The Internet and Web-based technologies have set off an explosion of continuous worldwide dialogue, and those people who can communicate most effectively in the New Media will be the ones best able to sell their products or ideas or policies.<\/p>\n
With that in mind, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania will offer a master of arts degree program in Professional and New Media Writing starting in August 2013. It is the first such master\u2019s degree offered by a university in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), whose Board of Governors approved the program on Thursday, October 11 during its quarterly meeting.\u00a0 The course work will be 80 percent online.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe program is designed for working professionals,\u201d said Dr. Marilyn J. Wells, vice provost and dean of the Graduate College. \u201cIt gives them the greatest flexibility to meet their educational career goals on their time and at their pace.\u201d
\nAccording to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for professional writers nationally is expected to grow 8 percent by 2018 and employment for technical writers is predicted to increase 18 percent.<\/p>\n
Senior level positions — many of which require graduate degrees — typically offer salaries starting at $50,000 a year or more for jobs in a wide range of industries and organizations. The new ESU master\u2019s program will give a distinct advantage to individuals in the writing field who want to retool to learn new skills for fast-growing posts, such as digital content producer or E-commerce content writer.<\/p>\n
But it will also benefit those with experience in other fields, such as biology, biotechnology, chemistry, business and computer science, who seek to hone the professional writing skills needed for high-demand, high-salary positions in companies and organizations across the Commonwealth and beyond.<\/p>\n
ESU\u2019s proximity to New York City, with its high concentration of book and magazine publishers and advertising and public relations firms, will give the master\u2019s graduates a natural job market.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are leveraging our proximity to New York to help create exciting opportunities for students who are looking to learn from top professionals, many of whom live in the area,\u201d said Bill Broun, ESU associate professor of English.
\nAccording to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report: \u201cOnline publications and services are growing in number and sophistication, spurring the demand for authors, writers, and editors, especially those with Web or multimedia experience. Businesses and organizations are adding text messaging services to expanded newsletters and Web sites as a way of attracting new customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The master\u2019s candidates will earn 30 credits and be expected to write a thesis or capstone project, which they might connect to their current jobs. While much of the course work will be online, there will be seminars in which master\u2019s students will meet with professors, writers and editors in different fields.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot all online education is the same and we will be doing online education that is absolutely humanized,\u201d Broun said. \u201cWe\u2019re striving to develop dynamic policies that are expansive to student needs. They won\u2019t just be looking at a cold screen.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the last decade, enrollment in master\u2019s level programs in Communications and related studies has increased 45 percent nationally, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.<\/p>\n
A survey conducted by ESU\u2019s Office of Academic & Institutional Effectiveness found that nearly 60 percent of alumni contacted said they would consider enrolling in the proposed master\u2019s program, with 87 percent saying that online classes with work-friendly hours would make the program \u201cvery appealing.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information, contact Graduate Admissions Coordinator Kevin Quintero at 866-837-6130 or kquintero@esu.edu<\/a>, or visit the Graduate College online at www.esu.edu\/graduate<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ESU To Offer Master of Arts in Professional and New Media Writing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[22,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facebook","category-news-release"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3501"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}