Continuing Education in PR: Options and Opinions

For many PR practitioners, there comes a time during the course of their careers when they begin to wonder, “Should I go back to school?”  Since PR is a relatively new academic discipline, only in recent years have multiple options for obtaining an advanced degree in the field become available.  Once a practitioner has decided to pursue continuing education, his or her first choice becomes which path to take.

Here at BPR, two of our staffers chose to pursue advanced degrees: one obtained an MS in Communications Management, and one earned an MBA.  What follows is an overview of their respective experiences that we hope can serve as a guide for practitioners currently pondering a return to the classroom.

Staffer #1

Name: Emily DiTomo

School: S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University

Degree: Master of Science (MS) in Communications Management

Time Commitment: I completed my degree from 2006-2008, in three semesters (summer, fall and spring) each year. 

Why You Chose the Program: I chose the Syracuse program because its curriculum blends advanced PR and communications courses with fundamental business classes, such as Accounting, Finance and Strategic Management.  As a liberal arts undergrad, I was seeking a solid foundation in business, so that part of the program was especially attractive to me.  Also appealing was the “distance learning” aspect, whereby I met with my classmates for intensive 1-2 week residencies at the beginning of each semester.  The remainder of the semester, I completed assignments from home and interacted with my classmates and professors via email, computer and phone chats.  This allowed me the opportunity to work full-time, while concurrently pursuing an advanced degree from a highly accredited program.  Although I briefly considered an MBA from a local Philadelphia university, after reviewing the curriculum and structure of the Syracuse program, I decided that it was the best option for me.

Best Part about the Program: The best part about the MS program was the opportunity it afforded me to meet with and learn from other PR practitioners based all over the world.  The program requires a minimum of five years professional experience for admission, so each of my classmates had very interesting career trajectories, as well as insightful “war stories” to share during what always morphed into intense classroom discussions.  I also enjoyed  visiting the Syracuse campus every semester, as well as the spring semester residencies, which were held on the university’s Manhattan campus.

Worst Part about the Program: I’d say the hardest part of the program was the often grueling schedule.  A typical week would have me working full-time at my corporate PR job Monday through Friday and spending at least one to two nights per week catching up on reading.  During the weekend, I normally devoted one of the two days to my studies.  The end result: no social life for nearly two years!

Would You Do It Again?: Absolutely.  Despite the time commitment required, I would absolutely complete the program again.  I have described my time at Syracuse to my friends and co-workers as the most challenging – but also the most rewarding – professional experience of my life.  I made friends from every corner of the world, had the opportunity to learn from some of the most well-respected communications professors in the country and, most importantly, came away with knowledge that I continue to implement every day in my current position.

Staffer #2

Name: Blair Kahora Cardinal

School: Villanova School of Business, Villanova University

Degree: Master of Business Administration (MBA) with specializations in Strategic Management and Marketing

Time Commitment: I completed my degree from 2010-2012, in three semesters (summer, fall and winter/spring) each year. 

Why You Chose the Program: Earning a master’s was on my bucket list, but I thought long and hard about which degree would best position me as a more intriguing and well-rounded practitioner in our very competitive field.  I also considered the clients that I have worked with, do work with or want to work with, and because they are typically complex, business-to-business accounts, I felt an MBA would allow me to better serve them.  And frankly, I wanted to force myself out of my comfort zone.  I would be taking classes that were totally foreign to me—accounting, finance, statistics—on top of an enormous course load, so I’d be testing my resilience and spirit.

Now, why Villanova?  The MBA program offered me three decisive things: 1) the “fast track” option would allow me to continue to work full-time while busting my butt to finish my degree in two years.  Continuing to work while going through school was critical because so much of what we do in PR is hands-on learning; 2) I’d be going through the entire program with one cohort of 28 students.  I wanted to develop long-lasting bonds with my classmates; and 3) an international capstone was required for all fast-track MBAs.  I wanted to force myself to travel and to get an insider’s look at business and culture overseas.

Best Part about the Program: My professors were brilliant, classwork thought-provoking and classmates fascinating, but I think my biggest takeaway from the program is a broad, strategic and global perspective.  I now look at the news and at client issues through a more sophisticated lens.  Interestingly, when I first entered the program, I felt a bit like a fish out of water.  My classmates were engineers, CPAs, day traders, commercial real estate brokers, logistics experts and finance gurus, so (as a lowly PR pro), I worried that I was going to struggle.  My accounting professor put me at ease on the first day by saying, “Most of you are not CPAs, nor do you want to be.  My job is to make sure that as future leaders you know the questions you will need to ask your CFOs and be able to understand their answers.”  I found a great balance of theory and practice throughout the program.

I not only gained an enormous group of amazing new friends, but also a network of experts that are only a phone call away.  For example, while working on a complex tax issue for a client, I called a classmate who runs mergers and acquisitions for a national bank.  She was able to talk me through the issue in lay terms, which allowed me to work more efficiently with my client and the media.  But far and away, the very best part of the program was our capstone trip to China and Korea—two places I’d never before considered visiting on my own but felt comfortable doing so under the Villanova umbrella.

Worst Part about the Program: The schedule was, at times, unbearable.  I was newly married and was also poised to take the reins as president of PRSA’s Philadelphia Chapter, so I told myself upfront that in two years I’d once again have free time.  There was even a point during our final semester, when we were taking 12 punishing credits, that my classmates and I all said, “I just don’t think it’s physically possible to get all this work done.”  As I said before, classes like finance and statistics were incredibly difficult because I didn’t have an undergrad business background.  Sometimes it felt like I was a child trying to learn arithmetic.  What was most discouraging was that I began the program with these core courses, so that’s why I often felt like a fraud that didn’t belong in the program.  But in the end, every late-night train ride home, every weekend spent with my head in a textbook and every sleepless night brought me closer to my goal and forced my personal limits even further.

Would You Do It Again?: I’m asked this question a lot by fellow PR pros, and my answer always is “absolutely!”  Despite the fact that I had several nervous breakdowns over those two years, it has truly been a rewarding experience.  However, I warn that no one enter into an MBA lightly.  You must have family, friends—and bosses—who support you.  Countless times, I asked Anne and Nancy, Can I leave 20 minutes early because I have a big exam tonight? or Can I use our binding machine to assemble handouts for my presentation? or Can I take my two weeks of vacation all in March to travel to Asia?  I’m glad I put my time in.  I feel like I’m well versed in the language of the C-Suite, am more confident taking on new leadership roles, grew my knowledge bank tremendously, and more broadly, have added to the credibility of the PR profession.  Overall, I’m more confident in myself professionally and personally and have proven that I’m no joke.