As a public relations professional, you must be able to design external and internal communication plans and integrate the new theoretical and practical models of public relations practice that have recently emerged. The Diploma in Public Relations program meets these needs and gives you the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills in the public relations and communications field. Strengthening your time management, critical thinking and communication skills will help you to build strategic relationships and serve the public interest. Just as the public relations field is always evolving, it’s crucial you keep evolving to meet your professional goals.
Elevate your PR career with every skill you develop.
Just like a master bricklayer assembles a sturdy wall one brick at a time, meticulously and with precision, you too can purposefully build your public relations career to reach higher levels of success. Every skill you develop holds value and provides you with stability to build new ones on top of another.
Whether you're building a brand or crafting a message, our Diploma in Public Relations will help you gain practical skills and theory that you can immediately apply to your current job. No matter what industry you’re in, it’s important to think critically about your organization, build a positive public image and use both your existing and new skills to progress as a professional in the workplace.
Start building your knowledge and public relations future one skill at a time.
Build your PR career brick by brick
Explore the program: Diploma in Public Relations
How this program stands out
Online Flexibility
Credibility
Industry Alignment
Teaching Talent
Experiential Learning
Curriculum Excellence
Supportive Services
What you will learn in the Diploma in Public Relations
Upon successful completion of the Diploma in PR, you will:
- create strategic methods to manage public relations and communications planning programs
- learn about the history, evolution and theory of the public relations profession
- develop strong critical thinking, teamwork, and time and project management skills while expanding your work ethic
- acquire effective writing skills
- increase awareness of current events, the impact of global issues and their effect on organizations
- critically analyze public relation practices using key learning strategies such as:
- research and evaluation
- issues management
- crisis communication
- communication planning
- effective communication tools
Program recognized by:
Who should take the Diploma in Public Relations
Are you interested in becoming a stronger communicator? Do you have a passion for language and making connections? Are you looking to earn an industry-recognized credential? These are a few questions our students answer with a "yes."
The Diploma in Public Relations program is designed for professionals employed in the public relations and communication field, and working in the public or private sectors. If you are entering this industry, or already working in it, but want to have formal education in PR, our program also provides the necessary qualifications.
Students and graduates of the program typically have several of the following characteristics, beliefs and values.
This could be the opportunity you’re looking for to elevate your PR career one skill at a time if you:
- are committed to using communication to manage relationships between an organization and its diverse public to achieve mutual understanding, realize organizational goals and serve the public interest
- understand the importance of research and analysis to inform communication strategies
- have a passion for shaping public perception and reputation management
- value professional development to stay relevant in a competitive job market
- are driven and ambitious to achieve success in your career
- are curious, open-minded and enjoy learning about new ideas or concepts
- welcome creativity and innovation in problem-solving
- enjoy writing, editing and crafting persuasive messages
- value work-life balance and seek flexibility in your educational pursuits
- believe staying up-to-date on current events and social trends helps you grow–professionally and personally
- don’t shy away from putting in the work to achieve your goals
- thrive on meeting deadlines and delivering quality work
Career options
Some of our learners pursue careers in the following roles:
Who are your Instructors
What do our learners say?
The program's essence is adding PR theory to PR practice: it's about why we do what we do as PR practitioners (…) UVic's PR program helped me understand the fundamentals of PR, which is absolutely essential for any PR practitioner.
Completing this program while working full-time provided technical training and enhancement to my day-to-day work, while my studies received the benefit of real-world experience. It gave me a foundation to build my career upon, accelerating my skill set and advancement in a way that I believe I would not have achieved without it.
UVic’s PR Program provides two invaluable tools: context and contacts. Like me, many students have actually worked in communications for years without much specific training in the conceptual, historical and research context of PR. The program remedies that deficiency. Then of course, it's really all about people, because you learn from students as well as instructors. The program is a goldmine for contacts.
I really enjoyed the Leadership in Public Relations course. It was an eye-opening experience allowing me to reflect on my own career and truly understand why I appreciated some management more than others. The course made me look at my own leadership skills inventory and determine where I could be stronger and how to improve.
The program provided me an opportunity to learn new skills, such as writing communications plans, and offered a relevant current look at the communications profession locally and in various sectors.
Anna Marie White, Instructor, is an exceptional leader and a wonderful source of information to learn from. She is fully engaged in helping and leading students to become their very best. I would recommend [Leadership in Public Relations course] to anyone currently in a management position - you will come out of this course a stronger leader.
For me, the greatest asset of being a student in UVic’s PR program was the variety of instructors, most of whom are industry professionals actively working in the field of public relations, and sharing in their real life experiences.
What I like most about teaching at UVic is the diversity of the student population and the spirit and enthusiasm they bring to their studies.
Graduating from this program will give your PR career the potential to soar.
Many of my virtual classmates were also employed in roles that challenged our learning and brought real life situations to the table for discussion. Assignments were varied and ranged from case studies to actually volunteering with a local organization to write its communication plan.
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