Program Overview

Our public relations program will prepare you in this language of persuasion so that you can bring incredible value to your employer – whether you’re working in sports, entertainment, or media, or for a corporation, a non-profit organization, a lobbying group, or political campaign. Public relations has become trickier and trickier in our modern age with the rise of social media, which makes it an incredibly diverse and exciting field of study.

At the center of all public relations lies the skill of communications. Our public relations major focuses on building your communication, interpersonal and problem-solving skills so you can always count on your fundamentals in this field. You’ve heard, “there’s no such thing as bad press,” haven’t you? Well, that’s only because public relations exists. And we prepare you to create crises response plans for product recalls and negative press so you can always be sure to stay out in front of potential catastrophe. What’s special about our program is that it combines skills and strategy with Christian ethics. It’s an exciting major that teaches you how to create and maintain a positive public image!
As we mentioned, social media has made this field incredibly dynamic, which is why we’ll help you master social media – especially when it comes to targeting audiences to engage in both corporate and personal branding. You’ll take a close look at certain major public relations cases that include political campaign strategy, how companies respond to negative events (such as the BP oil spill), and how to strategize new product launches (like the Nintendo Switch). You’ll also study non-profit and issue organizations like the World Wide Life Fund and Lutheran World Relief to get a glimpse into how public relations affects their world.

Throughout this program, you’ll create public relations plans that include journalism, social media, marketing, public speaking, radio, and promotion. The final capstone places you with organizations in need of a public relations plan, project, or strategy to provide experiential, real-world experience – because there’s no better way to learn than to actually step into the public relations role and perform. Our graduates have been hired by Fortune 500 companies including IBM, Boeing, Abbott Labs, and Kraft to help communicate company goals and new product launches.