Advertising and Public Relations Continue to Dominate Grady Enrollment

Of the 336 students accepted by Grady’s undergraduate programs, 180 will study advertising or public relations, said director of undergraduate services Beth Rector. One hundred students were admitted to advertising and 80 to public relations. In contrast, 96 students will pursue journalism and 60 in entertainment and media studies.

“It’s amazing that in a college called ‘journalism and mass communication,’ nearly half the students are in advertising or PR.” Rector said at yesterday’s meeting.

The total number of applicants dropped slightly, from 384 in fall 2015 to 370 in spring 2016. Among the 346 students who were eligible, only 10 of them were rejected for admission or turned down for their first choice major.

Of the accepted students about, 180 asked for financial aid and the majoring were awarded some kind of scholarship, according to Alison Alexander, associate dean for academic affairs, the average funding was 500 dollars.

The percentage of currently enrolled male students remains low while racial and ethnic diversity has increased. “The guys are all too busy playing Call of Duty to apply,” Assistant Professor Shira Chess said.

The Grady College has admitted six doctoral students this year. The number of master’s applicants who will be accepted is uncertain at this point, said Jeff Springston, associate dean for research and graduate studies.

The graduate committee recommended that the faculty approve a new offering called “Rich Media Production” (NMIX 4310/6310), and it passed but not without discussion.

“I have no idea what this course is about,” said journalism professor Bill Lee.

“They learn to get rich using the interwebs,” said Patricia Thomas, also on the journalism faculty.

The faculty unanimously approved a new “Sports and Social media” course that will be part of Grady’s new Sports Media certificate program that is open to all UGA undergraduates.

Rising numbers of Grady undergraduates are studying abroad in England, Croatia, Prague, and Costa Rica. A new global committee, led by Juan Meng, associate professor of public relations, is working to expand UGA’s study abroad and domestic field study programs.