Advanced Diploma in Public Relations

at Humber College - Lakeshore Campus Canada

Learn about the inner workings of Canada’s dynamic business scene and develop the foundation to ignite your career within it. Humber’s Business Management diploma program gets down to business with a practical, skills-based approach that will help you to begin a journey to achieve your goals and make a difference in organizations.

Our curriculum gets you up to speed on the essential aspects of business including marketing, e-commerce, accounting, business writing and communications. Through individual and group assignments in courses taught by experienced professionals and entrepreneurs, you’ll build your business management knowledge, and gain first-hand insights into current business practices, trends and opportunities. You will develop the practical skills today's employers demand through experiential learning opportunities including unique courses built around challenging business simulations, and even opportunities to build and participate in managing a real business.

In the first year, you will be introduced to an overview of fundamental business disciplines including the mathematics of finance, PC essentials, marketing, microeconomics, business law, services marketing and the principles of management.

In the second year, the focus includes business computer applications, accounting, e-commerce, human resources administration, operations management, business finance, leadership and entrepreneurship.

Work Placement
In Semester 4, you will be assisted in finding a paid or unpaid business work placement, where you will practise your skills during an 84-hour assignment. This adds valuable hands-on experience to your resumé and provides excellent networking opportunities.

Humber’s Bachelor of Commerce – Supply Chain Management degree program provides grounding in both general business knowledge and specialized supply chain skills across a wide range of industries. Our emphasis on hands-on experience enables you to stand out in a highly competitive global marketplace. Our program starts with a foundation of business studies in areas such as organizational behaviour, law, economics, finance and accounting, marketing, and operations management. Specialization courses will focus on using current theories, methods and techniques to problem solve and develop supply chain management strategies.

Humber’s professors are widely known and respected for their real-world experience and industry contacts. Our supply chain specialists use case studies and a project-based curriculum to help you apply your classroom learning to real-life situations. A senior-level business project in your fourth year allows you to gain experience with problem solving and decision-making in a team-based environment.

The program requires that you complete 14 weeks/420 hours of paid work in the summer between your sixth and seventh semesters. This gives you the hands-on, real-world experience that employers value. Your placement will give you the opportunity to explore the field you’d like to work in when you graduate. We will work with employers and our industry partners to help you identify opportunities to pursue.

In today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, operating as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible is critical. Because supply chain cost represents the majority of the cost of goods/services sold, knowledge of supply chain management is a top priority for employers. Supply chain management involves co-ordinating an entire network of companies and business processes across the globe to ensure that products are designed, produced, delivered and serviced smoothly and effectively. Your degree will prepare you to pursue a variety of careers including supply chain management; strategic sourcing, procurement and asset management; transportation and logistics; and warehousing and distribution. As a graduate, you will be in demand in industries such as consumer packaged goods, pharmaceutical products, service businesses, manufacturing, high-tech, automotive, retail and transportation. You may also use your degree to pursue graduate studies in a related field.

Humber’s Marketing Management graduate certificate program is a comprehensive program covering a wide range of topics relevant to today’s marketing professionals including digital marketing, branding, product development, advertising, distribution, sales, communications, planning, budgeting and strategy.

You will receive advanced training in a number of transferable skills that employers are looking for in their new hires, including creative problem solving, communications, decision-making, goal-setting and time management. With a highly practical focus, you will learn from a combination of real-world case studies and cutting-edge marketing techniques.

Work Placement
Gain hands-on industry experience with a 160-hour (minimum) work placement.  Here you will have the opportunity to apply what you have learned in the classroom in a real-world business environment. With our support, you will find your placement at any number of leading marketing or advertising firms, or directly within the marketing departments of local, national or international brands.  Placements can be completed on a part-time basis throughout the academic year or full time once your classes are complete. 

Humber’s Child and Youth Care – Accelerated advanced diploma program prepares you to promote the optimal development of children, youth and their families. You will develop skills in assessing needs, designing and implementing programs and planned environments, and using daily life events to support and facilitate positive change. The program provides foundational knowledge in infant, child and adolescent development; child and youth care relational practice principles; psychology of the family; evidence- based or evidence-informed intervention strategies; group dynamics; and therapeutic activities.

Our accelerated program makes it possible for students with previous postsecondary education to fast-track through our program in 16 consecutive months without compromising the required work placement. Studies begin in September, with graduation projected for December of the following academic year.

Work Placement
Field placements are a critical component of this program. There is an exciting variety of innovative and traditional field placements available in and around the Greater Toronto Area. Field placements can also be arranged in your own community and all are unpaid. Humber has established partnerships with agencies, schools, etc., that provide field placements. For the first placement, opportunities tend to be school-based and assigned. The second and third field placements are chosen by students from a list of opportunities then matched by the school. First and third field placements are three days a week and the second field placement is four days a week through the summer. This provides students with more than 1,000 hours of practical CYC experience.

