As the economy slooooowly recovers, Bradley University is adapting to evolving workforce trends by offering new majors, minors, concentrations, internships and certificate programs that correspond to the rise of new career paths and technologies, from social media to hospitality leadership.

Sports Communication
The Department of Communication in the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts began offering sports communication courses in the fall of 2009. The concentration focuses on professional communication in sports organizations and media, and there is no other undergraduate program like it in the nation.

“This program is not just for students who want to be on ESPN,” says Ricky Thein, a 14-year veteran of sports journalism who teaches journalism classes, including sports writing and announcing. In addition to the journalistic basics—writing, broadcast and play-by-play—sports promotion, public relations and marketing have opened up additional behind-the-scenes options in the sports arena for workers who don’t want to be on camera or report for the media.

“We look at different ways to use sports to communicate globally,” adds Thein. The program is focused not only on sports organizations and media in the U.S., but globally as well, addressing everything from the Olympics to the worldwide popularity of soccer.

Nursing Education
Last spring, Bradley’s Department of Nursing debuted its Master of Science in Nursing Education, as well as a Certificate in Nursing Education, to help address the national shortage of nursing educators. The MS in Nursing Education allows undergrads to earn both their BSN and MSN at the same time, and in just five years. The certificate program allows those already holding an MS in nursing to take classes to become nursing educators.

Hospitality Leadership
The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences in the College of Education and Health Sciences will offer a new hospitality leadership program beginning in the fall of 2011. Students will study food service management, lodging, event planning and tourism.

Dr. Nina Collins, department chairwoman, noted that the addition of this program at Bradley is a societal need. “Hospitality is an industry that continues to grow,” she explains. The program will require students to work in an on-campus food service operation called Lydia’s Lounge, a late-night food operation in Williams Hall that students can utilize Friday, Saturday and Sunday until midnight. “The students manage everything from inventory to service,” says Collins. “They learn great hands-on skills.”

Collaboration with other departments, such as the Foster College of Business Administration, will round out the hospitality leadership program. Like the nursing education program, it will allow students to earn their bachelor’s and master’s degrees simultaneously. The program requires students to have a minor in management, marketing or professional sales, complete a 640-hour internship, and complete the Bradley Global Scholars Program or a Study Abroad session.

Social Media Marketing
“Social media has become what online marketing was 10 to 15 years ago, [when] you had to have a website to be relevant,” says BU social media marketing instructor Heidi Rottier. With the explosion of Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media, Bradley has introduced a minor and concentration in social media marketing, adding a class in social media to the required marketing program. “We felt like we could offer our students a curriculum that is completely current and highly demanded in the workforce,” adds Rottier.

Few college undergraduate programs offer classes in social media, as there is a lack of traditional textbooks on the subject, but BU plans on using case studies and hands-on experience with local businesses and nonprofits to drive the class content and student experience with semester-long projects to develop social media marketing strategies.

Dietetics Internship
In the fall of 2010, the dietetics internship got off the ground. Bradley’s yearlong graduate certificate program requires post baccalaureate dietetic students to participate in 1,240 practice hours in a variety of settings: food service, community service, wellness and clinical nutrition. Students must complete a research project, a requirement not emphasized by all dietetics programs. The internship allows students to get hands-on practical experience before taking the licensing exam to become registered dieticians.

Internal Auditing
A minor in internal auditing is now available to students in the Foster College of Business Administration. Bradley is the first university in Illinois to offer the internal auditing minor for students who are not accounting majors. iBi