by Kaitlin Van Loon
Natalie Drozd graduated from CoJMC with a degree in advertising and public relations in 2018. She earned her bachelor's degree quickly, and ultimately decided she wanted to continue her education. She started the Integrated Marketing and Communications (IMC) program in 2019 and secured a partnership with the Children's Hospital Center for the Child & Community.
Drozd needed another class to graduate this May and Graduate Student Services Coordinator Carly Morse directed her to an independent study with CoJMC faculty member Jemalyn Griffin. After a brief interview, Drozd learned about an ongoing project to market the graduate program at CoJMC.
Two previous graduate students worked on a different aspect of the project. The first student focused on research and the next one focused on social media advertisements and creating graphics. Drozd’s task is related to her background in community relations.
“We're calling it a community relations proposal," Drodz said. "We want to go out into the community and talk about the program to professionals who are prospective students for these programs.”
Even with a quarantine during a global pandemic, Drozd found a way to host a webinar with Lincoln-based advertising company Kidglov. Drozd is confident that even though the event was virtual, it still had the same effect and maybe was even a little more impactful because people felt comfortable speaking up.
“Kidglov was kind of like a guinea pig to test the lunch n’ learn," Drodz said. "There were five people on the call including CEO Lyn Wineman, so we got great feedback on misconceptions with the programs. People were asking on how to apply and a few of them wanted to sign up for a class that interested them on the course list.”
Drozd is planning two more lunch n’ learn events for the fall with Ameritas and Hudl that were put on hold because of the quarantine.
“I think looking into our graduate program is a great way to get motivated and to have something to look forward to whether the pandemic ends sooner or later,” Drozd said. “This is a 100% online program that you could be doing to further and better yourself whether you're in quarantine or not.”
If you’re interested in starting a graduate program at CoJMC or earning one of our certificates, the application deadline for fall is July 1.
Learn more here: https://journalism.unl.edu/grad
April 10, 2020