Humber’s Introduction to Commercial Jazz Music certificate is a performance-based program designed to help you assess and strengthen your skills. It solidifies your knowledge of the fundamentals of western music and develops your current performance skills through the jazz-specific areas of improvisation, repertoire development and small group ensemble performance. You will emerge from the program with a clearer understanding of the field and your own career potential within it, and as a stronger candidate for entry into postsecondary music degree and diploma programs. All courses have a particular focus on the commercial jazz field.

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
  • Recognize & identify common styles of music.
  • Describe the commercial/jazz field in terms of tradition, artists, & styles.
  • Explain the contribution of various artists to the development of particular styles & idioms.
  • Analyze the components & performance differences of recorded selections.
  • Play a repertoire of memorized materials that are considered standards in the commercial/jazz field & reflect the various styles inherent in this music.
  • Write diatonic melodies in various styles demonstrating knowledge of relevant harmonic & melodic concepts & structures of form.
  • Perform in an ensemble demonstrating basic ensemble skills such as intonation, tuning, time, feel, balance & dynamics.
  • Identify their own musical strengths & weaknesses in terms of a performance career in the commercial/jazz field.
  • Implement strategies & plans for on-going personal & professional growth & development.
  • Establish a practice of critical self-assessment & professional goal setting.

Humber’s Public Relations graduate certificate program is recognized by industry as one of Canada’s leading training grounds for public relations professionals. This intensive program is focused on preparing you to launch your degree and getting you ready for your first day of your work placement. You will learn how to plan, develop and execute effective public relations strategies. You will build critical skills in event planning, public speaking and presentation.

Experienced professors will help you develop writing skills, public relations strategies, research and planning abilities, and a high degree of social and traditional media literacy. Practical public relations courses in PR theory, marketing communications, public affairs, media relations, corporate social responsibility, sustainability and change management will provide you with a valuable and useful introduction to the field. Your teamwork, collaborative, and leadership skills will be honed through group assignments.

Work Placement
Many students choose our program because of our outstanding work placement program. After successfully completing two academic semesters, students will complete a mandatory work placement. This experience will allow you to gain valuable job skills and industry knowledge while building your network. Historically, students find work placements in PR agencies, corporations, entertainment organizations, and not-for-profits including arts organizations, hospitals, associations and government. While many placements are located within the GTA, students may also find placements outside the city, province or country.

By combining the latest recording technologies and entrepreneurial business strategies with performance, production, songwriting and composition in jazz, pop, R&B, Latin and world music, you will be well equipped with the knowledge and skills needed for success in today’s music world.

Founded in 1972, the program has consistently produced many of the most successful commercial and jazz musicians in Canada and the world. With more than 350 students and a faculty of 18 full-time and 80 part-time teachers, our program is one of the largest, most diverse and highly regarded programs of its kind in the country. Long known for the strength of its professors, Humber offers you the opportunity to study privately, in classroom situations, and in several of the more than 50 ensembles directed by a who’s who of Canadian music. As Toronto is the centre of Canada’s entertainment industry, Humber attracts the top professionals in jazz, musical theatre, television, film, commercials and pop.

After two years of core music courses, you will continue with lessons on your major instrument, as well as take classes in music production and music business while also choosing from electives in arranging, composition, advanced improvisation, film scoring, music production techniques, songwriting, ethnomusicology or pedagogy.

You’ll develop musicianship and artistry by presenting your own recital, arranging and composing original material, and recording and marketing your own music.
In addition, you will take courses in music history, theory, aural training and improvisation, and have the opportunity to participate in a variety of ensembles.

All students complete a major recording project/portfolio in their fourth year. The assembled portfolio, which includes a complete press kit and professional-quality recording, as well as other promotional materials, functions as your calling card for entrance into the music industry upon graduation.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:

• Perform, compose, produce music at a professional level for entry to the competitive, global music industry.
• Demonstrate a knowledge of diverse musical styles and contextualize themselves within contemporary music history: specifically defined as the idioms of African American musical genres, mainstream pop music, country/folk music, Latin music, music for musicals and film, art music and jazz.
• Demonstrate, through performance and composition, a technical and musical mastery of harmonic, melodic and rhythmic structures.
• Demonstrate, through performance, an extensive knowledge of contemporary musical repertoire and apply appropriate performance skills in diverse music contexts.
• Compose and arrange in a broad range of contemporary music styles.
• Prepare and present a portfolio of recorded material reflecting a broad range of styles.
• Record, edit and produce a broad range of contemporary music.
• Apply computer applications/music technology skills in composition, arranging and production.
• Critically analyze and evaluate sound recordings and describe their production characteristics.
• Demonstrate, through production and performance, organizational, project management, and implementation skills.
• Demonstrate leadership, teamwork, communication, critical thinking, research and problem-solving skills. 
• Demonstrate a working knowledge of contract law, copyright law, intellectual property rights, royalties, and rules of public domain.
• Make use of entrepreneurial music business skills to engage in the competitive contemporary music industry.
• Demonstrate professional “freelance” etiquette relating to job seeking and keeping skills.
• Demonstrate an ability to research and present findings from primary and secondary sources.
• Formulate, articulate and present their own ideas about music, art and society through discussion and writings.
• Demonstrate an artistic awareness and understanding of musical aesthetics.
• Assess personal strengths, musical and business skills, knowledge, artistic vision, interests, and abilities.

