Sister woman poses. Right.
All right, well, welcome everybody. My name is Lee Brannon and I'm part of the admissions team here at the University of Illinois Springfield. Before we get started today, I have a couple of housekeeping items to go over before we begin so that you are all aware this webinar is being recorded and will be made available for viewing afterwards. So don't feel like you need to take frantic notes. Within your share screen though, you'll see that there is a closed captioning button in the top right hand corner.
And it's the little C button. And then there's also an option next to it to enter the full screen viewing mode as well. If you need to resync your audio at any time, just refresh your browser and that should clear things up. Please feel free to drop questions in the chat. We'll be looking at those throughout the presentation and we'll probably pause at the end and answer those for you. With that, I'd like to introduce my presenters today.
We have joining us Amy Kincaid from the Communications department as well as Beth Ribarski and Amy Watson.
So thank you for joining us today.
Yes. Thank you all for joining us. I am Amy Kincaid and I work closely with the graduate students at the University of Illinois Springfield. And I'm just noticing we're in the process of a reorganization. And I'm just noticing now. I tried to change it on all of the slides, but I see the communication Department welcomes you to graduate week. And actually we are now the School of communication and media. So the School of communication and Media welcomes you to graduate. OK.
So with that we will get moving on with our presentation and.
The next 30 minutes will really just consist of some quick introductions. I know we already heard from Lee, and she gave a little overview. And then we'll do an overview of the program, some potential funding options, and then get a little graduate student perspective and then see what questions you all might have for us. OK, so I already told you about myself, and then I'm going to go ahead and let Doctor Beth Ribarski and Amy just give a quick little introductions of themselves.
That's you're still muted.
I know that's that's fun function. It's like the opposite of what you think.
Every time I mute it, it goes away. I am better marsky. I'm a professor in the School of Communication and Media, and I study interpersonal communication courses. So a lot of my 400 level courses are actually courses that can be taken with the grad program. So for instance, I even teach a date in your relating course, which is all focused on romantic relationships, and I also teach a fair number of other undergraduate courses as well.
I am a graduate student here at UIS. I'll be finishing up in the spring and so I can definitely provide the graduate student perspective. I'm also the communication graduate assistant this year as well.
All right. Awesome. Thank you so much. OK. And both of you, you can feel free to chime in at any point in time as we as we go here to if I'm leaving something crucial out or you think there's something good.
Beth Ribarsky
11:04:27 AM
If you'd like more information, here is a link to our program: https://www.uis.edu/scm
Bulleted point to add, OK. When we just a little overview of our program UIS, UIS MA in communication will give you a degree that prepares you for interpreting and executing communication in all its forms from written to spoken to nonverbal. So that's a lot, right. It will allow you to concentrate on a specific professional goal or into a wide range of professional possibilities as communication is so broad. OK. And so our program.
This kind of set up in more of a broad general way and I'll talk a little bit more about that as we go in terms of the design. So you can keep it as broad as you want, but you can also specify to towards specific career goals should you have those upon entering the program. All right. So moving on here. Oh, I keep doing this.
A program overview. It allows students to concentrate on a specific professional goal or enter a wide range of professional possibilities. You will complete at least 36 credit hours of graduate study and communication, including at least three 500 level graduate seminars and so with this, if you are enrolled in the program as a full time student, then theoretically you should be able to finish the program within a two year.
Time span, so across 4 semesters? OK, you might take some a summer class in there, or an intercession class in there. But ideally, over the four four semesters, 2 years, OK, you will complete four credit hours of closure, which could be a thesis, a project, or comprehensive exam. So there's different options depending upon what your needs are. You will earn an MA by taking 10 classes. Ours are all out of four credit.
Level. So you will have 10 classes for 40 credits total and the class formats, modalities vary of course we're we're we're coming out of in, I don't know we're still kind of there looming in the COVID time period, but that that's impacted our modalities some from what was traditionally done in the past. And so I think we're slowly working our way back to some of our traditional things, but.
You know as as times change we change and so we're we're moving into that that new direction to of new life now. So the majority of classes still though for the Masters degree especially when you get into classes at the 500 level which you will do core classes at the 500 level in graduate seminars at the 500 level those courses will be on ground. OK you do have.
A little bit more flexibility in terms of your 400 level classes. Some of those you can take in an online format, some of those you can take in a blended format, OK.
Some of the different career options that are out there because they said we are kind of broad and we offer a lot in terms of I think a good general diverse faculty for you to get expertise in different areas. And so we have graduates who go into business, who go in, go into things in business and education, health, athletics, human resources, sales, marketing, public relations, advertising, media.
Largely our focus in media right now in in our school is upon digital media. And so we have a great student media that graduate students are welcomed and encouraged to be a part of. So that's also an option that exists within the program. If you are looking more specifically at some wanting something more traditionally journalistic based, we also have the public affairs reporting.
