Program Overview

Certificate of Graduate Study in Communication

Overview

The Certificate of Graduate Study in Communication at the University at Albany is a fully online program designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of complex communication processes in organizations, between businesses, and between companies, consumers, and the general public.

Program of Study

To earn this certificate, students are required to take 12 credits comprised of three course options offered in their selected area of concentration, organizational or strategic communication. Then, they will take a fourth concentration course option, or one of the course options for the other concentration area.

Organizational Communication Course Options

• Communication & Culture Across Organizational Contexts
• Communicating Globally
• Interaction in Institutional Contexts
• Communication, Work, and Organizational Life
• Leadership Communication
• Corporate Communication

Strategic Communication Course Options

• Understanding Data in Strategic Communication
• New Media and Engagement
• Risk and Crisis Communication in the Public Interest
• Digital and Social Media in Strategic Communication

Admissions Requirements

Deadlines

• Fall: Rolling
• Spring: Rolling
• Summer: Rolling

Required Application Materials

• Transcripts from all schools attended
• Resume
• Personal Statement
• Writing Sample

Personal Statement

The personal statement should inform the Admissions Committee about what the applicant hopes to gain from studying Communication at the graduate level. It should be informative about:

• How the applicant expects graduate studies in Communication to be relevant to and supportive of their plans and goals after receiving their degree
• What the applicant hopes to learn as a graduate student and how that will benefit them
• What it is about the UAlbany program in particular that led the applicant to apply

Writing Sample

The writing sample should demonstrate the applicant's ability to analyze and reason about the claims and thinking presented in others' texts, and to write arguments supporting their claims.

Student Learning Objectives

• Organizational communication concentration: Apply knowledge of theory and research within the field of organizational communication to understanding and explaining communication phenomena experienced within practical contexts, and proposing courses of action designed to achieve relevant communication-related goals.
• Strategic communication concentration: Apply knowledge of theory and research within the field of strategic communication to understanding, explaining, designing, and critiquing communication practices that aim to build and sustain engagement between audiences and message designers, with a particular focus on online platforms, in a variety of social contexts.