Digital Marketing, MS

30 credit hours

The Master of Science in digital marketing provides students with the skills needed to create, analyze, and optimize social media content and campaigns. With a firm foundation in information gathering techniques and data analysis, students will learn to define and analyze audiences for and with social media and to measure the effectiveness of social media strategies. A graduate student in the College of Arts and Humanities may take only one tutorial or independent study course and may enroll in a maximum of nine graduate credit hours per semester. A student may not receive graduate credit for any course designated as a dually enrolled course if that student received credit for the undergraduate version of that course.

Admission Requirements

Applications are initially reviewed by the Office of University Admissions to ensure all university admissions standards are met. An admissions decision will be made once all steps have been completed.

In addition to the requirements of all graduate students, applicants to the College of Arts and Humanities should complete and/or submit the following documents and information:

  • Transcripts demonstrating completion of undergraduate degree in related field with a minimum of a 3.0 GPA in all major coursework.
  • The official results from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) may be required if GPA is below 3.0. 
  • Contact information for three academic and/or professional references. 
  • 1,000-word statement of purpose describing applicant’s goals. 
  • Specific deliverables depending on area of study, such as a writing sample and/or portfolio of work.

Completion Options

Non-Thesis/Applied Project Option

The applied project allows students with a professional focus to apply the theories and research methods of their field in a professional setting or in a final product or series of products. Projects may take different forms, but all students produce some form of material on behalf of an organization or field of practice. Students pursuing the non-thesis/applied project option document their progress and product for final review by their thesis committee. See the chair of the program for more information.

Thesis Option

The thesis involves the creation of an original piece of scholarship relevant to the field of study that investigates an aspect of that field, professional area or organization. Students evaluate the state of the field in existing research on their topic area and then develop a research question to investigate. Over the course of the program, students investigate their topic and refine their thesis, which is written the final two semesters and reviewed by their thesis committee. See the chair of the program for more information.

Students who do not successfully complete and defend the Thesis/Project Prospectus, or who have not completed their Thesis/Project by the end of CAH 61000, must enroll in CAH 60500 Thesis/Project Experience in every fall and spring semester until the Thesis/Project is completed.

Requirements

Major Coursework

15 credit hours of coursework from the following options:

CAH 50000Research Methods

3

CAH 51000Research and Scholastic Writing

3

CAH 55000Graduate Seminar

3

CAH 60000Thesis/Directed Project I

3

CAH 61000Thesis/Directed Project II

3

Specialized Coursework

15 credit hours of coursework from the following options: 

AAD 53001Digital Photography

3

CAH 59000-59999Special Topics

1-3

COM 55000Media Literacy

3

DCS 50000Digital Content and Demographics

3

DCS 51000Media Literacy Theory

3

DCS 52000History of Contemporary Media Industries

3

DCS 52200Emerging Platforms and Analytics

3

DCS 53000Digital Content Strategy Practicum I

3

DCS 55000Personal Branding and Content Creation

3

DCS 55500Digital Content Strategy Practicum II

3

DCS 56000Information Literacy

3

DCS 57000Contemporary Audience Analysis

3

DCS 58000Digital Content Strategy Practicum III

3

DCS 58900Digital Content Strategy Capstone

3

MRKT 55010Marketing Principles and Issues

3

MRKT 55015Digital Marketing

3

MRKT 55020Marketing Information and Research

3

MRKT 55025Integrated Marketing Communications

3

MRKT 55080Marketing Strategy and Management

3