CA 504 SPECIAL TOPICS IN COMMUNICATION: 

Public Leadership Initiative (Spring 1 and Fall 1) AND  Public Relations Initiative (Spring 2 and Fall 2)

This course is designed to help students who need a particular required course for graduation, but are unable to take the course during the regular offering, so they need take the course as an independent study.  The purpose of this course is to provide you with a structured, yet independent, approach to learning knowledge, skills, and values required in the Master of Arts in Communication Leadership (MACL) program.  You can take this course twice, IF you enroll in CA504 with different names.  You can use Public Leadership Initiative to waive ONE required course and Public Relations Initiative to waive ONE required course, for a total of two courses in the two semesters leading to graduation (CA 501, 505, 516, 517, 520, 529, 670).  Both courses are called "initiative" because in many ways this is an independent study course, which requires significant student initiative.

ADVANTAGES

This group approach has advantages over typical face-to-face independent courses, particularly for online distance learning students. 

1. By grouping students in different courses, you can have discussions about course content with other students and bounce ideas off an audience. 

2. Your weekly dropbox assignment will be fundamentally the same for all students, so you practice some pragmatic public relations skills that you can use in your employment.

3. You also have the advantage of a structured course that operates like other online courses, so you know what to expect. 

4. Because the materials are drawn together, you can access content for all 8 weeks directly on the Internet via this page http://ourwayit.com/CA504/

5. By having all independent study students together, your professor can approach teaching as she would in one of the MACL required courses. 

6. You will be treated like a student in a regular online course, with clear expectations about what you need to do each week for assignments.

WAIVER OF REQUIRED COURSE
You can only receive a required course waiver (course substitution credit) from the Program Director, Dr. Noe.  So you will need to receive his approval BEFORE enrolling in the course.  Then, week 8, send Dr. Noe your formal written request for the substitution credit waiving the specific required course (make sure you attach your core assessment proving you've meet the specific courses' learning objectives). 

CONTENT

• Wk 1 Content http://ourwayit.com/CA504/Week1Content.htm

• Wk 2 Content http://ourwayit.com/CA504/Week2Content.htm

• Wk 3 Content http://ourwayit.com/CA504/Week3Content.htm

• Wk 4 Content http://ourwayit.com/CA504/Week4Content.htm

• Wk 5 Content http://ourwayit.com/CA504/Week5Content.htm

• Wk 6 Content http://ourwayit.com/CA504/Week6Content.htm

• Wk 7 Content http://ourwayit.com/CA504/Week7Content.htm

• Wk 8 Content http://ourwayit.com/CA504/Week8Content.htm

Core Assessment http://ourwayit.com/CA504/CoreAssessment.htm

Discussion Rubric http://ourwayit.com/CA504/Discussion.htm

Dropbox Weekly Assignments for Public Leadership Initiative http://ourwayit.com/CA504/DropboxPL.htm 

AND Public Relations Initiative http://ourwayit.com/CA504/DropboxPR.htm

Expectations for Students: http://ourwayit.com/Guidelines.html

Grading http://ourwayit.com/CA504/grading.htm

Textbook, Schedule, and Reading Assignments http://ourwayit.com/CA504/Schedule.htm

Weekly Emails and Announcements http://ourwayit.com/CA504/EmailsAnnouncements.htm