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Support Success Through Connection
Refine your interpersonal and organizational communication skills while learning to develop targeted messages and strengthen one-on-one, intercultural, and group relationships. Flexibility helps smooth the journey ahead, while our vibrant, virtual Christ-centered community encourages your personal success and vocational discovery every step of the way.
Introducing
Locked-In Tuition.
Our Locked-In Tuition program guarantees you’ll pay the same price for your entire undergraduate degree.
About the Program
With ACU’s online Bachelor of Science in Applied Communication program, you will learn skills that are vital to the job market: problem-solving, team building, message crafting, and leadership. You’re further encouraged to examine the role of communication and its applications in relation to various situations and topics, including social justice, change management, organizational conflicts, politics, the influence of technology, and family dynamics. As you explore ways communication builds connections, you’ll develop an e-portfolio of real-world work examples that you can share with future employers.
Graduates are well-prepared for careers in various fields, including marketing, public relations, journalism, advertising, corporate communication, social media management, and others. A communication degree provides students with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively communicate and interact with others and the ability to analyze and create effective communication messages.
Program Structure
All the details on your degree
The online Bachelor’s in Applied Communication considers the skills essential for forming various relationships and developing messages that resonate with specific audiences. Core courses cover organizational, interpersonal, intercultural, and persuasive communication, written and verbal forms and techniques, and how communication influences crisis management, leadership, and human resources functions. From here, you’ll select from two concentrations: Organizational Change or Healthcare Communication.
Required Hours
Total: 120 hours
University Requirements: 56 hours (including 9-15 hours in Bible)
Major: 64 hours (up to 22 hours in electives)
Example Coursework
Persuasion
Crisis Management
Intercultural Communication
Executing Organizational Change
Department
Upcoming Start Dates
October 17, 2023
January 9, 2024
Common Job Titles
Marketing Manager
Public Relations Specialist
Communications Coordinator
Change Management Specialist
Health Advocate
Non-profit Director
Training and Development Manager
Curriculum and Concentrations
Communication defines all aspects of our lives. It forms the foundation of relationships, offers a way to energize, motivate, and support others, and is integral to expression. In the workplace, we employ it to encourage achievement — and make everyone feel welcome. ACU’s online Bachelor of Science in Applied Communication translates your lively, captivating nature into a skill set that becomes an asset across multiple positions and industries, with potential to grow upward.
The online Bachelor’s in Applied Communication is divided into three parts: a core (30 credit hours), a concentration (12 credit hours) in one of two areas described below, and electives (22 credit hours). Core courses help you chart your path forward. Explore what interests you while understanding how communication shapes the world on a larger scale, from collaboration and the work environment to the learning process. This segment of courses introduces you to communication and rhetorical theory and methods needed for problem-solving, interpersonal relationships, cross-cultural exchanges, small groups, and leadership. Subjects further showcase applications of communications, including in organizational environments, for human resources, managing crises, and encouraging change.
Organizational Change
The Organizational Change concentration provides cutting-edge understanding and experience in change management vital for today’s leaders. Students will experience how to lead others through organizational initiatives, concentrating on decision-making, leadership, and moving employees past resistance to change engagement. Plus, Applied Communication majors will learn how to consult with businesses concerning such efforts.
Healthcare Communication
The Healthcare Communication concentration focuses on tools in leadership, crisis management, and organizational analysis to be an effective industry leader. Students will take courses in healthcare leadership and communication, ethics, and developing campaigns, as they focus on how these techniques can improve the workplace for employees.
Meet the Program Director
Dr. Dena Counts, Bachelor of Science in Applied Communication
Dr. Dena Counts is an assistant professor and the program director for two programs – the online Bachelor of Science in Applied Communication and the online Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership. Dena received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Communication from ACU. After working in the fields of fundraising, consulting, training, and human resources, Dena returned to ACU where she has served in multiple roles during the past 12 years. Dena received her doctorate in Organizational Leadership through ACU Online in 2019. Dena loves the challenge of teaching online and she is continually looking to improve learning and communication strategies for the online student.
Spotlight
Student Spotlight: Taryn Speakman
The journey to returning to school can start at any time. For Taryn Speakman, it began when her semi-perfect life came crumbling under the weight of life changes like caring for her husband and being let go from her job. Having placed her hope in Christ, Taryn now stands firm as an undergraduate student in the B.S. in Applied Communications program. Eager to see where she’ll end up, Taryn is ready to finish her degree and be a role model for career-driven women across the state.
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Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Dena Counts
Dena Counts is no stranger to ACU. After receiving degrees both on campus and online, she furthered her Wildcat career as ACU Online’s assistant dean and director for the Organizational Leadership and Applied Communications programs. Check out our latest faculty spotlight to learn how she’s bringing the ACU difference to an online format.
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We can tell when someone rubs us the wrong way. But, we’re drawn to individuals who inspire and uplift us in some form. Message delivery — from purpose to audience to listening to the response — is the key difference between these two situations. With one-on-one relationships to organizational structures, strong, persuasive, and empathetic communication breaks down walls, draws in others, and ensures everyone feels valued. Ineffective communication, by contrast, leads to confusion and distrust, contributes to internal instability, and prevents parties from reaching a clear consensus.
Understand how communication enriches our world, from the bonds you form with family, your spouse, and friends to workplace dynamics. To help you achieve this perspective, the online Bachelor’s in Applied Communication:
- explores communication as an influence on leadership, team building, and conflict management;
- supports communication as a tool for bridging disagreements, building connections, and problem solving;
- prepares students with an essential soft skill for a number of industries and roles, from managing organizational communications to striving for a position of leadership;
- sets you up for success with hands-on applications and experiences that result in an e-portfolio showcasing your breadth of knowledge;
- emphasizes the importance of empathy, respect, and ethics through a Christian worldview for all forms of communication;
- helps you develop more meaningful relationships, connect better with your team, and understand differences;
- instructs you in crafting messages with a range of audiences in mind and through a variety of media; and
- strengthens your critical-thinking, analytical, team-building, management, public speaking, and writing skills.
Discover your place in the world, and let your vocation flourish in a field with upward growth. Based on figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, media and communications is predicted to see 14 percent more positions between 2020 and 2030. An online Bachelor’s in Applied Communication sets you up to make an impact and impress your audience as a journalist, marketing specialist, communications coordinator, social media manager, change management specialist, nonprofit director, training and development manager, or public relations professional.
Beyond this scope, your degree lays down a solid foundation for advancement, including nuanced, effective written and verbal communication, team-building, listening, problem-solving, and analytical skills and an understanding of interpersonal and organizational dynamics and how these principles influence leadership.
To be considered for admission, students must:
- Submit official high school and/or college transcripts.
- Complete the online program application accompanied by a non-refundable processing fee.
Students are not required to submit ACT or SAT test scores.
Graduation Requirements: Students must earn a 2.0 GPA or higher to meet graduation requirements and complete at least 33 advanced hours.
Abilene Christian University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award associate, baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Ga. 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of ACU.
Abilene Christian University enjoys a strong national reputation as one of the leading private Christian universities in the west and southwest, indicated by various ratings (such as U.S. News and World Report and other reports).