General information
Department of Communicology and Public Relations
The Department carries out an undergraduate university study of “Public Relations” in the area of social sciences, in the field of information and communication sciences. The study program lasts for two years and upon the completion of the program, the student acquires 120 ECTS credits and the academic title of ‘Master of Public Relations’ (mag.rel.publ.). The study program has been carried out at the institution since the academic year 2012/2013. For all the courses covered by the study plan and program, the syllabi with learning outcomes have been made; units and chapters analyzed during the courses have been defined, along with the student obligations, exam procedures and the criteria on the basis of which the final grade is given. The expected learning outcomes and all other information on the courses are publicly available to students on the website (http://www.unin.hr/odnosi-s-javnostima/kolegiji/).
According to a number of indicators, the ‘Master of Public Relations and Communications’ is one of the professions that have become increasingly widespread in Europe and the rest of the world in the last ten years. The grouping of public relations is a globally very strong, and in some segments an extremely profitable industry, whose development is moving at a very fast pace, which is why there is a very strong need for highly educated experts. In Croatia, there is a large deficit precisely of those personnel. Croatian employers in the private, the non-profit sector and public administration are increasingly seeking such experts who perform three key roles in an organization: system protection (protection and promotion of the organization’s reputation), advocacy of system value, and increase of system value. In order to perform such complex activities of an organization, a public relations and communication manager has to possess the elements of the profile of an economist, jurist, sociologist, psychologist, linguist, educator, political scientist and an ecologist. Due to that, the study program of the university graduate study of “Public Relations” is designed to meet the needs of the profession, but at the same time, to provide the students with a program which is aligned with the recognized foreign graduate studies of public relations. It prepares students for independent scientific-research and highly professional work in public relations services, governmental and non-governmental organizations, PR agencies and commercial companies and for independent research of the developments in public relations and the relations between the public relations and the society. Competencies that the students acquire upon the completion of the study are the following: understanding of the process of the formation of the public and the public opinion, creation and planning of communication procedures towards different audiences in the organizational environment, creation and planning of communication events and successful media relations, management of integrated marketing communications and market research, effective communication and informing with the help of contemporary technologies and the Internet, promotion of organizational culture and business ethics, along with responsible business activity in the areas of market, human resources, environment protection, community relations, crisis management, and crisis communication.