Course Descriptions
WLDN 1000 Dynamics of Walden Success: Learning Lab (1 cr.)
Walden University offers students a dynamic learning environment and a range of support services to ensure academic success. In this course, students immerse themselves in Walden University’s online learning environment and apply skills from the student readiness orientation. In addition, students discover and apply the tools and services that will support them throughout their degree program. Through classroom discussions and the application of key communication principles, students establish an online community of peers and explore their degree program with discipline-specific examples. This course helps students prepare for their Walden academic career and continues their orientation to the university.
ENGL 2002 Professional Writing for Successful Communication (5 cr.)
Clear and persuasive writing is a fundamental professional skill. This course covers the fundamentals of written communication in a professional setting, starting with a clear understanding of the audience and the purpose of the communication act, and proceeding to choices of modality, timing, and idiom. Many examples are considered, such as business letters, resumes, briefing memos, newsletters, proposals and requests for proposals, etc. Fundamental writing skills such as grammar and sentence structure, punctuation, style, citation, and word choice are reinforced.
COMM 1003 Introduction to Mass Communication (5 cr.)
This course develops basic concepts of communication to mass audiences, addressing the unique application of communication principles and theories essential to achieving intentional outcomes in crisis scenarios, public relations, public/community affairs, and simply in influencing thinking or opinions. Theory, historical context, concepts, applications, and lessons learned will be utilized to develop both applied skills and sensitivity to the unique social impact of mass communications.
COMM 1004 Interpersonal Communication (5 cr.)
Effective interpersonal communication is a necessary tool for both productivity and quality of life. This course examines practical concepts and skills for enhancing communication with others. Topics include theories and models of interpersonal communication, listening skills, verbal communication, nonverbal communication, communication styles, affective and cognitive communication, the giving and receiving of feedback, and interpersonal communication in a variety of modalities.
COMM 2002 Essentials of Group and Organizational Communication (5 cr.)
Now more than ever, organizations are looking for individuals who can work effectively in a group. Working on virtual teams and working with a diverse mix of people on those teams is an ever-growing reality. This course examines both classic and cutting-edge research on groups and teams and includes the following topics: Stages of team development, task and maintenance functions, developing team mission, vision, and goals that translate into objectives, creating team charters, building trust, handling conflict effectively, creating norms for working together, identifying priorities, meeting facilitation skills, working in virtual teams, valuing diversity, crisis communication, the impacts of groupthink, uses of power, and encouraging creativity.
BUSI 3005 Critical Thinking (5 cr.)
Students become familiar with the importance of the scientific method as the basis for critical thinking and decision-making. Problem-solving and decision-making based on recognizing problems, gathering data, developing alternatives, and choosing a solution are critical skills for the professional manager. Throughout this course, students apply these skills to a variety of everyday business examples. (Prerequisite: BUSI 1001 Introduction to Business or COMM 1004 Interpersonal Communication)
MEDC 3001 Communicating Through Media and Technology (5 cr.)
Technology provides a competitive advantage to those who utilize it most successfully. Blended with the use of media, technology can be a valuable tool in optimizing communications for appeal and impact. Learners will engage in applying their knowledge of the dynamics of effective communications to the use of both media and technology for enhanced outcomes.
COMM 3001 Communication and Thought (5 cr.)
In this course, learners have the opportunity to examine the cognitive and affective aspects of communication, and to thus increase self-awareness. Topics include acceptance, perception, emotional intelligence, self-presentation, learning styles, models of human information processing, and aspects of the psychology of language.
PREL 3001 Principles of Public Relations (5 cr.)
This course helps prepare the learner to understand, appreciate, and apply the fundamentals of public relations. Learners will come to understand the relationships practitioners have with both internal and external publics who are affected by, and who affect, an organization's actions or planning. Learners will also learn to build their command of the basic principles and practices of PR, while applying those concepts to real-world scenarios.
PREL 4101 Publicity and Public Relations (5 cr.)
In this course, the learner will advance to applications of principles and concepts of public relations specifically targeting positive publicity of persons, places, and purposes. Case studies are used extensively to develop expertise through analyzing both successes and failures in the real world. (Prerequisite: PREL 3001.)
PREL 4102 Public Relations and Advertising (5 cr.)
This course helps provide the learner with the ability to apply the principles and practice of public relations using the medium of advertising to achieve desired end results. The learner will draw upon the combined efforts of media relations, effective communications, market awareness, and integrated messaging to create leverage and opportunity for organizations, individuals, products and places. (Prerequisite: PREL 3001.)
PREL 4103 Crisis Communications (5 cr.)
Managing internal and external communications effectively in a situation of risk, crisis and sudden change is a critical competence for organizations. This course examines successful and unsuccessful crisis communication efforts, and considers issues of contingency planning, speed, transparency, multiple modalities, stakeholder analysis, and ethics. (PREL 3001 OR HLTH 3115)
MGMT 4401 Management and Organizational Behavior (5 cr.)
