Master of Science in Management

Public Relations

Public Relations (PRPA) Specialization Description

The Public Relations specialization is designed to meet the needs of both the entry-level employee and the working professional who seek a more formal grounding in the profession. The program provides students with a solid grounding in public relations theory, legal, and ethical issues confronted by practitioners, and the analytic and creative skills necessary to excel in the profession. The capstone experience provides the student with an opportunity to observe and participate in the production and assessment of a public relations campaign, providing the student with the opportunity to analyze the effects of various strategies and practices in the workplace.

Career Path

The MSM program prepares graduates for a number of entry-, mid-, and high- level positions, as determined by a student’s work experience.

Depending on a student’s background and an employer’s criteria, graduates of the Public Relations specialization may qualify for these positions:

• Director of Public Relations
• Corporate Communications Manager
• Director of Media Relations
• Account Manager
• Communications Writer
• Director of Public Affairs
• Promotion Director
• Internal Communications Manager

Requirements

Recommendations

Students who have not taken a finance course recently are strongly encouraged to take UCSP 620 and UCSP 621 prior to taking MGMT 640.

Students who have not had any recent statistics use should take UCSP 630 prior to taking MGMT 650.

Students who wish to improve their graduate writing skills may take COMM 600, Academic Writing for Graduate Students (3).

Core Required Courses

UCSP 615 Orientation to Graduate Studies at UMUC (0), to be taken within the first 6 credits of study

• MGMT 610 Organizational Theory (3)
• MGMT 615 Intercultural Communication and Leadership (3)
• MGMT 640 Financial Decision Making for Managers (3)
• MGMT 650 Statistics for Managerial Decision Making (3)

Capstone Course: MGMT 670 Strategic Management Capstone (3)

Clustered Course Option

MGMT 630 Organizational Theory and Behavior in a Global Environment (6) is a six-credit course. Students who receive credit for MGMT 630 may not receive credit for MGMT 610 or MGMT 615.

Core Rules

1. MGMT 610 must be taken within the first 6 credits of the MS in Management program.
2. Students must complete 24 credits, including other core requirements, before enrolling in MGMT 670.
3. MGMT 640 and MGMT 650 should not be completed simultaneously.

Public Relations (PRPA) Specialization Required Courses

• MRKT 600 Marketing Management (3)
• MRKT 601 Legal and Ethical Issues in Global Communications (3)
• PRPA 601 Public Relations Theory and Practice (3)
• PRPA 602 Public Relations Techniques (3)
• PRPA 610 Crisis Communication Management (3)
• PRPA 620 Global Public Relations (3)
• PRPA 650 Public Relations Campaigns (3)

Clustered Course Option

MRKT 620 Marketing Principles, Regulation, and Ethical Issues (6) is a six-credit course. Students who receive credit for MRKT 620 may not receive credit for MRKT 600 or MRKT 601.

Specialization Rules

1. PRPA 601 is a prerequisite for PRPA 602.
2. PRPA 602 is a prerequisite for PRPA 610 and PRPA 620.
3. MRKT 600 and MRKT 601 (or MRKT 620) must be completed before PRPA 610 and PRPA 620.
4. All program coursework (except MGMT 670) must be completed before PRPA 650.