DEPARTMENT OF ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS (APR)

Dr. Bruce K. Berger, Chairperson
Office: 412 Phifer Hall

Requirements for Advertising and Public Relations Majors

A total of 124 hours is required for graduation. Following the tradition of a liberal education, students must take at least 80 semester hours in courses outside the departments of advertising and public relations, journalism, mass communication, and telecommunication and film, with at least 65 semester hours being completed in the liberal arts and sciences.

Advertising and public relations majors must have at least 31 hours, and no more than 36 hours, in advertising (APR), public relations (APR), journalism (JN), mass communication (MC), and telecommunication and film (TCF) courses. Specific course requirements for the major in advertising or public relations include the following:

MC 101 Introduction to Mass Communication

MC 401 Mass Communication Law and Regulation or MC 407 Mass Communication Research

MC 400-level elective (either MC 401 Mass Communication Law and Regulation, MC 403 Survey of Communication Theory, MC 405 Mass Communication Ethics, MC 407 Mass Communication Research, MC 409 Mass Communication History, MC 411 International Mass Communication, MC 413 Communication and Diversity, MC 415 Mass Communication Processes and Effects, MC 417 Mass Communication and Public Opinion, MC 425 Media Management, MC 421 Political Communication, or MC 495 Special Topics in Mass Communication*)

One of the following major sequences:

Advertising major. APR 260 Design Applications, JN 150 Mechanics of Writing, APR 221 Introduction to Advertising, APR 300 Visual Communication, APR 322 Advertising Copywriting, APR 422 Advertising Media, APR 424 Advertising Campaigns, and either APR 418 Advanced Advertising Development or APR 423 Advertising Management

Public relations major. APR 260 Design Applications, JN 150 Mechanics of Writing, JN 311 News Writing and Reporting, APR 231 Introduction to Public Relations, APR 300 Visual Communication, APR 332 Public Relations Writing, APR 433 Public Relations Campaigns, and either APR 419 Advanced Public Relations Development or APR 432 Public Relations Management or APR 415 Online Magazine Writing**

Minors for Students Majoring in Advertising and Public Relations

The department requires each of its students to complete minors, which may not comprise any advertising and public relations, journalism, mass communication, or telecommunication and film courses. Advertising and public relations students minor in such diverse areas as communication studies, general business, political science, art, psychology, history, mathematics, cultural studies, and languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. No more than 27 hours in the minor may be counted toward fulfillment of graduation requirements. At least 6 hours in the minor must be at or above the 300 level. Two minors may be pursued, but College of Communication and Information Sciences policy requires that at least one of the minors be taken in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Core Curriculum and General Education Requirements

I. Freshman composition (FC): 6 hours	EN 101 (3)
EN 102 (3)
or by exam1
II. Humanities (HU) and fine arts (FA): 12 hours	fine arts (3)
literature sequence (6)
COM 123 (3)2
III. Natural science (N) and
mathematics (MA): 11 hours	natural science (4)
natural science (4)
MATH 110 or higher or equivalent (3)6
IV. History (HI) and social/
behavioral sciences (SB): 12 hours	history (3)
EC 110 (3)2, 6
social and behavioral sciences (3)
HI or SB (3)
V. Premajor requirements:
15–17 hours	MC 101 (3)
APR 221 (3)3
APR 231 (3)4
foreign language sequence or computer science (6–8)

ADDITIONAL UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA CORE REQUIREMENTS

Writing (W): 6 hours⁵

Special Department Requirements

Students are asked to make special note of the following Department of Advertising and Public Relations requirements:

