The Master of Arts degree in Communication provides education for the student who wishes to pursue either the Ph.D. degree of a career in corporate and public communication. Students who select the thesis program will demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of corporate and public communication and skills necessary to conduct communication research. Students who select the non-thesis program option will demonstrate the comprehensive knowledge of corporate and public communication and skills necessary to carry out a project. It is designed to meet the needs of students pursing a terminal M.A. and and those planning to work toward the Ph.D. and a career in university teaching. The terminal M.A. serves such various career tracks as junior college or secondary-school teaching and writing or editing in the business or corporate community.
Creative writers find the degree useful in careers both in and out of the academic community.
Normally, those who wish to go on to a Ph.D. program, law school, or certain positions in archives, government, and community college teaching positions pursue the thesis option. Other students pursuing positions where a thesis is not needed often study in the non-thesis track. Students who wish to teach in public schools in Alabama, and who already hold a Class B teaching certificate, may pursue the Class A Teaching Certification option. For further information on the M.A. program see the departmental booklet, Graduate Program in History, or consult the departmental graduate coordinator. The Ph.D. degree is awarded to students who have reached and formally demonstrated a level of competence and accomplishment that enables them to pursue careers as marine science professionals.