Five earn newest master’s at YSU

Staff report

Youngstown

Five students are the first to complete Youngstown State University’s newest master’s degree in interdisciplinary communication.

The program’s first new graduates were awarded degrees last month at YSU’s fall commencement. They are Sarah Chill of New Castle, Pa., Elyse Gessler of Austintown, Kaely Hawkins of Warren, Zach Humphries of McDonald and Christina Miadich of Garfield Heights, Ohio.

Adam Earnheardt, professor and chairman of the Department of Communication, said the degree demonstrates YSU’s expanding commitment to cross-disciplinary cooperation.

“This first group of graduates represents the future of professional communication,” he said. “The way we communicate is changing rapidly, and these students are at the forefront of that change. They are helping to shape the future for how we communicate in many different industries.”

He said some of the new graduates and others currently enrolled in the program have been fielding multiple job offers; others have applied to doctoral programs in the region.

Approved by the YSU board of trustees in March 2012 and housed at the Department of Communication in Bliss Hall, the MIC program is jointly administered by the English and Marketing Departments. Candidates must be employed and seeking professional growth or making plans to pursue a doctorate degree. The curriculum includes organizational research and marketing, professional writing and editing, interpersonal and computer-mediated communication.