Students in the Master of Science in communication management must meet the following degree requirements:
Completion of prerequisite courses.
Completion of a total 36 units of course work. All students will complete 15 units of required courses. Thesis students will complete 15 units of electives and 6 units of thesis credits. Non-thesis students will complete 21 units of electives and take 3 comprehensive exams. A minimum of 27 units must be earned at the 600-800 levels.
Students may register for thesis credits only after completion of all coursework.
Students may take their comprehensive exams during their last semester of coursework or after they have completed all the coursework.
To receive a Master of Science in communication management students may not have earned more than one C for any of the required or elective courses.
Required Courses (15 units) All Communication Management students are required to take the following courses:
MCOM 605
Communication Theory(3)
MCOM 606
Practice of Public Relations and Organizational Communication (3)
MCOM 631
Quantitative Research Methods in Communication (3)
MCOM 632
Qualitative Research Methods in Communication (3)
MCOM 639
Mass Communication & Culture(3)
Non-thesis option/comprehensive exams The students with an applied focus will be required to take 36 units of courses and pass three comprehensive exams to complete the program. These will be written on-campus examinations in the following areas of the communications field– theory, research methods and a communication subject area chosen by the student. The examination questions will be approved by the graduate director and supervised by faculty who teach those courses. Only Mass Communication or Communication Studies graduate and associate graduate faculty can submit comprehensive exam questions. Students may take comprehensive exams after they have completed 30 units of courses or after they have completed all their coursework.
Note: Students must pass all three comprehensive exams. To provide flexibility in faculty evaluation of comprehensive exam answers, there will be three categories of passing: Low Pass, Pass or Pass with excellence. If students fail an exam, they can retake it once. If students fail an exam a second time, they will be dismissed from the program.
Thesis option
The students with a research focus, or who plan to continue their academic studies past a master’s degree, can choose to take 30 units of courses and 6 thesis units. These students will be required to write a thesis under the guidance of a faculty advisor from the department and defend their thesis in front of a department committee. Students may register for thesis credits only after they have completed 30 units of coursework. The topic of the thesis should be based on students’ interests, but it must also be relevant to the communication discipline. The topic will have to be approved by the advisor and thesis committee.
Students must defend a thesis proposal, which will be approved by the thesis committee before the student can begin collecting his/her data for the thesis. Thesis students will sign up for6 units of a thesis supervised by a member of the graduate faculty in Mass Communication and Communication Studies: MCOM 897 (6 units); MCOM898 (3 units); or MCOM 899 (1 unit).Note: If students fail the proposal defense (and/or thesis defense), they can retake it only once. If students fail their proposal or thesis defense twice, they will be dismissed from the program.
Electives – at least 9 units of the electives should be from COMM/MCOM. (Students planning a thesis will take 15 units of electives. Students taking comprehensive exams will take 21 units of electives.)
Departmental Electives:
COMM 518
Communication Training and Development (3)
COMM 519
Organizational Communication (3)
COMM 522
Conference and Meeting Management(3)
COMM 570
Special Topics in Communication (3)
COMM 795
Independent Study in Communication Studies (3)
MCOM 502
Literary Journalism (3)
MCOM 507
Writing for New Media (3)
MCOM 533
Media Ethics (3)
MCOM 547
Advertising Campaigns(3)
MCOM 550
Public Opinion and the Press (3)
MCOM 551
Public Relations for Non-Profit Organizations(3)
MCOM 553
Strategic Public Relations and Integrated Communication Campaigns(3)
MCOM 559
Professional Issues in Strategic Public Relations and Integrated Communication(3)
MCOM 572
International Advertising(3)
MCOM 603
Criticism in Mass Media (3)
MCOM 617
International Communication (3)
MCOM 621
Mass Media Law and Regulations (3)
MCOM 638
Managing Communication in a Culturally Diverse Society (3)
MCOM 651
Media and Politics (3)
MCOM 660
Crisis Communication (3)
MCOM 670-673
Special Topics in Mass Communication
(3) (Listed in this way so more than one Special
Topics course can be offered during the same
term.)
MCOM 683
Communicating in Society: Perception and Reality (3)
MCOM 795
Independent Study in Mass Communication (3)
Electives from Outside the MCCS Department:
ART 610
Elements of WWW Design (3)
ART 620
Graduate Typography (3)
ART 641
Interactive Media Concept and Theory (3)
ART 765
Graduate Design for the WWW (3)
ISTC 541
Foundations of Instructional Technology (3)
ISTC 605
Web-based Instruction in Education (3)
ISTC 633
Instructional Video (3)
ISTC 655
Media Design (3)
ISTC 687
Computer-Based Instruction (3)
PHIL 563
Business Ethics (3)
POSC 509
Comparative Political Systems (3)
POSC 527
Political Theory I (3)
POSC 528
Political Theory II (3)
POSC 530
American Political Thought (3)
POSC 585
Seminar in Political Theory (3)
PRWR 617
Editing (3)
PRWR 619
Communication in the Profit/Non-Profit Sectors (3)
PRWR 621
Business Writing (3)
PRWR 623
Technical and Information Design (3)
PRWR 625
Design, Layout and Production (3)
PRWR 627
Modern Rhetoric (3)
PRWR 628
Designing Content for the Web (3)
PRWR 670-679
Topics in Writing (3) (Students in the Communication Management master’s program must have graduate director approval before signing up for a Topics in Writing course.)
PRWR 719
Freelance Writing (3)
PRWR 729
Corporate Communications Consulting (3)
SOSC 605
American Politics in the 21st Century (3)
SOSC 606
Sociological Insight (3)
WMST 550
B-More: Baltimore and Urban Communities (3)
WMST 603
The Diversity of Women (3)
WMST 605
Women in an International Context (3)
WMST 607
Advanced Feminist Theory (3)
WMST 611
Women, Public Policy and Social Change (3)
NOTE:
Up to 6 units of graduate courses may be transferred from other approved universities, subject to approval by the graduate program director.
No more than 9 units of 500-level courses can be taken.
Some required and elective courses have prerequisites. Students are responsible for making sure they have met these prerequisites prior to taking the course.
Some courses may not be offered each term. Students should consult each term’s schedule of classes when determining which courses to take.
No more than two 3-unit Independent Study courses may be applied to the degree; and, all Independent Study courses need to be approved by the program director prior to enrollment.
Students may take graduate-level electives not listed above only if approved by the graduate program director.
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