The Bob Schieffer College of Communication, TCU Extended Education, and the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers (TAMIO) have partnered together to offer the second year of the Certified Public Communicator Program.
TCU will host the program from July 27 through August 1.
This certificate program “offers leadership training and rigorous post-baccalaureate education for public information managers and communication professions working for cities, counties, school districts, and other public and public-private agencies and organizations,” according to the TCU Extended Education website. Laura Bright and Jacqueline Lambiase, co-directors of the program, collaborated with Belinda Willis and Tom Bryson, members and past presidents of TAMIO, to create a curriculum that would “expand [participants’] knowledge on the different types of communication that are available and how to best use them to reach their goals,” Bright said. Lambiase said the program is built around the students’ ability to work with faculty to “help them set goals, measure their progress, and make changes.” The 95-hour program is split into three sessions: Summer 1, Winter 1 and Summer 2. Students spend the first session studying various approaches to communication such as public relations, advertising, and marketing theory. They then create strategic communication plans to bring back and incorporate into their cities. Before the participants engage in Summer 2, they come back to TCU in January for a two-day program to submit the final draft of their communication plan. In the Summer 2 session, students dive further into topics of successful communication. The cost of the program, including tuition, housing and meals, is $3,850. The 27 students from last summer’s session will return in July to complete their certification program and will graduate July 31 at 5 p.m. in the Robert Carr Chapel. The 2014 Summer 1 session, which begins on July 27, will include 21 participants from around the country. “Our goal was to make this as a nationwide program and we are seeing that happen just in its second year,” Willis said. “Coming out of this program with not only my certification and all of the experience I am going to get from our instructors and just the interaction from my colleges, I am coming away with something very tangible. And so that is very exciting and beneficial,” Willis said.