Graduate Schools

When I began looking into graduate schools, I decided that I wanted to apply for a masters in advertising instead of photography. I did a lot of research at the schools I was applying to, to make sure this was allowed. Although allowed at UF, you really have to prove yourself and why they should chose you over someone with an advertising bachelors. I am excited for the chance to prove myself to these schools, the chance for a fresh start at a new place. The University of Florida MBA program would be a great fit for me. My sister recently signed with the UF swim team, and that sparked my initial interest in the school. I began researching all of their MBA programs and found out that the Advertising Master’s at UF is actually rated second in the nation for advertising! The more research I did on the program and the school itself, the more excited I got about it. The program looks unique because of the strong school spirit of the gators mixed with the superior academics will make it a very exciting place to attend school.

Highlighting the work of a student and a professor will be a little different for me, considering I am not dealing with photographers anymore, but I will still feature one of each. Mike Weigold was a professor of advertising at the University of Florida since 1989 and during a successful advertising career. In addition, he has written dissertations about science communications and the media messages about science. He completed an interdisciplinary social science journal with a special issue on understanding the public communication of science and technology. Recently, Weigold was honored with the title of Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs and Enrollment Management, in addition to his responsibilities as a professor in the department of advertising.

Highlighting the work of a student, is again, difficult considering they have no artwork to show. The current graduate studies student I am featuring's name is Anabell Iglesias. She is a Fullbright Fellow from El Salvador who entered through a Mass Communications program. Her work while at the University of Florida has dealt with various applications of international communications. Her thesis is titled “A Media Relations Application of Social Media for Public Relations and Corporate Communications in Latin America.” She has also received two awards, “Outstanding International Student Award” by the University of Florida as well as a “Certificate of Outstanding Academic Achievement” by the University of Florida’s International Center.

The next graduate school I looked into was the University of Texas at Austin. What really attracted me to this graduate program, besides it’s high ranking as an advertising graduate school and it’s overwhelming community, was the way they walk you through the program. When researching grad schools, it seemed like a lot of them gave you some guidelines and through you out there to complete the work and come back to them when you were at a finishing point. University of Texas has specific guides to help you through the process (example: GradGuide) as well as ample amounts of campus services that are always on stand by for questions and overall guidance. The feel of this school is a good-natured and friendly atmosphere and that mixed with their exceptional advertising reputation made this a unique choice for me.

Kathleen Mabley is the director of communications for graduate studies at the University of Texas. She is a professor of classes in the graduate program, but also has hands on experience considering she handles the brand and marketing for the school. She focuses on public relations and creating publications and online resources to support the graduate community. She is the primary relationship developer between key internal and external bodies throughout the University and she plays a big role in the fund-raising efforts as well.

Manny Gonzalez is a current graduate student who is running the GSA, Graduate Student Assembly this year. This is a governing boy for the University of Texas’ graduate students where the students running it are elected from the 12,000 graduate students attending. This is one of the organizations that drew me into this school, and Gonzalez is one of the students that reports the findings to the Vice-Provost and the Dean of Graduate Studies. These meetings discuss health insurance for graduate students, housing, current dilemmas they are facing, the goals of the year, etc. For 2010-2011, Gonzalez has been trying to educate state legislators about the importance of supporting higher education with more funds. While collaborating with other state and national organizations, Manny is trying to raise awareness for this problem.