Undergraduate Information
Advertising and public relations are the disciplines that organizations use to communicate with their constituencies: customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, public-interest groups, voters, and the general public. The mission of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations (APR) is to serve as a leader in the generation and dissemination of innovative concepts and methods to solve advertising and public relations problems, and to provide innovative, high-quality instruction for students.
The APR curriculum for undergraduate majors includes courses in communication research, strategic writing, design, management, and media and campaign planning, among others. The Capstone campaigns course requires students to work with local and regional organizations to help solve real communication issues.
The APR faculty seeks to educate highly competent, focused students who will be recognized for their leadership qualities—their abilities to discern issues relating to both the practice of their profession and its role in society; to develop and execute successful communication programs; and to lead others effectively.
APR is the largest department in the College. The 1020 undergraduate majors in advertising (377) and public relations (643) represent more than half of the students in the College. The number of APR majors has grown significantly from 550 majors in 1996.
The APR program is one of the 10 largest in the country. The program is nationally accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. In PRWeek’s 2010 rankings of education programs, UA’s undergraduate public relations program came in second only to New York University’s graduate PR program. Thus, our undergraduate PR program is the number one undergraduate PR program in the nation.
Recent APR graduates have gone to work in a variety or organizations across the country, including ABC 33/40, The Ad Council, Alabama Power, Alagasco, American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, CBS-42, Charlotte Observer, Children’s Dance Foundation, the Cirlot Agency, Coastal Living Magazine, Comedy Central, Country Music Hall of Fame, DavisDenny Advertising, Department of Defense, Dye, Van Mol & Lawrence, Eli Lilly, Iowa Grain Company, GodwinGroup, The Hearst Corporation, Ketchum Public Relations, McCann-Erickson, MS&L Public Relations, Phizer, Publicis USA, Randall-Reilly Publishing, Rhodes College, Salvation Army, Southern Living Magazine, Time Warner, Tuscaloosa News, The University of Alabama, University of West Alabama, Young & Rubicam and many others.
Getting advised
Declaring the major
General requirements
Core requirements
Preprofessional requirements
Special requirement
Minimum grades
Upper-level major courses/Minimum GPA
Upper-level MC requirement
Required communication elective (for students under 2006–08 and earlier undergraduate catalogs)
Optional communication electives (for students under 2008–10 undergraduate catalog)
General electives
ADV major course sequence
Declaring a minor
Minor requirements
Choosing a minor
Second minor
Second major
Suggested course plan for the major
Sample advertising course checksheet (2004–06/2006–08 catalogs)
Political communication concentration
Internship/practicum
Independent study
Getting advised
Declaring the major
General requirements
Core requirements
Preprofessional requirements
Special requirement
Minimum grades
Upper-level major courses/Minimum GPA
Upper-level MC requirement
Required communication elective (for students under 2006–08 and earlier undergraduate catalogs)
Optional communication electives (for students under 2008–10 undergraduate catalog)
General electives
PR major course sequence
Declaring a minor
Minor requirements
Choosing a minor
Second minor
Second major
Suggested course plan for the major
Sample PR course checksheet (2004–06/2006–08 catalogs)
Political communication concentration
Internship/practicum
Independent study
Declaring the minor
Getting advised
Advertising minor requirements
PR minor requirements
Minimum GPA/minimum prerequisite grades
Advertising minor sequence
PR minor sequence
Internships
Independent study
Workshops and career fairs
Scholarships
Student organizations
Advising
Registration
Suggested course plans
By status (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior)
Degree audit
Application for graduation
Academic calendar
APR Computer Labs
Media Writing Lab
English Writing Center
C&IS Reading Room
C&IS Career Services
UA Career Center
The R&D in Gorgas Library
Center for Teaching and Learning
Office of Disability Services
Academic calendar
Class schedule
Class registration
Core classes
Graduation/commencement
Transfer course equivalency
Undergraduate catalogs
How do I declare my advertising or PR major?
Do I have to have a minor?
What can I minor in?
How do I declare my minor?
How do I declare an advertising or PR minor?
How do I get an adviser?
What is the special requirement for the advertising or PR major?
What are the prerequisites to APR, MC, and other key communication courses?
What is an internship?
What is a practicum?
What is independent study?
What are the Core requirements for the advertising or PR major?
How do I get a list of classes that meet Core requirements?
How do I transfer from another UA college or school?
How do I transfer from another institution?
What is a degree audit and when should it be completed?
When should the application for a degree be completed?
How do I get a plan for academic success?
How do I get a letter of good standing?
What is academic warning?
What is academic suspension?
Degree audit
Graduation requirements
Application for degree
Internship/practicum
Plan for academic success
Letter of good standing
Scholarships
Department
College
University
Transfer admission/course evaluation
Checksheets/records