Detailed Information
Program of Study
The Emerson College M.A. in Communication Management (CM) program allows students to develop skills in speaking, writing, listening, and negotiations, as well as the media expertise necessary for success in the rapidly changing technological environment. As professionals who analyze, strategize, initiate, and evaluate effective communication plans, CM graduates find career success as communication officers, organizational or communication strategists, directors of financial communication, and more. They acquire an understanding of an organization’s stakeholders necessary for effective ethical communication campaigns and strategies.
Students enrolled in the communication management program have many career options. As a communication management specialist, Emerson graduates’ qualifications transfer across business, government, and nonprofit sectors. The CM degree prepares students for leadership positions in communication, including director of corporate communications or public affairs in the business sector, communications director of press secretary in the political and governmental arena, director of public advocacy campaigns for a nonprofit of nongovernmental organization, independent consultant or trainer, or senior executive in business or government. They help organizations to define and communicate their vision, mission, and strategy, making them invaluable members of any executive team.
Research Facilities
The Emerson College library has more than 200,000 volumes, 20,000 journals (paper and electronic), 8,000 e-books, 10,000 nonprint materials, and 10,000 microforms in its collection that focus on the communication studies and performing arts. Through membership in the Fenway Library Consortium, graduate students have access to more than 2 million volumes. Computer-assisted reference services provide bibliographic databases through Dialog, BRS, and other online services. The Online Computer Library Center is used for student research support.
M.A. candidates gain valuable hands-on experience in the Media Services Center, which provides students with access to approximately 2,400 films, videos, laser discs, and DVDs. The center is the home of audio, video, and multimedia production facilities; a video studio; and several nonlinear editing suites comparable to those of any television studio in a major U.S. city. In addition, a marketing suite opened in 2003 that features a focus group room with an observation booth. There are also fully-mediated classrooms.
Financial Aid
Emerson College offers several financial assistance programs that make graduate education possible: merit-based awards (domestic and international applicants), low-interest federal loans (domestic applicants only), federal work-study (domestic applicants only), private loans (domestic and international applicants), student employment (domestic and international applicants), and alternative payment plans (domestic and international applicants). For detailed information, students should visit the Office of Student Financial Services Web site at http://www.emerson.edu/financial_services.
Cost of Study
Tuition for the 2008–09 academic year is $886 per credit hour. Other fees vary and may apply.
Living and Housing Costs
Though on-campus housing is not available for its graduate students, the Emerson College Office of Off-Campus Student Services offers assistance in finding housing, including: local apartment listings, realtor lists, temporary accommodations, search tips, pertinent neighborhood information, a roommate networking service, and more. Costs for housing are comparable to those of rental properties available in larger East Coast cities.
Student Group
More than 950 graduate students representing forty-five states and sixty countries are enrolled in Emerson programs.
Student Outcomes
Located in the heart of Boston, Emerson has access to nationally renowned organizations in one of the nation’s largest media and corporate centers. Recent employers have included the AIDS Action Committee, Arnold Worldwide, Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Fidelity Investments, the Massachusetts State House, and the Polaroid Corporation.
Location
Situated in the heart of downtown Boston, Emerson offers access to the vast resources of a city that is the home of the nation’s finest educational institutions and an international hub of culture, media production, writing, publishing, communication, commerce, and medical innovation. Boston is a career launching pad for Emerson’s students, many of whom intern or work at world-renowned organizations throughout the city. Emerson students from around the country and world absorb the city’s unique blend of local and global culture, and many find that Boston is an education in itself.
The College
Emerson College, founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson, has expanded upon its original mission of promoting the study of oratory and the performing arts by offering some of the nation’s most distinctive graduate programs in communication.
Applying
Emerson’s graduate programs welcome applicants from across the United States and around the world. Admission is competitive and selective. Emerson is looking for students whose academic and professional backgrounds, communication skills, and passion for the field meet the demands of their chosen program and promise a successful career.
The application deadline for fall enrollment is June 1 for domestic applicants and May 1 for international applicants. For spring enrollment, the deadline is November 1 for international and domestic applicants. Applications that are not complete by the final deadline are not reviewed by the admission committee. Applicants are responsible for ensuring the completion of their application. Application fees are nonrefundable; application forms and supporting materials become the property of the Office of Graduate Admission once they are sent to the office, and they will not be returned.
All application materials, with the exception of GRE/GMAT test scores, must be submitted together in one package to ensure a timely review. A complete application includes the application form (students may apply online or they may download the PDF version), the application fee ($60 for domestic applicants; $75 for international applicants), official transcripts from all colleges/universities previously attended, three sealed letters of recommendation (by persons best able to assess academic and professional qualifications, including motivation, goals, and potential), GRE/GMAT test scores, two essay responses to questions listed in the application, and a professional resume.
