Graduate Program - Beyond the Master's Degree

Teaching Career

Students often indicate they are interested in teaching in journalism or communication after graduation. Students with this interest should strive to find as many opportunities to teach while in the program as possible. This will provide feedback – “Do I really want to teach?” It also will provide valuable work experience, a track record for future employers that you can teach and have taught successfully. Those who are contemplating teaching at the university level should seriously consider obtaining a Ph.D. degree (see tips above). Although some institutions hire M.S. faculty with significant professional experience, the trend is toward requiring the Ph.D. at most major universities. Community colleges hire those with an M.S. degree plus some professional experience. Other tips for those interested in teaching include:

• Join a professional communication education association such as the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, National Communication Association or Agricultural Communicators in Education. These associations often produce publications and materials useful to teachers, and they are also often involved in accreditation activities.
  
• Read Journalism Educator or other publications about good teaching. Many of these can be found in the Greenlee School Reading Room, Parks Library or on the Web.
  
• Attend university seminars and workshops offered by the Center for Teaching Excellence. These are free and are announced in advance on the center's Web site.
  
• Consider a thesis topic that relates to improvement of teaching in some respect.

Did you know?

The Reading Room has a media room with a DVD player, VCR, telephone, typewriter and an audiocassette player.