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Home Runs, Touchdowns, Goals: Sports Comm Scores with Career Options
UC Offers New Concentration in PR
Written By Thomas Armitage, PR Intern
Sports Communication helps prepare PR majors for work in the sports world.
Contact - cleogrande@utica.edu
Utica, NY (08/03/2007) - For those high school athletes and sports fans who have yet to choose a college major, Utica College may have the perfect solution: Sports Communication.Sports communication at Utica College is a 15-credit concentration within the public relations major that helps prepare students for work in the sports world.
As a multi-billion dollar industry, amateur and professional sports boast an overwhelming number of job opportunities, including promotion work for a professional sports team, sports information in a college setting, media relations work for a sports apparel company, or possibly even sports broadcasting.
The program is under the leadership of Paul MacArthur, assistant professor of public relations. A graduate of SUNY Oswego in broadcasting and mass communication, MacArthur earned a Master of Professional Studies, media administration from Syracuse University. He also has 13 years of experience in the college environment.
“As a teacher, Prof. MacArthur set up an already interesting topic and taken it to another level,” said Brent Grier, a senior journalism major. “It is also great when you can tell that the teacher has a genuine enthusiasm about a subject and not just a wealth of knowledge on it.” The New York City native had taken the introductory course in the spring and looks forward to another sports class with MacArthur this fall.
Every student enrolled in the sports communication concentration will take an intense introductory course titled “Sports and the Media” plus a minimum of four other sports-related courses covering topics such as sports law, sports writing, and the Olympics.
"The sports communication courses are fun. After all, the world of sports is fascinating,” MacArthur said. “The classes, however, are also very challenging. There is a substantial amount of work required to succeed.”
For further experience, one will also obtain an internship during one’s junior or senior year at one of the various sports organizations across New York State. In the past, UC students have worked with the Boilermaker Road Race, SLAM magazine, the Syracuse Crunch, and the New York Rangers.
For avid sports fans that feel the class work is just not enough, there are other ways to get involved on campus and gain real-world experience. Students can report for UC’s student-run newspaper, the Tangerine, can host a sports talk show as an on-air personality at UC’s radio station, WPNR 90.7 FM, or can apply for a work-study job in the sports information office.
"This is an exciting time for Utica College's public relations program,” explained MacArthur. “The Sports Communication concentration is a new field of study that will hopefully bring hard-working sports enthusiasts to UC who may just shape the future of the sporting world."
About Utica College – Founded in 1946, Utica College is a comprehensive private institution that grants the Syracuse University baccalaureate degree and the Utica College master’s and doctoral degrees. The College, located in central New York, approximately 90 miles west of Albany and 50 miles east of Syracuse, currently enrolls nearly 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 32 undergraduate majors, 26 minors, 13 master’s and two doctoral degree programs.
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