The U.S. Coast Guard knows a good thing when it sees one. As a result, it will be sending future public affairs graduate students to the university’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
“Later this year, two Coast Guard officers will be selected for the public affairs graduate school program, and they will be expected to apply to the University of Georgia for admission in fall 2007,” says Patricia Miller, deputy chief, U.S. Coast Guard Office of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.
Miller chairs a panel that selects the Coast Guard’s best-qualified junior officers for full-time public affairs graduate study scholarships.
“We are usually funded for one or two new students each year, and choose those with the best GRE scores, evidence of writing and academic ability and superb performance evaluations,” she says.
The selected officers will be given 18 months to earn their master’s degree in the public relations sequence, including any prerequisites. After earning their master’s degrees, the officers are assigned to one of 10 U.S. Coast Guard public affairs officer positions in major media markets.
“This is a testament to the high quality of the Grady College graduate faculty, and the excellent graduate students that our program attracts,” says Jeff Springston, professor of public relations and associate dean for research and graduate studies at Grady College.