• Student responsibility. It is the student’s responsibility to understand the requirements for the advertising or public relations major or minor and to seek the advice of their assigned faculty advisor when choosing coursework. Students receive advisor assignments when they declare the advertising or public relations major or minor in 412 Reese Phifer Hall.
• Prerequisites. A number of courses within and outside the department require other courses as prerequisites. A student who registers for any course without satisfying the proper prerequisites will be administratively disenrolled from that course. Before registering, students are advised to review course descriptions for prerequisites and other requirements. Due to the APR prerequisite-based curriculum, it takes at least five semesters to complete the hours in the advertising or public relations major or minor.
• Minimum grade requirement. A grade of “C-” or higher is required in all courses counted in the advertising or public relations major or minor. In addition, grades of “C-” or higher must be earned in all required external courses, including those established as prerequisites for courses in the advertising or public relations major or minor and those required directly in the major or minor. In keeping with University policy, when a course is taken more than one time, each enrollment will be counted in the cumulative hours attempted and used in computation of the grade point average, but only the final enrollment may count as credit toward the degree.
• Minimum grade point averages. A 2.0 or higher grade point average is required of all students who have earned 45 hours or more of college credit and wish to transfer into the College. A student must have a grade point average of 2.0 or higher in order to register for any 300-level or higher-numbered course in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations.
• Special requirement. In addition to fulfilling the University Core Curriculum requirements and the requirements for the major and minor, a student majoring in advertising or public relations must complete at least 12 additional hours of 300- and/or 400-level courses in any areas of study outside of APR, JN, MC, TCF, and the student’s minor. A student having a second major or second minor may reuse 300- and/or 400-level course hours from that second major or second minor in the special requirement. When choosing special requirement courses, the student should remember that at least 65 hours of the total 124 hours required for the degree must be in liberal arts and sciences (such as College of Arts and Sciences, communication studies, and economics courses).

Requirements for the Minor in Advertising or Public Relations

Students outside the College of Communication and Information Sciences (with the exception of communication studies majors) may select the minor consisting of 22 credit hours in either advertising or public relations. The following courses are required for an advertising minor: MC 101, JN 150, APR 260, APR 221, APR 300*, APR 322*, APR 422*, and either APR 418* or APR 423*. The following courses are required for a public relations minor: MC 101, JN 150, APR 260, JN 311, APR 231, APR 300*, APR 332*, and either APR 419* or APR 432* or APR 415*.

A grade of “C-” or higher is required in all courses for the advertising or public relations minor. Due to the APR prerequisite-based curriculum, it takes at least five semesters to complete the hours in the advertising or public relations minor.

Sample Curriculum for the Major in Advertising

Sample Curriculum for the Major in Public Relations

FRESHMAN YEAR
First Semester
Courses	Hours
EN 101	3
MC 101	3
Fine arts	3
Science with lab (N)	4
Elective	3
___
Total: 16
Second Semester
Courses	Hours
APR 260	3
JN 150	1
EN 102	3
MATH 110 or higher or equivalent	3
History	3
Science with lab (N)	4
___
Total: 17
SOPHOMORE YEAR
First Semester
Courses	Hours
APR 231	3
EC 110	3
Foreign language or computer science (FL or C)	3–4
Literature (first course in sequence)	3
Social/behavioral sciences	3
___
Total: 15–16
Second Semester
Courses	Hours
APR 300	3
(HI) or (SB) course	3
Foreign language or computer science (FL or C)	3–4
Literature (second course in sequence)	3
Minor	3
___
Total: 15–16
JUNIOR YEAR
First Semester
Courses	Hours
JN 311 (W)	3
COM 123	3
Minor	3
Special requirement	3
Special requirement	3
___
Total: 15
Second Semester
Courses	Hours
APR 332 (W)	3
Minor	3
Minor	3
Special requirement	3
Special requirement	3
___
Total: 15
SENIOR YEAR
First Semester
Courses	Hours
APR 432 (W) or APR 419 or APR 415	3
MC 401 or MC 407	3
Elective	3
Minor		3
Minor	3
___
Total: 15
Second Semester
Courses	Hours
APR 433	3
Elective	3
400-level mass communication course	3
Minor	3
Minor or elective	3
___
Total: 15