Work Placement

• You will participate in a work placement designed to mirror the professional music world, which is largely characterized by contract, freelance and part-time employment. You are responsible for accumulating the equivalent of 420 hours of experience which will allow you to establish contacts and relationships with key companies and industry professionals.

Humber’s Financial Planning graduate certificate program provides a clear pathway to careers in the lucrative financial services industry including banks, investment firms, insurance companies, financial planning firms among others. Our program provides you with a broad range of financial services, business and soft skills plus the opportunity to earn the licences and designations that financial services institutions are looking for in the professionals they hire. 
Faculty are chosen for their expertise and experience in the financial services sector, and many continue to work in the industry.

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
  • Adhere to the certified financial planner ethical code of conduct, standards of practice, regulatory, legal and taxation requirements.
  • Establish and manage the client-planner relationship.
  • Analyze and evaluate client financial data including investment goals, life and health insurance, retirement planning and estate planning, considering economic information.
  • Develop and present financial recommendations and/or alternatives regarding investments, retirement planning, estate planning, life and health insurance.
  • Implement financial recommendations and monitor clients’ accounts.
  • Market and promote financial products, services, solutions and strategies that meet client needs.
  • Provide investment advisory services, using current software and entrepreneurial skills.
  • Qualify to challenge the Certified Financial Planner (CFP™), the Life Insurance Licence (LLQP) examination and the Canadian Securities Course.

Work Placement

• Gain first-hand experience in the financial services industry with a four-week work placement taking place either part time during the program or full time at the end of the program. Placements provide the valuable work experience employers seek.

Humber’s Introduction to Commercial Jazz Music certificate is a performance-based program designed to help you assess and strengthen your skills. It solidifies your knowledge of the fundamentals of western music and develops your current performance skills through the jazz-specific areas of improvisation, repertoire development and small group ensemble performance. You will emerge from the program with a clearer understanding of the field and your own career potential within it, and as a stronger candidate for entry into postsecondary music degree and diploma programs. All courses have a particular focus on the commercial jazz field.

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
  • Recognize & identify common styles of music.
  • Describe the commercial/jazz field in terms of tradition, artists, & styles.
  • Explain the contribution of various artists to the development of particular styles & idioms.
  • Analyze the components & performance differences of recorded selections.
  • Play a repertoire of memorized materials that are considered standards in the commercial/jazz field & reflect the various styles inherent in this music.
  • Write diatonic melodies in various styles demonstrating knowledge of relevant harmonic & melodic concepts & structures of form.
  • Perform in an ensemble demonstrating basic ensemble skills such as intonation, tuning, time, feel, balance & dynamics.
  • Identify their own musical strengths & weaknesses in terms of a performance career in the commercial/jazz field.
  • Implement strategies & plans for on-going personal & professional growth & development.
  • Establish a practice of critical self-assessment & professional goal setting.

The Content Strategy graduate certificate program is designed to prepare students for the emerging and expanding field of content strategy. Content strategists help organizations and agencies establish and maintain credible, viable and trustworthy content - content that has value, content that is inherently inclusive and content that is purposeful. Content strategies are unified visions of digital and analog interactive systems and communications in a platform-agnostic system.

Content strategists oversee the publishing of content by providing advice and direction to improve brand awareness, internal communications, public relations and user experience. Strategists engage with all aspects of the content development lifecycle, from ideating and curating content to creating artifacts and deliverables that allow organizations to analyze content and make holistic, strategic recommendations for the development of content based on thorough analysis.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:

• Develop carefully considered, holistic strategies and tactics for the establishment of a credible, viable and trustworthy online presence for an organization or agency in order to optimize web-based business assets.
• Conduct a qualitative and quantitative audit of existing content inventory in order to assess it for accuracy, currency, usefulness, usability and findability.
• Analyze internal and external factors and trends that impact the creation, delivery and governance of an organizations’ content in order to maintain relevancy, currency and alignment with business goals.
• Present clear recommendations for content creation, delivery and governance that meet business goals and user needs for current and relevant information, advice and direction, procedures to follow, and relationship building.
• Design and manage a workflow that defines the people, processes and timelines required for effective content creation, delivery and governance.
• Help online readers to find information, solve problems and complete tasks by publishing effectively written original content and sourcing relevant curated material.
• Deliver quality accessible, branded content consistently across selected digital channels that is appropriate for the target audience.
• Develop policies, standards and guidelines for the maintenance of content accuracy, consistent brand messaging and user engagement that complies with relevant law, industry standards and business best practices.
• Conduct a retrospective review using qualitative data and evidence from web analytics to measure the impact of a content strategy on business outcomes.
• Identify and address the implicit and explicit biases of self, team members and audience in order to curate socially, culturally and environmentally sensitive content that strengthens brand equity.

Work Placement - Students will participate in a mandatory work placement in their final semester of study.