LEADERSHIP
As I progressed in developing my key insights, I realized there was a problem I was uniquely qualified to solve based on my experience. Below is an outline of the problem and my proposed solution.
Problem Statement
The education for students in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina is not focused enough on learning basic business principles. Regardless of the field you are working in, you are going to be working for or with a for-profit business and it is crucial to your success to be able to understand the world of business, basic accounting, management and marketing principles. As noted in my first key insight, I was required to take MGMT 371 Principles of Management, but the knowledge I gained beyond goal setting was elementary in nature. Furthermore, as noted in my third key insight, I learned the term ‘business acumen’ and its importance to success in both public relations and business in Jour 533 Public Relations Management. However, all we learned was that it was crucial, but we were not given an avenue to develop that knowledge. The gap between what I was told I should know and what I knew became clear when I began interviewing for my first job for after graduation as noted in my third key insight. Based on the leadership experience I had in Alpha Delta Pi as explained in my first key insight, I was a strong candidate for a professional development program, but I did not have adequate business knowledge to be able to make it into the program.
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Recommendations
While this issue expands beyond myself, there are personal steps that I can take to help bring this problem to the forefront of the USC School of Journalisms priorities. To begin, I would request a meeting with the Dean of the college and outline my personal experience as I described above. Following that, I would propose the following solutions:
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Incorporate business principles into currently scheduled classes
Encourage students to choose a cognate in the business school
Require more than two basic business classes as part of the School of Journalism Carolina Core classes
Begin a guest speaker lecture series for students that brings in communications and business executives
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While these proposed solutions will not make every graduate from a journalism program prepared for the workforce, as a business professional, it is becoming increasingly important to expand your breadth of knowledge beyond more than just your specific skill set and primary interests. Overall, in the world of business, collaboration between departments is an integral part of success and the same should be said for universities.
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