Program Overview

Program Guide

The Professional Communication major at Florida State University's Panama City campus provides students with a broad understanding of fundamental communication processes. The program combines theoretically based courses with professionally oriented ones, including interviewing, persuasion, communication research methods, principles of advertising, introduction to public relations, writing for public relations, communication for organizing, and a communication internship.

Description of Major

Students in the Professional Communication major will receive a comprehensive education in communication processes, preparing them for careers in marketing communication, organizational communication, and information and media, as well as for graduate study.

Prerequisite Coursework

• 18 hours outside major coursework and beyond General Education
• Note: State-wide common prerequisites are always under review

Requirements

Admissions Requirements for Professional Communication Major

All students must meet the University-wide baccalaureate degree requirements. To enroll in the College of Applied Studies, an undergraduate must be certified by the Division of Undergraduate Studies or be a transfer student with fifty-two or more semester hours of accepted credit with a 2.00 GPA. World language completion (or exemption) is also required.

Alternative Criteria for Admission

1. Completion of an AA degree from a Florida public college with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale
2. Transfer students from a regionally accredited postsecondary institution with sixty or more semester hours of transferable credit and a minimum of a 2.0 GPA
3. Current students at FSU with fifty-two or more semester hours of credit, to include six hours of freshman English composition and six hours of mathematics/statistics, and a minimum of a 2.00 GPA

Diversity Requirement

• Students transferring with 60 or more credit hours must complete one diversity course
• All other students must complete two diversity courses

Major Program of Studies at FSU

• 36 hours
• No grade below a C minus will be accepted for any course in the major
• Maintenance of a 2.00 cumulative GPA is required

Core Classes for Professional Communication Majors

• ADV 3008: Principles of Advertising
• COM 3120: Communication for Organizing
• COM 3310: Communication Research Methods
• COM 4945r: Communication Internship
• PUR 3000: Introduction to Public Relations
• PUR 3100: Writing for Public Relations
• SPC 4360: Interviewing
• SPC 4540: Persuasion

Additional Communication Classes for Professional Communication Majors

• Students must complete an additional 12 hours of electives with the prefixes COM, ADV, PUR, MMC, RTV, or SPC at the 3000/4000 level

Major Tracks

• Communicating in a Diverse World (15 hours)
  • One of the following: MMC 2000 Introduction to Mass Media, COM 3120 Communicating for Organizing
  • One of the following: SPC 4711 Gender and Communication, COM 3432 Media and Representation
  • Each of the following: SPC 4710 Intercultural Communication, COM 4xxx Global Communication, COM 4603 Internet and Society
• Digital Media Communication (12 hours)
  • COM 3521 Introduction to Digital Media Campaigns
  • RTV 3001 Media Techniques
  • COM 4470 Desktop Multimedia
  • COM xxxx Introduction to Digital Communication, Strategy and Planning

Communication Internship

• COM 4945: Typically done in the last semester of the program

Minor Coursework

• 12 hours or more
• Professional Communication majors must fulfill minor requirements outside the Communication major

Language Requirement

• All students must meet the foreign language admission requirement
• The B.A. degree requires proficiency in a foreign language through the collegiate intermediate (22XX) level

Digital Literacy

• 0-3 hours beyond major requirements
• CGS 2060, CGS 2100, EME 2040, or other University-approved course will fulfill the requirement

Oral Communication Competency/Fluency

• 0-3 beyond major requirements
• Students must demonstrate the ability to orally transmit ideas and information clearly
• COM 3110 Communication for Business and the Professions or SPC 4620 Strategic Speechmaking will satisfy this requirement

Minimum Program Requirements - Summary

• Total Hours Required: 120
• General Education: 36
• Major Coursework: 36
• Minor Coursework: 12
• Language Requirement: 0-12
• Digital Literacy: 0-3
• Oral Communication Competency: 0-3
• Electives to bring total credits to 120

Remarks

1. A minimum of 45 hours at the 3000 level or above, 30 of which must be taken at this University
2. Half of the major course semester hours must be completed in residence at this University
3. The final 30 hours must be completed in residence at this University
4. The B.A. degree requires a foreign language through the intermediate (2XXX) level or equivalent

Employment Information

• Salary Information: Available from the National Association of Colleges and Employers or the Occupational Outlook Handbook provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Representative Job Titles Related to this Major: Information specialist, radio/TV executive, media manager, public opinion researcher, speech writer, online content manager, and many others
• Representative Employers: Advertising/PR agencies, government organizations, production companies, radio/TV, universities, video production companies, virtually any company that requires communication/marketing communications specialists