World Campus introduces online corporate communication program

Online certificate program to help professionals in fast-growing corporate communication industry

University Park, Pa. — The Bureau of Labor Statistics has identified jobs in public relations and corporate communication as among the fastest-growing occupations in today’s increasingly tight job market.

The Penn State World Campus is introducing an online corporate communication certificate program that aims to help communication professionals broaden their employment horizons in marketing, advertising, public relations, communication, human resources, journalism and customer service.

The program offers lessons in creating and maintaining the image of an organization, working with the media and advising on strategy and policy. In addition, communication professionals will have the opportunity to work across media in planning, problem solving and persuasion.

Ross Brinkert, assistant professor of corporate communication at Penn State Abington and the lead faculty member for the World Campus corporate communication certificate program, said the term, “corporate communication,” has two meanings.

“For some, it refers to communication by for-profit, especially publicly traded, organizations,” Brinkert said. “For others, it refers to managing the overall body of communication for any organization. At Penn State, we mainly follow the second definition. This makes our program attractive to those wanting to study and practice strategic communication in all kinds of organizational settings.”

The flexibility of the online 12-credit undergraduate certificate in corporate communication makes it easier for professionals to maintain current job and family responsibilities.

“This is an area of study that needs and rewards various kinds of intelligences. For instance, we need ethical minds to question issues of right and wrong,” said Brinkert. “We need quantitative minds to analyze problems and solutions with statistical rigor. Generally speaking, however, individuals in this field very often have a combination of analytical, verbal and creative intelligences.”

For more information, check out http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/comm online.