Online Leadership, Advocacy, and Policy Communications Certificate

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Pepperdine University is accredited by the WASC Senior Colleges and Universities Commission (WSCUC). This certificate has been reviewed and approved by WSCUC.

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MPPL 610: Leadership During Times of Crisis: Communications and Damage Control

Communications strategies are designed to connect leaders with their respective communities and constituencies. Nothing tests the best-designed strategies and communications plans like a crisis or a natural disaster. This course will explore the foundations of communications theory as it relates to public service and leadership. Building on what scholars think, the class will turn to what happens in practice and what works. It will build on a series of successful and unsuccessful case studies to understand the principles that can allow leaders to effectively communicate their messages when the stakes are often the highest for those they need to reach. In exploring these high-stake scenarios, the course will demonstrate and amplify the best practices leaders should follow for the more mundane communications in the course of everyday activities.

Strategic Leadership with a Moral Foundation

The Pepperdine School of Public Policy online certificate in Leadership, Advocacy, and Policy Communications incorporates emerging technologies and centers on data-driven analysis, multidisciplinary knowledge, and a strong emphasis on moral decision-making. The program integrates historical, philosophical, and liberal arts foundations with essential coursework around messaging strategies across all aspects of the media landscape.

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National Education Leader with Proven Success

Pepperdine University is one of the top 50 universities in the country, connecting students with current debates in public policy along with an influential network of leaders. Its DC presence provides ongoing insights into national policy development from the epicenter of national governance while its main campus in Southern California provides an important policy laboratory for state and local government policy.

Ranked #49 nationally and a Top 10 Policy Program in the West by U.S. News & World Report
1000+ School of Public Policy graduates employed on Capitol Hill and in local government, major think tanks, consulting firms, and more
Home to The Davenport Institute, a nonprofit organization working to engage citizens in policy decisions that affect their everyday lives (affiliated with the School of Public Policy)

Created for Impact and Innovation

The innovative online curricula incorporate emerging technologies, community engagement, data-informed decision-making, and readiness for future challenges. The online certificate in Leadership, Advocacy, and Policy Communications takes a forward-thinking, multidisciplinary approach to prepare leaders with the most relevant skills for making a difference in whichever career they pursue.

Leadership-focused using quantitative and qualitative analysis skills to make public institutions more efficient and responsive to the public
Suitable for public, nonprofit, and private organizations or governmental roles

Based on Servant Leadership

The online certificate curricula in Leadership, Advocacy, and Policy Communications is rooted in philosophy, history, liberal arts, and viewpoint diversity, bringing a sense of humanity to policy leadership. Coursework holistically approaches public policy through foundations in philosophy and history, Christian values, and an emphasis on moral sense and service to others.

Founded in the Churches of Christ tradition, with the belief that formation, evaluation, and practice of public policy is a sacred calling devoted to service
Welcomes all faith backgrounds and celebrates a culture of diversity
Pepperdine University is named as #13 Best Christian College in America and one of the Top 100 Private Universities by Niche.com

Online Leadership, Advocacy, and Policy Communications Certificate Course Descriptions

Fast Facts

5 courses
15 credit hours
Tuition: $1,730 per credit hour*
3 intakes per year

*This is the current rate and may be subject to change annually.

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MPPL 611: Understanding and Leading Public Opinion

Modern, large-scale, democracy has come to depend on public opinion as a substitute for citizen deliberation. The term “public opinion” has many overlapping meanings and ranges from claims about majority opinions to the expression of values collectively held and publicly expressed to an almost mystical claim about some abstract personification of the national self. The course will examine the competing views of the nature and definition of the public. From there it will turn attention to contemporary concerns about how public opinion is formed, by whom, and with what consequences.

The course will examine political rhetoric, classic and modern, as well as the way powerful people and institutions shape narratives and messages. This course is ultimately centered around a problem about the competence of democratic institutions to foster a meaningful, informed, and open conversation about public matters and how effective leaders navigate this process.

Admission Requirements

MPPL 612: The 21st Century Communicator: Strategies for Web, Video, and Social Media

Media and culture have been fueling public discourse and igniting social change for millennia, but in the hyper-connected 21st Century, moving an issue from the margins to the center of the public square can happen in an instant. This "new normal" of media that creates impact is changing culture and influencing policy at a rate never seen before. This cultural development has created an environment where audiences are coming to expect something more from the media they ingest and the policy that shapes their lives.

