Program: Public Relations Minor - Eastern Michigan University

May 03, 2025

2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog [Current Academic Year]

The public relations minor utilizes an interdisciplinary approach, combining courses from public relations, communications, journalism, marketing, and technology to provide students with a solid foundation and understanding of the necessary tools and skills commonly practiced within today’s PR discipline.

Learn

Public Relations Writing
Social Media
Research
Public Relations Principles and Practice
Integrated Campaign Planning through PR, Marketing, Advertising, and Social Media
Ethics Within Public Relations
Crisis Management in Public Relations
Case Studies
Hands-on Applicable Skills Through an Optional Internship Experience

Opportunities

The dynamic field of public relations leverages relationship management principles to foster connections between an organization and its specific publics or audiences. Public relations practitioners are highly desired organizational resources in business, education, athletics, health care, government, or human services. Public relations professionals are accomplished problem solvers, conflict managers, writers, speakers, event planners, and media relations experts. Public relations professionals manage the organizational messaging and promote clarification of decisions, products, and services that contribute to a positive reputation and increased organizational success.

Graduates of the public relations program work in all segments of the field, including public relations agencies and firms, corporate communication offices, media relations, event planning, social media, fundraising, and not-for-profit public relations.

Department Information

English Language & Literature 612 Pray-Harrold, 734.487.4220

Joseph Csicsila, PhD, Department Head

Advisor Information

Lolita Cummings, APR, 603H Pray-Harrold, 734.487.0952

Minor Requirements: 24 hours

Required Courses: 18 hours

Restricted Electives: 6 hours

Choose six hours from the following.

CMT 336 Electronic Publishing Technology 3 hrs
COMM 350 Persuasion 3 hrs
COMM 354 Organizational Communication 3 hrs
COMM 357 Interviewing as Communication 3 hrs
COMM 359 Small Group Communication 3 hrs
COMM 370 Nonprofit Organizational Communication 3 hrs
COMM 475W Introduction to Communication Research [GEWI] 3 hrs
CTAA 264 News Production 1 hr
CTAT 141 Digital Media Production for Non-Majors 3 hrs
JRNL 270 Data and Storytelling [GEKS] 3 hrs
JRNL 306W Feature Writing [GEWI] 3 hrs
MKTG 360 Principles of Marketing 3 hrs
PURL 317 Crisis Management in Public Relations 3 hrs
PURL 403 The Agency 3 hrs
PURL 408W Case Studies in Public Relations [GEWI] 3 hrs
PURL 495L4 Public Relations Internship [GELB] 3 hrs
WRTG 444 Writing for the Web 3 hrs

Critical Graduation Information

Each undergraduate student will be responsible for fulfilling the requirements (or their equivalents) of the Eastern Michigan University catalog in force at the time of their initial registration at a college or university or a subsequent catalog, including the one in effect at the time of their graduation.

In the event an undergraduate student does not complete the degree requirements within seven years of the date of their original registration at a college or university, the student may be required to have their credits re-evaluated by the academic department(s) of their major/minor in keeping with catalog requirements in force during the year of their graduation.

Minimum requirements for all bachelor’s degrees awarded by Eastern Michigan University

Some majors and minors require more than the minimum in one or more of the areas below; students are urged to consult this catalog for the requirements of their particular programs.

Earn a minimum total of 120 credit hours at the 100-level and above.
- Courses numbered below 100 are not counted toward this degree requirement.
- At most, eight credit hours of physical education (PEGN) activity courses are counted toward this requirement.
Meet the requirements of the General Education program (see information below), including completing a Writing Intensive (GEWI) course in the student’s major.
Earn a minimum of 60 credits from a four-year college or university; courses taken at community colleges cannot be used to meet this requirement (Some formal program-to-program articulation agreements modify this requirement. See specific agreements for details).
Earn a minimum of 30 credits from courses taken at EMU.
Complete 10 of the last 30 hours for the degree from courses taken at EMU.
Have a minimum of 30 unique credit hours in their major and 20 unique credit hours in their minor for a total of at least 50 unique credit hours between them. Some majors that require 50 or more hours themselves do not require a minor. A double major automatically satisfies the need for a minor unless one of the two majors requires a specific minor. Students should check the requirements of the selected major in the undergraduate catalog to see if a minor is required.
Earn no more than 60 credit hours in one subject area (prefix). Credits over the 60 maximum will not be counted toward the minimum of 120 credits required for a bachelor’s degree.
Earn the minimum number of credits in 300-level and above courses in each major and minor as specified below - these credits must be earned in distinct courses; that is, no course can be used to fulfill this requirement in more than one major or minor.
- Earn a minimum of 6 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each minor
- Earn a minimum of 9 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each major that requires a minor.
- Earn a minimum of 15 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each major that does not require a minor
Transfer credit will be awarded for courses taken at colleges and universities that are accredited by one of the recognized regional accrediting bodies only if the courses are college-level (equated to 100-level or above at EMU) and the student earned a “C” (or 2.0 on a 4 point scale) or better. Transfer credit may be awarded on a case-by-case basis for college-level courses in which a “C” (2.0) or better was earned at institutions outside the U.S. or at non-accredited U.S. institutions; individual departments/schools conduct the internal review of such courses within EMU, and additional documentation may be required. Please note: EMU awards only credit for transferred courses; grades are not used to calculate an EMU GPA.
Earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 in courses taken at EMU to graduate. In addition, a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 must be reached in each major and minor. Only courses a student takes at EMU and those applied to their major or minor are used to calculate their major and minor cumulative GPAs. (Note: some programs may require a higher GPA - check with your program advisor.)

General Education Requirements - EMU’s General Education Program requires students to choose from a menu of approved courses in several different areas; do not assume that other courses in the same department or similar names will fulfill these requirements. A detailed description of General Education requirements is available in the General Education section of the catalog.

Students who transferred to EMU may have modified general education requirements based on Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA) or articulation agreements; consult your academic advisor for additional information.