Applicants whose native language is not English must provide evidence of English proficiency by submitting official TOEFL or IELTS test results. (Applicants from India and the Philippines are considered nonnative English speakers and are required to take the TOEFL.) Emerson College’s school code for the TOEFL is 3367; no department code is needed. For more information about these tests, prospective student can visit http://www.toefl.org or http://www.ielts.org. Minimum TOEFL scores are 550 paper-based, 213 computer-based, and 80 Internet-based. The minimum IELTS score is 6.5. Applicants who do not meet this requirement are not reviewed for admission.
Decisions are made on complete applications within six to eight weeks.
Deadlines for merit-based and federal aid applications for fall are March 1 and April 1, respectively and November 1 for spring. For more information about financing a graduate education, students should visit: http://www.emerson.edu/financial_services/info-grad.cfm/.
The Faculty and Their Research
- Linda Peek Schacht, Acting Chair and Scholar-in-Residence; B.A., David Lipscomb. Ms. Peek Schacht has had a three-decade career advising leaders in every sector on strategy and communications, including appointments in the White House Press Office and the U.S. Senate Leadership staff. She retired as vice president, director of public affairs and communications strategy at the Coca-Cola Company in 2002, after eleven years as the company’s chief communication strategist. From 1983 to 1988, Ms. Peek Schacht was spokesperson for the U.S. Senate Democratic leader and communications director for the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. She was the first public affairs director of USA Today, where she focused on the development, testing, and launch of the newspaper. As communications director and press secretary for the Carter-Mondale re-election campaign, she was the first woman to head a presidential campaign press office. She was a special assistant in the Carter White House office of media liaison, responsible for the President’s twice monthly meetings with journalists from outside Washington. She is on the board of International Women’s Media Foundation and is the president of the Mike Schacht Foundation, which produces sports-oriented art and writing workshops for children. As a senior fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard from 2002 to 2006, Ms. Peek Schacht offered workshops on leadership and communication.
- Linda Gallant, Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director; Ph.D., Nebraska–Lincoln. Dr. Gallant investigates how Web-based information and communication technologies can best facilitate human communication to advance social computing and media for personal use as well as internal and external corporate communication. She has publications in Personal and Ubiquitous Computing,e-Service Journal,Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, DOXA Communication, First Monday, Management Communication Quarterly, and Academic Exchange Quarterly.
- John D. Anderson, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Texas at Austin. Dr. Anderson, a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, focuses his research in the area of narrative theory and performance. In addition to publishing articles in Text and Performance Quarterly, he serves as book review co-editor for the journal. He performs nationally in his one-person shows about Charles Dickens, Henry James, and William Faulkner. He has received Chautauqua grants to present humanities programs on the Civil War and on the 1930s. Dr. Anderson is active in the performance studies divisions of both the Speech Communication Association and the Eastern Communication Association.
- Philip Glenn, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Texas at Austin. Dr. Glenn teaches courses in interpersonal communication, mediation, negotiation, conflict management, research methods, and language and social interaction. His research primarily concerns characterizing aspects of sequential organization on routine human interaction in casual and institutional settings.
- J. E. Hollingworth, Associate Professor; M.A., Emerson. Mr. Hollingworth is a nationally known speaker, lecturer, and consultant in the public and private sectors. He is also on the staff of the Stanford Institute, the Division of Continuing Education at Harvard University, the New England Institute for Law Enforcement Management, and the WACUBO Fourth Year Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
- J. Gregory Payne, Associate Professor; M.P.A., Harvard (JFK); Ph.D., Illinois. Dr. Payne is an author, speechwriter, and expert on political communication, ethics, and docudrama. His recent research publications include articles on ethics and the mass media, health communication, and political communication. He is the founding Director of the Emerson College Political Media Study Group, and has been the co-director of the Emerson Center on Ethics in Political and Health Communication. He is the author of Tom Bradley: The Impossible Dream,Mayday: Kent State, and the play Kent State: A Requiem. Dr. Payne is on the editorial boards of the Quarterly Journal of Speech, the Journal of Health Communication, and the Southern Speech Journal. He was the guest editor of the 1989, 1993, and 1997 special editions on political campaigns for the American Behavioral Scientist.
- Michael Weiler, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Pittsburgh. Dr. Weiler, formerly a member of the faculty at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the University of Pittsburgh, and Baylor University, is an expert in argument, rhetoric, and political communication. His research has appeared in the Journal of the American Forensic Association and the Quarterly Journal of Speech, and he has coauthored a collection of essays on the rhetoric of Ronald Reagan.
Correspondence and Information
Emerson College
Office of Graduate Admission
120 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116-4624
Telephone:
617-824-8610
Fax:
617-824-8614
Email:
gradapp@emerson.edu
