Choose Your Courses
Our graduate certificate gives you the option to focus on strategic communication or public relations.
This is a graduate certificate, and you will be taking master’s level classes.
This is a great option for anyon who does not already have a master’s degree, or anyone who wants to learn even more about communication.
Another bonus is all of the credits can be transferred into Gonzaga’s Online Master’s in Communication and Leadership Studies or Online Master's in Organizational Leadership programs.
Think about it, you’ll be nearly halfway finished with a master’s degree when you complete this certificate.
Program Details
- 12 Credits
- 4 Classes
- Fully Online
- Estimated Completion Time: 2 Semesters
Classes
Strategic Communication - Track
Required Classes
COML 504: Organizational Communication and Leadership - 3 Credits
All organizations — from Microsoft, to churches, social clubs, and universities — rely on communication. Being able to communicate strategically is crucial to meaningful participation. This course will explore contemporary concepts about the meanings and functions of communication in organizations. Organizational communication encompasses not only communication within businesses, but also within large private or nonprofit associations, larger community groups, and governments both large and small. We will cover selected topics in organizational communication research such as culture, socialization, systems theory, communication and technology and globalization.
COML 512: Strategic and Crisis Communication - 3 Credits
Gone are the days when organizations could afford to just "wait it out" during a crisis or while their competition moves ahead. Whether you lead or work for an organization, or oversee strategic planning or communication, it is critical to understand how to develop, implement and evaluate effective integrated communication plans. New ideas, trends, issues, projects, and services in our workplaces are all opportunities to plan, strategize, and communicate with stakeholders. You will learn from real-life examples and your colleagues to fully understand and implement campaigns, media relations strategies, and social media tactics.
Electives - Choose 2
COML 509: Social Media Engagement and Analysis - 3 Credits
In this course, we look at the development and dynamics of social media platforms. Through course readings and assignments, we will not only better understand how these platforms can be used to communicate, but also how they can increase audience interactivity. Key to this course is an understanding of how social media has changed the way that audiences engage with organizations and networks. Google defines this new group of users as “Generation C,” a global group of consumers who thrive on content creation, curation, connection, and community. Generation C values authenticity and transparency, and they want both personalization and community. You also have the option of earning your Hootsuite Certification during this course.
COML 514: Strategic and Applied Public Relations - 3 Credits
This course will explore current public relations practices and give you a solid grounding in the most important thing for a successful public relations practitioner – judgment. All major companies, well-known personalities, non-profits and many others rely on public relations to influence how they are regarded by the audiences that matter to them. As Warren Buffet said, “A good reputation takes years to build and a moment to ruin.” The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) defines it as “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” We will cover selected topics to help you understand the science and the art of this discipline including audience research, strategic planning, how to become a valued counselor, and sell your ideas and plans.
COML 516: Disinformation in the Digital Age - 3 Credits
This course offers tools and theoretical frameworks for communication professionals to develop critical thinking about media in all its forms. Topics include news and data literacies, inequalities in media representations, media manipulation, disinformation, and social media activism. At the end of the course, you will better understand how to use media strategically to work toward social justice and counter the spread of disinformation.
COML 540: Digital Media Analysis – 3 Credits
In this course you will learn how to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of digital communication, including website traffic and social media. You will gain specific tools for analysis and presentation of data in meaningful ways and develop media strategies based on data insights. This class will use case studies and practical exercises to help you understand analytic techniques.
COML 560: Communicating for Behavior Change – 3 Credits
Using communication to influence behavior change is a popular and important strategy to address social and health problems. The study and practice of these strategies is called health communication. Our information systems lately have been saturated with health communication efforts related to the global pandemic and medical device and pharmaceutical breakthroughs but other broad topics, such as health living and disease prevention, also have long histories of focus. Health communicators use various approaches and frameworks to “move the behavioral needle” of individuals and populations and two of those are risk communication and social marketing.
