There is no denying that technological advacements have led to a more competitive job market in today’s society, requiring job applicants to add additional skills to their resumes in hopes of holding any weight against the competition. At Grand Valley State University, several programs and majors are evolving to accommodate the dynamic job market in specific fields, including communications.

Anthony Thompson, director of the School of Communications, said one major change that is in the process of developing is a multimedia journalism major.

“We are in the process of merging the broadcast and journalism majors into one multimedia journalism program that exposes students to digital, newspaper, television and radio all equally throughout the curriculum,” Thompson said.

Students will be able to choose an emphasis of print, television or radio, depending on their primary career interest, Thompson added.

Because journalism as a craft is moving more toward the digital realm, the new multimedia program will teach students how to use a variety of online-based skills, like posting a story online or shooting video to give them an edge when they embark into the real workforce, Thompson said.

“The new program will still have foundational journalism skills, including writing, reporting and investigating,” Thompson said. “This program will expose students to additional tools that are needed in this career.”

The proposal for the merging of journalism and broadcasting is still underway and is tentatively expected to start in the fall of 2014.

Another program that keeps up with the transforming workforce is GVSU’s Seidman School of Business. Carol Sanchez, professor and director of the international business program, said the major was developed in 1997, and since then, international business has grown from zero to 140 students.

“The international business major was developed because we were finding that employers were looking for graduates to understand global markets and could function in that kind of environment,” Sanchez said.

She added that some jobs in business were changing as businesses began doing more work outside the U.S., and that jobs needed graduates who could adapt to this.

To be competitive, GVSU international business majors are required to double major in a particular business sector, minor in a foreign language and study abroad.

The School of Education is another program that continually updates and reviews its curriculum.

Caryn King, associate dean of the College of Education, was recently a part of the national accreditation review, which reviews teaching programs nationally. King said the national team interviewed students, alumni, faculty, principals and student teachers in the field, and concluded that all the standards of the accreditation were met.

“The School of Education completes ongoing assessments of every course in every teacher program,” King said. “We look at data annually and collectively decide how to interpret the data, and then make changes in specific assignments to keep more up to date on what jobs are looking for.”

King said the State of Michigan Legislature recently changed requirements for teachers’ certification as well, and completed an updated brochure to reflect these changes.

“It used to be that a student working towards their graduate or master’s degree would start their professional development training once they met 18 credits,” King said. “Now undergraduates can participate in professional development, where undergrad students can gain more experience.”

King said professional development consists of workshops, speakers and continued education for teachers. The people hosting the workshops are teachers who update the latest research or new techniques in a specific subject area.

“Most importantly, GVSU values liberal education, which gives students skills that they may not be aware of,” Thompson said. “This school teaches students on how to keep up with the changing times.”

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