The Department of Strategic Communication uses advertising and public relations tools and approaches to achieve strategic goals and tell effective and responsible stories for brands and organizations. The school, which has roots in TCU’s journalism curriculum during the 1960s and became a stand-alone school in 2014, includes 12 full-time faculty members and almost 400 undergraduate students.
The Strategic Communication major prepares students to think and act as professionals and ethical citizens in a global community. It also helps students develop competencies that prepare them for professional employment and advanced studies. The goal of the School is to create skilled professional communicators who understand their social, legal and ethical responsibility in a rapidly changing media landscape that connects societies around the world. A rigorous curriculum challenges students to not only communicate to diverse audiences in a free society through critical thinking, analytical writing and compelling presentation but also evaluate its effectiveness.
Students participate annually in national advertising and public relations campaigns competitions. In recent years, students have placed in the top 10 nationally ranked teams in the AAF (American Advertising Federations) National Student Advertising competition, the Public Relations Student Society of America Bateman Competition, and the Texas Public Relations Association’s annual competition.
Most Strategic Communication graduates begin work in advertising or public relations agencies, corporations, governmental agencies, nonprofit groups, health care groups, sports teams and consulting firms. Others enter graduate school or specialized, post-graduate, pre-professional programs.
Experiential learning is emphasized through a vibrant student-run advertising and public relations agency called ROXO, hosted internships and coursework that include real-life assignments with corporate and nonprofit clients. Professional organizations that have chapters affiliated with the School are the American Advertising Federation and the Public Relations Student Society of America.