Students and faculty in DePaul's Master of Arts in Professional Communication celebrated the inaugural cohort graduating during a dinner this summer. (Image courtesy of Matt Ragas)
Pam Edwards had often considered pursuing a master’s degree. But financial and time constraints with raising her own children and paying for their college had stopped her. She’s now on the cusp of completing her Master of Arts in Professional Communication at DePaul.Edwards is one of 10 students graduating in the inaugural cohort of the accelerated, one-year program, the first online master’s degree offered by the College of Communication.
“That was really game changer for me in terms of being able to manage schoolwork,” says Edwards, who works full-time as the senior vice president of communications at Co-op Solutions, an organization that supports credit unions.
Matt Ragas, a professor of public relations and advertising and director of the program, says it serves working professionals and responds directly to DePaul’s priority of creating affordable educational opportunities that meet workforce needs.
“We are delivering on this university priority and are already receiving national attention within the comms profession for what we are doing to ‘level up’ these rising leaders,” Ragas says.
Gaining new and relevant skills that directly apply to her work is exactly what Edwards says she found in the coursework. After reading a book on professional writing for a class, she invited the author to lead a workshop for her team at Co-Op Solutions. When researching business-to-business communication for a paper, Edwards learned about a strategy she shared with her company’s senior leadership. Her company is now transforming their digital marketing approach based on what she learned.
Most surprising to Edwards about the program was how relevant her more than 25 years of experience were and that the coursework built on it.
“I came in feeling I was a little rusty, but the program validated that my experience actually was very applicable and up-to-date with what I was learning,” she says.
Celebrating the first cohort
The
Pro Comm Final Project Showcase on Aug. 24 will feature remarks by Linda Rutherford, executive vice president and chief communications officer of Southwest Airlines, a leader in the communications field.
Ragas wanted a special way to commemorate the first graduating class. He commissioned Lupe Casas, a 2022 public relations and advertising graduate and mixed media artist, to make a digital art piece based on the students’ final projects.
Casas, who was selected for the prestigious Verizon adfellows program, plans to make a multilayered piece that highlights the themes of the students’ final projects, including communication to inspire and motivate, networking and brand building.
“I hope every student feels like their individual idea has come to life into one piece comprised of many ideas,” Casas says. “I want them to have a nice memento of the work they’ve put into their master’s degree.”
Ragas hopes the art piece reflects the can-do attitude of the first cohort of students.
“They sacrificed, persevered and helped lift each up over the past year, while doing quality work in their courses and juggling work-life commitments," he says.