The course will investigate the emerging new media and advocacy landscape while also examining the artists, advocates, philanthropists, strategists, and evaluators who have emerged to service this cultural evolution. The course will better understand this changing media and impact landscape and become familiar with the industry and specialized skills needed to succeed in it.

MPPL 613: Principles for Political and Policy Communications

This course focuses on how successful political and policy operatives of both parties develop, target, and deliver a message to constituencies. It will explore the full range of messaging campaigns, from the practicalities of campaign politics to strategy and messaging. Topics will include the means by which a campaign develops its message, how that message is communicated through the news media, paid advertising, and online communications, as well as the broader strategic and tactical questions, which guide a campaign’s operations. It will also examine the broader context of the American political system: its strengths and weaknesses, the relationship between politicians, and the voters and the influence of the news media on the political and policy processes.

MPPL 614: Corporate Communications: Advocating, Lobbying, and Negotiating

Social media and the internet have completely redefined how organizations connect with the public and the world around them. Public relations and communications have come a long way since the early 1990s when there was a legitimate debate on whether an entity should even have a website or web presence. Private sector actors—and especially modern corporations—have led the way in this evolution of communications and messaging.

The course will examine not only the history of this changing landscape but also explore the practices in the private sector today that are redefining how individuals, community organizations, activist groups, political action committees, and specialized interest groups connect with the public, each other, and government leaders. The course will shine a light on the lobbying and advocacy sectors and explore how their strategies and contemporary practices are both defining and redefining the choices our public officials are making.

Career Opportunities

Pepperdine students who graduate with an online certificate in Leadership, Advocacy, and Policy Communications can move into various communication roles in the private, nonprofit, and governmental sectors. Career options vary, but potential opportunities exist in these areas and beyond:

Politics
Government
Public affairs
Media
Public relations
Social advocacy
Nonprofits

Designed for Impact and Innovation

In today’s complex political and economic environment, professionals who can humanize politics, create sustainable policy solutions, and practice effective public leadership are needed now more than ever. Three specializations and the core curriculum (Public Policy Leadership) are offered as graduate certificate options that can be combined/stacked for the full master’s degree.

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Supportive Online Learning

Are you new to online learning, or do you need help with something specific? Our enrollment team provides personalized tours of the online campus in which you will be learning. They can answer your questions and point you in the right direction. Help is just a click away.

Education Leader with Graduate Success

Pepperdine University is one of the top 50 universities in the country, connecting students with current debates in public policy along with an influential network of leaders. Its DC presence provides ongoing insights into national policy development from the epicenter of national governance while its main campus in Southern California provides an important policy laboratory for state and local government policy.

Designed for Impact and Innovation

The innovative online curricula incorporate emerging technologies, community engagement, data-informed decision-making, and readiness for future challenges. The online certificate in Leadership, Advocacy, and Policy Communications takes a forward-thinking, multidisciplinary approach to prepare leaders with the most relevant skills for making a difference in whichever career they pursue.

Focused on Servant Leadership

The online certificate curricula in Leadership, Advocacy, and Policy Communications is rooted in philosophy, history, liberal arts, and viewpoint diversity, bringing a sense of humanity to policy leadership. Coursework holistically approaches public policy through foundations in philosophy and history, Christian values, and an emphasis on the moral sense and service to others.

Proven Graduate Success

1000+
Pepperdine Public Policy graduates are employed in Capitol Hill, local government, major think tanks, consulting firms, and more.

Agents of Change

More than 1,000 School of Public Policy alumni are serving around the world in a range of career paths, bringing with them a sense of humanity to public policy leadership.

Check out our blog

The Impact of Public Policy in a Community

The benefits of public policy in communities often result from the collaborative work of municipal governments, nonprofit organizations, and local businesses. Because policies in one area often overlap with other areas, leaders in this space require special skills in both identifying and making the tradeoffs needed to create successful solutions. These same leaders must be able to work with many, diverse and often conflicting constituencies. Effective leaders collaborate with this diversity to build coalitions and solutions that leverage the best in every community.Read more

Is an Online Master of Public Policy Right For Me?

The online Master of Public Policy and Leadership (MPPL) program from Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy equips servant leaders who are ready to evaluate the needs of others and work on their behalf to meet those needs in meaningful ways. But can an online degree program really prepare strong, capable leaders? The answer is an emphatic “yes!” In fact, online learning features several unique, key benefits.Read more

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