Frequently Asked Questions

I already have a master’s degree. Why should I pursue a Graduate Certificate in Rhetorical Leadership?
How long does it take to complete the Rhetorical Leadership Certificate?
Are there any options for distance learning?
I already have completed some graduate-level coursework at another school. Can I transfer credits?
What are the RL Certificate/Concentration Requirements?
What is the difference between a Certificate and a Concentration?
What does a RL Certificate Student Schedule look like?
What does a RL Concentration Student Schedule look like?

I already have a master’s degree. Why should I pursue a Graduate Certificate in Rhetorical Leadership?

If your graduate degree is outside the Communication field or even outside the Rhetoric specialty within Communication, this program offers you the chance to develop a range of approaches to contemporary leadership problems from a humanities perspective. These rhetorical theories and skills are valuable complements to one’s advanced content mastery as they are applicable across the various areas in which one might be called to lead (e.g., education, business, health care, social advocacy, non-profit management).

If you already have a graduate degree in Rhetoric generally, you might consider pursuing the Certificate because it offers a coherent, integrated sub-specialty that deals specifically with how rhetoric, decision-making, and contemporary leadership challenges interact. The coordinated courses provide a sustained opportunity to explore the ways in which this approach differs from leadership training based in the social sciences or military and is practically applicable to a wide variety of situations.

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How long does it take to complete the Rhetorical Leadership Certificate?

It should be possible to complete the Graduate Certificate in Rhetorical Leadership in two years. There is a time limit of three years from initial enrollment for completion of the certificate program.

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Are there any options for distance learning?

The Graduate Certificate is not offered online at this time.

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I already have completed some graduate-level coursework at another school. Can I transfer credits?

A maximum of 3 credits may be transferred in to count toward the Certificate Program's required 15 credits. Courses will be considered for transfer into the Certificate Program only if the applicant can provide ample, acceptable evidence that the course taken was substantially the same as one of the six UWM courses that constitute the Certificate Program. The Rhetorical Leadership Committee will make the final decision in such cases.

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What are the RL Certificate/Concentration Requirements?

Students must earn a minimum cumulative 3.00 grade point average in Rhetorical Leadership courses taken at UWM. Five of the following six 3-credit graduate courses are required to complete a Rhetorical Leadership Graduate Certificate (i.e., earned by a non-degree student as a stand-alone credential) or Transcript-Designated Concentration (i.e., the same credential earned in conjunction with a UWM graduate degree):

Communication 672, Communication and Social Order. The role of communication in both maintaining and challenging social structures and hierarchies.

Communication 701, Critical Analysis of Communication. Introduction to the methods and techniques of humanistic research in communication, with special focus on problems of criticism and history.

Communication 735, Rhetorical Theory. Critical study of various humanistic theories of rhetorical communication. Major emphasis on contemporary theories, trends, and concepts.

Communication 762, Argumentation in Theory and Practice. Integrates argumentation theories and real-life arguing experience to practice leadership-in-action. Assumes no prior knowledge of argumentation theories. Not interchangeable with argumentation theory seminars.

Communication 772, Rhetorical Leadership and Ethics. Examines the practice of responsible leadership from the humanities-based perspectives of rhetoric.

Communication 872, Rhetorics of Constituting Community and Social Controversy. Analyzes advanced theories of promoting and disrupting identification or division and social conflict through rhetoric.

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What is the difference between a Certificate and a Concentration?

All Rhetorical Leadership students complete any five of the same six 3-credit courses. The result is called a Rhetorical Leadership Concentration if one uses these credits as part of a UWM Communication graduate degree (for instance, as 15 credits of one’s 30-credit M.A.) and a Rhetorical Leadership Certificate if one is not counting these 15 credits toward an additional graduate degree. Transcripts for both degree and non-degree students will indicate official completion of the Rhetorical Leadership requirements.

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What does a RL Certificate Student Schedule look like?

*Assumes 2-year completion, though a student has 5 years to complete the program. Students may begin the program in either Fall or Spring; this sample shows a student starting in Fall, but the course rotation would be the same, if one enters in Spring.

Fall One

Communication 735 or 762 (whichever is offered)

Spring One

Communication 701, 772 or 872 (whichever is offered)

Fall Two

Communication 672
Communication 735 or 762 (whichever is offered)

Spring Two

Communication 772 or 872 (whichever is offered)

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What does a RL Concentration Student Schedule look like?

*Assumes 2-year completion, though a student has 5 years to complete the program. Assumes student wishes to complete the M.A. in the fewest possible credits (30). Assumes the Communication Department’s current M.A. requirements. Click here to link to the Graduate Handbook Requirements Page (PDF).

Fall One

Communication 800 (Required for all Communication M.A. students)
Communication 735 or 762 (whichever is offered)

Spring One

Communication 772 or 872 (whichever is offered)
Communication 701 (Fulfills methods requirement for Communication M.A.)
Communication course in an area other than Rhetorical/Public (Fulfills area distribution requirement for Communication M.A.)

Fall Two

Communication 672 Communication 735 or 762 (whichever is offered) Communication course in an area other than Rhetorical/Public and other than the area taken in Spring One (Fulfills area distribution requirement for Communication M.A.)

Spring Two

Communication 772 or 872 (whichever is offered)
Elective

Take comprehensive exams this semester

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Communication Department
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
PO Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201
Johnston Hall Room 210 — Tel: 414-229-4261
2512 East Hartford Avenue
Please direct questions and comments to RL Program Coordinator
Updated on August 20, 2006