Master of Arts in Strategic and Organizational Communication (MA)

Graduate Study at USI >> College of Liberal Arts 

812-465-1608

30 Credit hours

The Master of Arts in Strategic and Organizational Communication program is a comprehensive, integrated program that bridges human communication and mass communication to focus on critical, cultural, and social scientific approaches to the communication practices. The program provides students with an interdisciplinary approach to understanding human and mass communication across multiple contexts–personal, professional, social, civic, and mediated. The program establishes for students a foundation of effective problem solving and leadership in areas as diverse as technological change, international relations, conflict and negotiation, corporate communication, personal relationships, cultural and identity studies, corporate responsibility, and community outreach. The program deliberately adopts pedagogical techniques that develop students’ problem-solving abilities and critical-thinking skills. Students who complete the program will be able to apply their increased knowledge of communication processes, contexts, theories, and research methodologies to further their career and educational goals. Students who complete the program are awarded the Master of Arts degree.

The Master of Arts in Strategic and Organizational Communication offers graduate education through flexible platforms so students may choose to complete courses online, face to face, or in a hybrid format. In addition, the program offers a Joint Undergraduate-Master’s Path (JUMP) option, which allows outstanding undergraduate USI students majoring in either Communication Studies or Journalism the opportunity to complete both an undergraduate and graduate degree in approximately five years. This innovative pathway accelerates the time it takes to complete the graduate degree by allowing students in a JUMP program to complete 12 hours of graduate-level coursework during their final semesters of their undergraduate program. After completing 12 hours of COMM electives, special credit will be awarded at the undergraduate level and will apply toward the undergraduate program requirements. For more information on the JUMP option, refer to the Communications Studies or Journalism program in the undergraduate bulletin.

Program Objectives

The objectives of the Master of Arts in Strategic and Organizational Communication program are:

• To develop students as skilled strategic communicators, problem solvers, and decision makers for the benefit of an organization’s internal and external stakeholders.
• To equip students with the ability to assess situations from multiple perspectives and analyze key issues.  
• To prepare leaders to apply ethical and effective communication practices within the workplace.