Risk communication seeks to inform audiences of when they face health risks and when they may need to change their behavior. Social marketing is the process of “selling” specific behavior to individuals and populations using the same marketing tenets utilized by the private sector to sell products, but instead of profits as the end goal, the desired outcomes are social, organizational, environmental and public health improvements. This course introduces you to the concepts and theories related to these areas of study and helps you apply them to health communication events and strategic communications in other contexts.
Public Relations - Track
Required Classes
COML 512: Strategic and Crisis Communication - 3 Credits
Gone are the days when organizations could afford to just "wait it out" during a crisis or while their competition moves ahead. Whether you lead or work for an organization, or oversee strategic planning or communication, it is critical to understand how to develop, implement and evaluate effective integrated communication plans. New ideas, trends, issues, projects, and services in our workplaces are all opportunities to plan, strategize, and communicate with stakeholders. You will learn from real-life examples and your colleagues to fully understand and implement campaigns, media relations strategies, and social media tactics.
COML 514: Strategic and Applied Public Relations - 3 Credits
This course will explore current public relations practices and give you a solid grounding in the most important thing for a successful public relations practitioner – judgment. All major companies, well-known personalities, non-profits and many others rely on public relations to influence how they are regarded by the audiences that matter to them. As Warren Buffet said, “A good reputation takes years to build and a moment to ruin.” The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) defines it as “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” We will cover selected topics to help you understand the science and the art of this discipline including audience research, strategic planning, how to become a valued counselor, and sell your ideas and plans.
Electives – Choose 2
COML 509: Social Media Engagement and Analysis - 3 Credits
In this course, we look at the development and dynamics of social media platforms. Through course readings and assignments, we will not only better understand how these platforms can be used to communicate, but also how they can increase audience interactivity. Key to this course is an understanding of how social media has changed the way that audiences engage with organizations and networks. Google defines this new group of users as “Generation C,” a global group of consumers who thrive on content creation, curation, connection, and community. Generation C values authenticity and transparency, and they want both personalization and community. You also have the option of earning your Hootsuite Certification during this course.
COML 516: Disinformation in the Digital Age - 3 Credits
This course offers tools and theoretical frameworks for communication professionals to develop critical thinking about media in all its forms. Topics include news and data literacies, inequalities in media representations, media manipulation, disinformation, and social media activism. At the end of the course, you will better understand how to use media strategically to work toward social justice and counter the spread of disinformation.
COML 540: Digital Media Analysis - 3 Credits
In this course you will learn how to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of digital communication, including website traffic and social media. You will gain specific tools for analysis and presentation of data in meaningful ways and develop media strategies based on data insights. This class will use case studies and practical exercises to help you understand analytic techniques.
COML 541: Advanced Digital Media Analysis - 3 Credits
Prerequisite: COML 540
In this course, you will build upon fundamental concepts of how to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of digital communication and apply those principles more fully in the realm of digital marketing. Part of the class includes preparing a portfolio campaign proposal. The class is grounded in best practices behind the strategy, execution, measurement and analysis of multichannel campaigns.
COML 560: Communicating for Behavior Change - 3 Credits
Using communication to influence behavior change is a popular and important strategy to address social and health problems. The study and practice of these strategies is called health communication. Our information systems lately have been saturated with health communication efforts related to the global pandemic and medical device and pharmaceutical breakthroughs but other broad topics, such as health living and disease prevention, also have long histories of focus. Health communicators use various approaches and frameworks to “move the behavioral needle” of individuals and populations and two of those are risk communication and social marketing.
Risk communication seeks to inform audiences of when they face health risks and when they may need to change their behavior. Social marketing is the process of “selling” specific behavior to individuals and populations using the same marketing tenets utilized by the private sector to sell products, but instead of profits as the end goal, the desired outcomes are social, organizational, environmental and public health improvements. This course introduces you to the concepts and theories related to these areas of study and helps you apply them to health communication events and strategic communications in other contexts.
Questions?
Contact:
Heather Schmitt
Call or Text: (509)313-6240 or (866)380-5323
Email: schmitth@gonzaga.edu