The focus of this course is on human behavior in the context of the organization in a domestic and/or a trans-national setting. Students explore the concepts of human and organizational functioning, with emphasis on application of these concepts to managerial problems and solutions in both domestic and trans-national settings. Students examine individual perception, attribution, and learning; differences in personality; career development; motivating and rewarding employees; and making effective decisions. This course also provides an overview of ethics and the ethical issues faced by domestic and trans-national organizations and managers, social responsibility, communications, motivation, and leadership. By focusing on the elements of national culture, students examine the impact culture has on leadership and management as well as the day-to-day operational issues endemic to trans-national and global businesses. Finally, students investigate the management of diversity in the workplace, especially in a trans-national and global setting. Learning is accomplished through a diagnostic approach employing text readings, individual and case analyses, quizzes and exercises, and a final individual organizational plan. This course is ideally suited to managers and potential managers either currently operating in an international environment or contemplating doing so. (Prerequisite: BUSI 1001.)
COMM 4101 Organizational Communication (5 cr.)
One of the greatest challenges in trying to move beyond the reach of the traditional organization is that of effective and purposeful communications. This course arms the learner with an approach and a plan to address the needs of creating change, driving strategy, and engaging multiple levels within a corporate or organizational setting. The challenges and pitfalls of communications within complex environments are addressed, to help prepare the learner to create successful communication strategies and outcomes within these environments. (Prerequisite: MGMT 4401.)
MRKT 4511 Marketing Communication (5 cr.)
This course helps prepare the learner to effectively engage in the practice of developing targeted communications—written, spoken, broadcast, and printed—that specifically support the marketing initiatives and strategies of any planned effort. Learners will use the tools and skills of integrated messaging, image clarity and enhancement, media relations, positioning, and persuasion. Basic principles will serve to assess successful and failed marketing communications efforts, creating a portfolio of useable approaches. (Prerequisite: MRKT 3001.)
MRKT 4512 International Marketing Communications (5 cr.)
This course expands the scope of the marketing communications arena in international breadth and depth, addressing unique challenges while embracing the remarkable opportunity of international exchange. The challenges include culture, globally diverse markets, international regulation, and media differences. Globally targeted projects help the learner acquire the necessary awareness and essential skills to function within such arenas. (Prerequisite: MRKT 4511.)
MRKT 4513 Media Planning and Purchasing (5 cr.)
In this course, learners will first become grounded in fundamental concepts of media planning such as gross rating points and effective reach. They then use modeling tools that allow them to see the effects of different media plans in operationalizing a media strategy as part of a larger plan, and ultimately learn to develop an effective plan with appropriate reach and impact. (Prerequisite: MRKT 4511.)
CMIS 4204 Computer Mediated Communications (5 cr.)
Students study the principal modes of computer-mediated communications among individuals and groups. The course incorporates a historical perspective, tracing the evolution of varying styles of communication, including the persistent recurrence of key concepts such as links and threads. Students explore how to select approaches and tools for specific applications. (Prerequisite: CMIS 2001)
CMIS 4501 Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (5 cr.)
Students examine existing systems and proposals for information support for collaboration in formal and informal settings, along with their organizational and cultural contexts. Drawing upon their own experience in online collaboration and their expertise in information systems analysis and design, they carry out case studies of new and improved collaboration capabilities. (Prerequisite: CMIS 4204.)
CMIS 4502 Web 2.0 Systems and Applications (5 cr.)
This course examines the phenomenon of “Web 2.0,” a cluster of technologies and applications centered on collaboration among users and their collective ability to add content and value to a community. Topics include social networks, special interest communities, volunteer collaborative efforts, and innovative incentive systems. Students analyze the technical and commercial properties of different approaches. (Prerequisite: CMIS 4204.)
MEDC 4101 Mass Communications Using New Media (5 cr.)
Blogging, podcasting, social networks, wikis, web conferencing and broadcasting, and mobile messaging in general have become an integrated means of expressing and sharing our thinking. The learner will delve into these and other new technologies, developing a richer appreciation of their usefulness, their best applications, and their overall utility in a variety of settings. (Prerequisite: MEDC 3001.)
MEDC 4102 New Media and Global Communication (5 cr.)
As with tools of new-age media in familiar markets, expanded markets—especially global markets—benefit equally well. These new tools can be used to establish a type of universal “language” that cannot be established in other ways. Learners will draw upon tools already acquired to help expand their ability to effectively reach a global arena, helping enhance their own capacity and marketability, as well. (Prerequisite: MEDC 3001.)
MEDC 4103 New Media Design (5 cr.)
Technology and new media continue to evolve, primarily due to interest coupled with new-found abilities derived from 21st century know-how. With this invitation to create, the learner is asked to apply his or her understanding of new media as a set of effective tools in the practice of communications and to design, in concept a prototype appropriate to enhancing mass communications. (Prerequisite: MEDC 3001.)
COMM 4901 Communication Capstone (5 cr.)
The terminal course concludes the course of study in communications by integrating the theory and practice developed throughout the program. This is achieved through the learner’s creation of a comprehensive communications plan, applying concepts and tools appropriate to the needs of the setting the student has chosen, based on an assessment of that setting—strategic direction, audience or market, advantages, weaknesses, obstacles, and opportunities.
COMM 1005 Developing Student Portfolios for Communication (1 cr.) OPTIONAL
This course provides students with a framework for developing a student portfolio. Students explore the value of creating a student portfolio and how it is used to communicate and demonstrate their academic accomplishments. Students are introduced to tools and techniques that help them develop, manage, and maintain their portfolios. They have the opportunity to demonstrate the ability to apply the structure and methods presented in this course by composing a high-level design and comprehensive outline for a student portfolio.
