactics of organizations that have dealt with crises.
COM 625 Campaign & Program Management – 4.50
Provides learners with knowledge to manage communication campaigns by covering theories and processes of campaign development and implementation. Covers best practices project management techniques, communication audits, budgets, and resource allocation. Offers hands-on experience creating, writing, and presenting communication campaign implementation plans.
COM 630 Campaign & Program Evaluation – 4.50
Prerequisite: COM 610; COM 615
Course covers communication campaign evaluation, before during and after the campaign period. Focuses on systematic qualitative, quantitative, and observational methods appropriate to guide campaign planning, make mid-course corrections to messages and media mix and to assess post-campaign effectiveness.
COM 640 Persuasion – 4.50
Exploration of theories of persuasion that guide the preparation of messages intended to influence others. Focuses on use of persuasion techniques to develop decisions about creative and production implementation. Uses case studies to analyze persuasive messages in contemporary media and to compare techniques used in alternative media platforms.
COM 650 Legal and Ethical Issues – 4.50
Provides students with a clear understanding of the legal environment for public communications and the ethical considerations that must be taken into account. Examines international regulation of copyright and intellectual property protection and legal and regulatory provisions in the U.S. Teaches skills in assessing ethical risk and following ethical guidelines.
COM 660 Capstone Project – 4.50
Presentation of skills the learner has acquired in the program. Their research, analysis, strategic thinking, message shaping, and evaluation skills will all come together in the final project: The preparation of a digital, web-based e-portfolio that will be an asset in the search for an appropriate post-graduation position. Grading is by H, S, or U only.
HRM 670 Project/Thesis – 4.50
Prerequisite: HRM 669 and Must complete at least 7 core courses.
The project course consists of a Master’s Thesis Project in the area of HRM or ODV. Students work under the guidance of an assigned faculty member. Students clarify research topics and identify data sources in preparation for the project. Students gather data and present their research in both written and oral form to faculty and classmates. This course lasts two months and encompasses integrating critical components and learning experience into a deliverable that meets academic guidelines for program completion and may be applicable to the workplace to build a student’s portfolio. Grading is H, S, or U only. Course is eligible for an In Progress (IP) grade.
Degree and Course Requirements
To receive a Master of Arts in Strategic Communications from National University, students must complete at least 45 quarter units of graduate work, of which a minimum of 40.5 quarter units must be taken in residence at Berkshire.
Students can transfer up to 4.5 quarter units at the graduate level from a regionally accredited institution in the areas of communication or business, provided the units have not been used to satisfy the requirements of an awarded degree. Students wishing to transfer credits into the program should contact the program faculty advisor. Refer to the section in the graduate admission requirements for additional specific information regarding application and matriculation.
Program Learning Outcomes
As a graduate of Berkshire’s Master of Arts in Strategic Communications program, you’ll understand how to:
Produce multi-audience, multichannel communication campaign planning documents
Manage communication campaigns by producing budgets, task lists, and schedules
Apply formative research to develop communication campaigns and messages
Create persuasive campaigns that meet professional ethical standards
Evaluate communication campaigns by conducting summative research
Deliver professional communication presentations online
Demonstrate leadership and collaborative skills by participating in group tasks and presentations as a leader and team member
Admissions
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To that end, we’ve simplified and streamlined our application process, so you can get enrolled in your program right away. Because we accept and review applications year round, you can begin class as soon as next month, depending on your program and location of choice.
Learn more about undergraduate, graduate, military, and international student admissions, plus admissions information for transfer students. You can also learn more about our tuition rates and financial aid opportunities.