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[morris5g]

Hello All! My name is Chris Morris and I need some help to direct my hopes and ambitions! I'm an undergrad student at Rowan University, majoring in Radio/Television/Film. I'm on track to graduate in two years and I was wondering if my ideas are okay for where I ultimately want to end up. The plan is to graduate Rowan with a degree in communications - RTF and jump right into a higher education masters program in the NJ,NY and PA areas. If that were to happen, I would look into assistantships to whatever schools accepted me. Then ultimately look into getting an Academic Advisor Position in a community college or a public four year university and work my way up the administrative track to the dean/vice/ maybe even presidential levels.


Questions...
Is Graduating with a bogus RTF degree/average GRE scores enough weight to get into a grad program?
What types of Assistantships are offered for a Higher Education Administration Grad Student?
Are my ideas/plans okay, or basically a dream?
What entails working your way up through the administrative track from advising? Such as Career steps and positions to look out for to work my way up? How long does this take?


ANY FEEDBACK OR ADIVCE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANKS!

[mended_drum]

At the kinds of places I've taught, the top administrative positions (academic deans and presidents) are held by former faculty members, meaning people who earned a Ph.D. in an academic field, found a tenure-track job, achieved strong teaching evaluations and a strong record of research and publication and then moved into administration. 

Some administrators do not take this route, however.  I suggest that you explore the careers of those who hold the kinds of jobs you're interested in before deciding on your path.

[voxprincipalis]

Let me get this straight. You're a sophomore (rising junior) and you think you want to be president of a university? Do you even know what the president of a university does? (Fortunately for you, it does not involve creating polls.)

When I was four, do you know what I wanted to be when I grew up? A blueberry. That's right. A blueberry. Your idea makes as much sense, except that I WAS FOUR.

VP

[sciencephd]

What you need is an EdD. This will be the first major step reqired to reach your goal.

[alleyoxenfree]

..majoring in Radio/Television/Film. ... masters program in the NJ,NY and PA areas. If that were to happen, I would look into assistantships to whatever schools accepted me. Then ultimately look into getting an Academic Advisor Position in a community college or a public four year university and work my way up the administrative track to the dean/vice/ maybe even presidential levels.

Questions...
Is Graduating with a bogus RTF degree/average GRE scores enough weight to get into a grad program?
What types of Assistantships are offered for a Higher Education Administration Grad Student?
Are my ideas/plans okay, or basically a dream?
What entails working your way up through the administrative track from advising? Such as Career steps and positions to look out for to work my way up? How long does this take?

My take on your questions:
1 - depends on the grad program, of course.  There is nothing inherently bogus about a RTF degree, but it probably means that you are on track to be dean/vice/president of a university with a "professional" focus.  There are definitely universities like this.  If you want to work in administration for a more typical college, you should shoot for the best grad program you can get into in something like Media Studies or Communication, as this would be less of a "professional skills" track and more of an academic research direction.

2 - but then you say you'd like to become an academic advisor.  The general training for this job has now become a master's in counseling or academic advising.  Also, rarely do advisors rise to Dean positions, unless they are Dean of Student Services.  Rarely do Deans of Student Services become Presidents of universities; usually these positions are drawn from the academic side of the university. 

I suggest you look into doing informational interviews, or some job shadowing, with people who are working as academic advisors and in other jobs in administration.  Since you are a RTF major, perhaps you can do a series of stories for your campus broadcast stations about what people at the university actually "do" all day - a "Day in the Life of the Vice President," for instance.  This would let you be a fly on the wall while getting more educated about possible career paths.  You would also be doing a public service to other students at Rowan, which is the point of journalism.

[dale1]

Chris:

Please consult your faculty and undergraduate advisors at Rowan.  Also contact higher education/student affairs MS programs in your area.  Academic advising is very difficult to get into, as the jobs are difficult, time consuming, and very rewarding.

Hello All! My name is Chris Morris and I need some help to direct my hopes and ambitions! I'm an undergrad student at Rowan University, majoring in Radio/Television/Film. I'm on track to graduate in two years and I was wondering if my ideas are okay for where I ultimately want to end up. The plan is to graduate Rowan with a degree in communications - RTF and jump right into a higher education masters program in the NJ,NY and PA areas. If that were to happen, I would look into assistantships to whatever schools accepted me. Then ultimately look into getting an Academic Advisor Position in a community college or a public four year university and work my way up the administrative track to the dean/vice/ maybe even presidential levels.


