By: Luke Worsham

Are you a Belmont undergraduate communication student who’s looking for the perfect place to continue your higher education with graduate work?

If so, you may not have to look very far.

Belmont University launched its new M.S. in Strategic Communication and Leadership program, a unique course of study in which students receive training in both communication studies and leadership development, back in August. The program is a great fit for students seeking a hands-on, real-world approach to graduate school.

“I don’t do a lot in my classes that I don’t fully believe you can do in the real world,” said Jeremy Fyke, the program’s director.

One of the ways his philosophy manifests is through a heavily project-based curriculum.

Students in the program don’t take exams in very many, if any, of their classes. Instead, they construct real-world projects.

“In the first-eight-week course that just wrapped up called ‘strategic planning and governance,’ … the students actually created a strategic plan for an organization, so they’re actually doing that work,” Fyke said. “That’s a big difference.”

The program’s real-world approach is a benefit to all students, but especially to those who are already working full-time. Emily Murphy, the admissions coordinator of Belmont’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, fits into that category.

“That’s one of the things I appreciate about the program,” Murphy said. “Especially as a working professional, I’m interested in the application, because I’m an older student. I’m not interested in the theory behind it. I want to take it and apply it to the field that I’m in.”

Murphy and others like her who are already full-time professionals can manage the load of the program while doing their jobs because of the program’s flexibility.

It offers weekend classes, a hybrid format and a go-at-your-own-pace option for students who want to spread the work out for more than two years.

“There is a great level of challenge in this program, but at the same time, you can balance things out,” said Holly Newsome, a second-year student in the program who also works full-time for Belmont in alumni relations.

“You don’t have to do it in that year or two-year timeframe, you do it with what fits your schedule. The classes have been so great for me that I don’t want to rush, I want to take it all in.

“Classes are only once per week, and most of the time there are some breaks built-in.”

While the program is still relatively new and working out some final kinks, Fyke and his fellow faculty members have worked to ensure that the entire catalog of courses is already being offered to students.

“It’s one thing to put courses on a black-and-white sheet, it’s another thing to offer them,” Fyke said. “I’m proud to say that, in the first year, we’re going to offer every class on the books.”

Beyond the program’s flexibility and hands-on approach, perhaps what students appreciate the most is the attention, care and support they receive from faculty members.

“Dr. Fyke and our other faculty members do the best they can to support us,” Newsome said. “If we’re having a hard time, or if we’re having challenges with the content, we just go and talk to them. They’re really great about mentoring us.”

Murphy shared a similar perception.

“I have really felt supported and I have felt like they have bent over backward, particularly Dr. Fyke, to make sure I’m being successful,” she said. “That has meant the world to me.”

Anyone interested in learning more about the program or applying can do so on its official webpage.