A program that is within our school too, and so that might be something to to check out as well. If if some of this is not quite seeming your direction, but some of that might be more your direction, OK.
Minimum overall GPF 3, point O 4 getting admitted to the program. It's not to say we never take anybody with a lower GPA, but that is generally what we we look for as a benchmark. We also have other components to the application process, so that can make it even the GPA out a little bit more. If maybe the GPA wasn't quite at the three-point O, you'll have two letters of recommendation including.
One from an academic source and then you'll have two personal two page personal statement of purpose and I'll dip back to this 2 letters of recommendation from one from an academic source. Sometimes when people have been out of academia for a long time, you know they come back to Graduate School later after they worked for a while. Might feel that that is the challenging ask. OK, so you can you can try.
Trying to do that, asking that, asking. Worst case scenario, if we have to go more towards like a professional reference there, that's something you can always talk with me about and we can brainstorm the best way to approach that.
OK for that. So with that you can contact me. There's my information for contact.
Beth Ribarsky
11:10:27 AM
here is a link to our GPSI program: https://www.uis.edu/gradinterns/gpsi-program
And then just a little bit about funding, potential funding and hopefully we're getting some good. I haven't been really monitoring the chat, so hopefully we're getting some links thrown up into the chat for some good resources for looking at funding. Amy will talk here in a minute in the next little segment on her assistant ship. So of course you can go through financial aid and work that route.
Beth Ribarsky
11:10:45 AM
Also, we have graduate assistantships: https://www.uis.edu/graduate-assistantships
We also have different assistant ships that you can apply for. We have the more traditional graduate assistantships that occur on campus, and so we have graduate assistants in which Amy is and so she can talk more about that. We have some teaching assistants. We don't really, we don't have that in our department yet, but we may be hopefully working towards something, some kind of model that like that in the near future. We there's research assistance.
And then there are pre professional graduate assistants and so right now we generally have keep a GPA for the department.
And that is Amy currently. And so as you said, as you heard her say, she is graduating in the spring. And so that means we will be in need of a new graduate assistant for our department. So I encourage, if you're interested in that aspect of it, to to check out that aspect. I think with the GAG's have different duties, do different things. I think Amy wears lots of hats and does lots of different things for everybody from research.
Help me with research to help me with.
Teaching to helping with just general basic office admin types of work and keeping us all sane. Keeping me sane. Which is sometimes a hard thing to do, but between Doctor Beth and Amy they keep me a little same. So.
So and then there's also the graduate Public service internship, the GPS I and so that is something where parking partner up with somebody outside of the state organization, outside of the university and work your assistantship that way, which can be a nice.
A nice way to go to to give you some professional experience of a different sort I guess. I'll say we generally do have at least one other grad assistantship within our department. It's sometimes too but at least one and it's for the student media. It it is in conjunction with student media. And so I would say that would qualify as a more maybe pre professional graduate assistantship if we were going to categorize them. OK, all right, so.
With that, I'll just kind of let Amy say whatever she wants to say and say whatever you wanna say.
OK, you're gonna have to unmute yourself too.
Well, as Doctor Kincaid mentioned, I am kind of wearing multiple hats in this role. I enjoy it, you know, because I'm able to kind of work with those professors that I am taking classes with. You know, being a non traditional student. I've just returned back after being in my professional career for almost 20 years. COVID kind of threw things for a loop for a lot of people.
Glitchy, glitchy. It's everybody glitched.
I see Doctor Beth movie, I movie.
So I just think this is a great opportunity. I'm trying to get everything in order for the next graduate assistant. I encourage you to apply and you know, get involved with things on campus. It provides an opportunity to get some additional tuition reimbursement. So you're not taking out as much in student loans. So I think that's a great opportunity as well as the experience that you get. So I just encourage everyone to, you know, look beyond your classes to get involved.
With school activities, I'm also the president of Lambda Paida, which is the communication Honor Society and Communication Club. So these are other ways for you to get involved, even if you're studying off campus or online. Great ways to still engage with your students and faculty.
Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. OK, so now I guess we're at the the point in time where we can take any questions that you might have for us. We are happy to answer at this time or if Doctor Rathert any, there's anything you want to add at this point, you can do that too.
And you can feel free to ask your questions in the chat too if if that is easier for you.
Hey, let's see. Are we having any questions?
Seeing anything in the chat or hearing anything so.
I will just, I think leave us there I guess for now you have my contact information on there as well as several different resources within the chat. So you can feel free to use all of that and contact me and we will do our best to get you rolling and get you moving and see if you.
If you and UIS are going to be a good match, all right.
Thank you. Yeah. Well, thank you. On behalf of the School of Communication and Media, I did it right on this one. Thank you. OK, Lee.
All right. So that concludes our webinar today. Thank you so much for attending.
Feel free to e-mail our offices if you have any questions later on. Otherwise, just go ahead and closeout your browser and that will end end your time with us today. Thank you.
Vijaya Pathi
11:16:59 AM
Thankyou so much