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COMMUNICATION

Corporate and Public Relations Concentration
Bachelor of Science: 182.0 credits
Bachelor of Arts: 182.0 credits

Overview:

Corporate communication covers a very broad range of activities that help an organization and its publics communicate with one another. The field includes media relations, financial writing, publication design, employee and customer communication, and government relations. Skills in this field run the gamut from written to spoken to visual communication. A corporate communication specialist might be called on to write articles for an in-house newsletter, to research and write an annual report to shareholders, to publicize a special event, to write a speech for an executive, to plan a press conference, or to script a video for an employee orientation session. Good communication with key publics is becoming increasingly important to all kinds of organizations. Therefore, corporate communication is a thriving field: the U.S. department of Labor projects strong growth in the field through the 1990's.

Careers:

Graduates with a corporate communication major find employment in a wide variety of fields, including public relations, advertising, special events planning, writing and editing, and public information. In addition, the strong communication and management skills stressed by the major enable the graduates to find administrative positions in various business areas with an indirect relationship to corporate communication such as marketing, sales, human resources consulting, or publishing. Although graduate study is not necessary for those who pursue careers in corporate communication, students have used the major as a basis for graduate work in a variety of areas, including communication, business, and law.

Curriculum:

The curriculum is designed to build the skills most in demand in the corporate environment by developing basic competence in writing and speaking in a corporate context. The major also builds upon a broad liberal arts foundations. In their freshman year, students take a core of courses common to all humanities majors in the College of Arts and Sciences. In subsequent years they take specialized courses in corporate communication, business, and film and video. The major includes many elective courses so that students may develop specialized skills in an area such as marketing, advertising, publications, or video communication.
(Please click here for Sample Plan of Study)

Calendar:

The literature major is designed to be completed either in 4 years with 6 months of Co-op experience or in 5 years with 18 months of co-op. Students pursue on-campus studies in the fall, winter, and spring terms of their freshman and senior years. In their other 2 or 3 years, they spend all 4 terms (fall, winter, spring, and summer) either in class or on co-op.

Sample Co-op Positions:

Advertising and Promotions Assistant, CoreStates Bicycle Championships, Philadelphia.

Corporate communication Co-op, Philadelphia Electric Company, Philadelphia.

Advertising/ Promotions Co-op, U.S. Marketing Division, Mobil Oil Corp., Fairfax, VA.

Assistant Coordinator, communication Bureau, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Facilities and Resources:

Philadelphia, the nation's fifth largest city and a major business and media center, offers excellent opportunities for contact with practicing communication professionals, as well as for Co-op and permanent employment. Further strengthening ties with the business community, the corporate communication program often brings in Philadelphia communication professionals as course lecturers and instructors. An active Drexel chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America offers students career-related involvement out of class, as do the student newspaper and radio station.

Special Features:

The senior project, an exciting feature of our program, is required of all communication students. Each student designs a senior project that that allows them to plan, design, and execute a communication program for a real-life client within the University or a business community. Some of the corporate communication projects have included the development of promotional materials for the CoreStates Bicycle Rave, the Valley Forge Audubon Society, YUHU, an arts program for homeless children. Other corporate communication projects have included events planning for the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the Holmes burgh Prison System, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Habitat for Humanity.

For more information about the track, please contact Dr. Ronald Bishop at 215-895-1823 or bishoprc@drexel.edu.