Master of Arts in Strategic and Organizational Communication (MA)

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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.

Graduate Studies Admission Criteria and Application Process

Refer to the Admission section of the bulletin for information about Graduate Studies admission criteria and the online application process.

Program Admission Requirements

Unconditional admission for all applicants into the Master of Arts in Strategic and Organizational Communication program will be contingent on the following factors:

An undergraduate GPA of 2.50 or higher

Students in the process of completing their undergraduate degree can seek conditional admission and enroll in 2 courses (6 hours of credit). If a B or better is earned in both courses, students will be accepted unconditionally to the program upon conferral of their undergraduate degree.

Applicants not meeting other admission criteria may also be conditionally admitted. Conditionally admitted students may take two graduate courses (6 hours of credit). If a B or better is earned in both courses, with approval from the Director of the MA in Strategic and Organizational Communication, the student will be admitted unconditionally.

For admission criteria for the JUMP option, refer to the Communications Studies or Journalism program in the undergraduate bulletin.

Curriculum (30 hours)

Select 30 hours from the following:

COMM 607 - Applied Practices in Instructional Communication Credits: 3
COMM 614 - Problematic Workplace Communication Credits: 3
COMM 617 - Instructional Communication Credits: 3
COMM 620 - Special Topics in Organizational Communication Credits: 3
COMM 621 - Strategic Communication Credits: 3
COMM 623 - Leadership and Communication Credits: 3
COMM 624 - Nonprofit and Association Communication Credits: 3
COMM 628 - Crisis Communication Credits: 3
COMM 631 - Organizational Advocacy Credits: 3
COMM 633 - Applied Communication Ethics Credits: 3
COMM 634 - Social Media Strategies Credits: 3
COMM 640 - Independent Study in Communication Credits: 3
COMM 670 - Special Topics in Instructional Communication Credits: 3