Graduate Certificate in Strategic Public Relations

Program Overview

This Strategic Public Relations degree provides students with a comprehensive understanding of PR theory and practice, equipping them with essential skills in media relations, stakeholder liaison, and crisis communication. Designed for career changers and media professionals seeking to enhance their expertise, the program emphasizes critical thinking, stakeholder engagement, and the impact of communication on organizational strategy and societal well-being. Graduates pursue careers as public relations advisors, media officers, and stakeholder officers, among others.

Program Outline

This course is aimed at those looking for a career change into the field of public relations, or existing media professionals wishing to enhance their skillset, upgrade or diversify their expertise in the field.

Outline:

You will explore the various functions of public relations including media relations, relationship building, issues management, boundary spanning, stakeholder liaison, crisis communication and the integration of communications functions while developing essential skills in thinking, writing, speaking and working in teams. You will gain the critical and strategic thinking required to engage stakeholders in priority initiatives in a complex media environment where the boundaries between information, entertainment, image and politics are increasingly blurred. Learning how communication in organisational settings affects the strategic decisions of all types of organisations, you will gain an understanding of the potential impact your practice can have on strategy execution, and the role you can play in contributing to a just society and profitable corporations. The course covers corporate government, media, investor, community, political and environmental relations. You will complete 24 credit points including:

• a minimum of 12 credit points of core units of study
• a maximum of 12 credit points from elective units of study
The course offers a critical approach that encourages you to determine your influence as a practitioner and reflect on how you, in turn, are influenced by dominant discourses and meta-narratives in your own practice.

Careers:

Our graduates hold positions such as:

• public relations advisers
• media and communications officers
• public affairs consultants
• investment communications managers
• social marketing coordinators
• digital communications strategists
• stakeholder officers.