Professional Studies: Academic Information

Bachelor's degrees

The flexible curriculum of this degree program allows students to transfer in credit from a community college or other accredited institution and create a degree pathway to demonstrate their ability to succeed in courses with content relevant to their anticipated profession.

Students in the Bachelor of Professional Studies (BPS) degree completion program can choose a concentration that aligns with their professional goals in the areas of Applied Data Analytics, Health Policy and Management, or Project Management.

In additional to general education requirements, the BPS degree includes core classes covering business topics such as communication in the workplace, leadership, professionalism, and elementary statistics. The degree requires a capstone regardless of the concentration chosen and students are encouraged to pursue one or two minors or courses related to a specific discipline of interest.

Each concentration requires 18-credit hours. Applied data analytics courses cover topics such as programming, database applications, data visualization, data mining, and predictive analytics and forecasting.

Health policy and management offers a number of course options including health communication, healthcare law and ethics, epidemiology, public health nutrition, environmental health, and more.

Project management has one required course, foundations of project management, and a number of options for the remaining credit hours such as project scheduling and control, team leadership, organizational and project risk management, and procurement and supply chain management.

View the course and curriculum requirements for the Bachelor of Professional Studies degree completion program.

The curriculum for the BAS in Professional Performance is different from existing programs in entrepreneurship, marketing, and sports management. The program is unique in that it combines aspects of those fields of study into one degree so that students receive the foundational knowledge to prepare them for success in their careers or running their businesses.

Students can customize the degree through a combination of Professional Performance elective courses and completing a required minor in their area of interest, focus, or expertise. Plus, they will get a chance to practice and refine their skills and build a network that will support these students long after their educational experience ends. 

View the course catalog and requirements for the Bachelor of Applied Science in Professional Performance.

Master's degree

The Master of Arts in Organizational Communication provides students research-based insights helpful in clarifying, connecting, and inspiring diverse groups of employees and customers through communication. This differentiating communication skillset will help graduates become a trusted advisor for peers, company leaders and clients.

Students will learn organizational communication strategies, research, communication theories, communication ethics, communication across generations and cultures, communication and team development, and more, as well as a required capstone project.

Graduate certificates

The Graduate Certificate in Professional Workplace Communication takes students beyond the numbers to understand what really makes organizations tick – the everyday communication practices often taken for granted.

Skills taught apply to communicating with internal peers, teams, managers, and leaders – as well as external stakeholders such as customers, vendors, partners, regulators, and the media.

The Graduate Certificate in Professional Management focuses on four key areas: project management; organizational management/team management; financial management; and organizational/interpersonal communication.

Both certificates include two required courses and two electives selected from a list of 12 courses that meet students' academic and career interests and goals.