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Courses: CSS:

Communications

• Effective Written Communication
• Oral Communication: Business and Organizational
• Development Communications
• Grant Proposal Writing
• Communicating in a Global Context
• Writing for Public Relations and Marketing
• Electronic Communication as a Management Tool

CSS 500 Effective Written Communication
4 units. Graduate credit $975. Prerequisite(s): students must complete successfully a writing assignment at the first class meeting. Limited enrollment.

This course helps students develop marketable skills for brief, clear, and vigorous written communication in the business world. During the first of the 2 hours each week, students and instructors meet and discuss communication problems as presented in case studies. During the second hour, students meet in a small group with an instructor for exercises in writing and editing based on their weekly written assignments.

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CSS 505 Oral Communication: Business and Organizational
4 units. Graduate credit $975. Limited enrollment.

This course emphasizes the personal skills of speaking and listening in the organizational setting primarily through presentations, but topics also include interviews, meetings, team building, audiovisual support systems, leadership styles, communication audits, organizational environments, dealing with change, and crisis communication. The first hour of each class session will present a focused lecture on the above topics. The second hour will be made up of small group workshops that will place a major emphasis on students giving and critiquing oral presentations.

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CSS 520 Development Communications
4 units. Graduate credit $975. Limited enrollment.

This course will explore the rapidly evolving world of fundraising communications, such as case statements, annual fund appeal letters, proposals, and research reports. In addition to print communications, the course will consider audio, video, and other media being used to deliver development messages. The course also will place special emphasis on the increasingly important dimension of online communications, using the Internet and World Wide Web.

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CSS 523 Grant Proposal Writing (11653)
Christine Weisiger, MEd, Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, Harvard Graduate School of Education.
4 units. Graduate credit $975. Thursday, 5:30-7:30 pm. Boylston Hall 104. Limited enrollment. Fall term.

This course will cover the complete process of grant proposal development including: clarifying the concept; identifying, researching, and contacting funding sources; writing all parts of the proposal (concept paper, cover letter, narrative, summary, and executive summary); developing the budget; submitting the proposal; and following up. We will address the differences among foundation, corporate, and government proposals. Students will develop a complete project that includes the strategic plan, the funder prospect list, the finished proposal, and a list of follow-up activities.

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CSS 525 Communicating in a Global Context (11698)
Marya Dantzer-Rosenthal, MA, Communication Consultant.
4 units. Graduate credit $975. Thursday, 7:35-9:35 pm. Sever Hall 209. Limited enrollment. Fall term.

To communicate effectively in global or multicultural business settings, managers or negotiators must interpret not only words but also worldviews. Students in this course will learn to recognize the important, yet often implicit, assumptions that govern business dealings in a variety of countries and cultures. A dividend of such awareness is deeper understanding of one's own culturally-determined perceptions. The result is marketable cross-cultural skills applicable in a broad range of business or professional contexts.

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CSS 535 Writing for Public Relations and Marketing
4 units. Graduate credit $975. Limited enrollment.

Organizations rely on both the public relations and marketing functions to conceive and develop persuasive and promotional written communications targeted to a broad range of audiences. This course gives students the opportunity to draft a collection of strategic, image-oriented organizational documents including: high-impact promotional speeches; ghost-written, by-lined feature articles suitable for newspaper and magazine placement; and positioning brochures and newsletters.

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CSS 540 Electronic Communication as a Management Tool
4 units. Graduate credit $1,050. Limited enrollment.

This course examines the role of information technology and electronic communications in organizational performance improvement and industry and market transformation. The course will explore new business frontiers like electronic commerce and electronic business. It will examine the changing business-to-business and customer-to-business relationships, emphasizing the role of information technology in enabling these transformations. Key technologies evaluated within the course will include e-mail, the Internet, intranets, extranets, workgroup software, and document management. Fundamental management concepts important to the transformation process covered include high performance teams, process improvement, re-engineering, innovation, disintermediation, knowledge management, virtual enterprise, supply chain management, and core business competencies.

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