Questions...
Is Graduating with a bogus RTF degree/average GRE scores enough weight to get into a grad program?
What types of Assistantships are offered for a Higher Education Administration Grad Student?
Are my ideas/plans okay, or basically a dream?
What entails working your way up through the administrative track from advising? Such as Career steps and positions to look out for to work my way up? How long does this take?


ANY FEEDBACK OR ADIVCE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANKS!

[cj405]

I suggest you look into doing informational interviews, or some job shadowing, with people who are working as academic advisors and in other jobs in administration.  Since you are a RTF major, perhaps you can do a series of stories for your campus broadcast stations about what people at the university actually "do" all day - a "Day in the Life of the Vice President," for instance.  This would let you be a fly on the wall while getting more educated about possible career paths.  You would also be doing a public service to other students at Rowan, which is the point of journalism.

This is great advice.  I love this idea.

morris5g --  Look into graduate programs in the states you mentioned.  You'll be able to find information about their entrance requirements.  One thing you may want to check on is the number of credits in psychology/human development that the more counseling based programs require.  If you want to be an academic advisor, a counseling concentration will be very helpful.

As you are looking at programs, look at which universities have community colleges near them.  You could more than likely arrange for one of your internships to be in the advising office at the local CC.  Or, you may be able to do an internship at a CC near your hometown over the summer if there isn't one near your university.

Also, if you are set on advising as your career path, make sure you are looking at schools that have assistantships in an advising or a career services office—many, but not all, will.  You just don't want to go to a school where you will only have residence life and student activities positions to choose from.  Those positions certainly have value, but not as much if you want to work in academic advising.

I would also say that you should go into your program with an open mind.  Academic advising is a great career path, but there are plenty of other options.    

I think Rowan usually has a pretty good presence at national conferences from what I can remember.  Maybe you could look into ACPA’s Next Generation program which would allow you to go to the national conference which is in Louisville, Kentucky next year.  http://www2.myacpa.org/career-advancement/next-generation-conference

(There is another national organization, NASPA, but I am partial to ACPA.)

As far as how you'd get from an advising position to the president's office…  I am not really sure.  But it is certainly realistic to move up from an advising position to a higher level in the administration.  I don't know if there is one set path that people in this line of work take, you just have to look for the opportunities as they present themselves.  Go look at the Chronicle's jobs board or the higher ed jobs site and look at the advising sections.  Look for jobs that require 3-5 or 5-7 years of experiences.  Jobs like those would likely be your next step up the ladder.  Do they sound appealing to you?  While you are there, look at other jobs in the administrative category and see if any of those jobs look appealing.

Don't worry, your career goals are certainly more realistic than becoming a blue berry.

[alleyoxenfree]

Also, you can improve middling GRE's with a prep course, if you work at it.  Then get the best grades you can and get good recommendations from professors and internship supervisors by working like a dog.  You'll thank yourself when you get into the best graduate program you can.

[chronanon]

An increasingly common path to the presidency besides the academic route is via fund raising.  Some boards see the president position as chief fund raiser rather than chief academic.  (Note I'm not advocating that position, just observing it). 

If your personality matches advancement/development jobs, then that's an area where you can start out in an entry level position and move all the way up through the ranks.  Spend some time fund raising for a few specific colleges in the university to get a better sense of their mission and characteristics. 

[morris5g]

Thanks for all the feedback so far.

- alleyoxenfree, the informational and job shadowing idea is brilliant. That will absolutely be a win win for myself and even for the already award winning communications departments at Rowan. I can see myself starting an entire segment from the sports coaches to the president. I also read NASPA and ACPA news feeds weekly basically. I always thought they were geared more towards people within these careers already, not undergrads.

- Cj405, thanks for mentioning the Chronicle's job board. Academic advising is absolutely what I want to do but moving up the ladder to as high as i can go is always a must. The idea of making president is just an idea after I was granted presidency in my fraternity. I just wanted to see if it were plausible.

I wish there were some sort of tree diagram that demonstrates on how to advance in this career. Starting out as an academic advisor and working towards dean of students and maybe by some miracle get some experience as a president in a CC or something.

[tinyzombie]

OP, you should pay MUCH more attention to VP's post.

[cj405]

OP, you should pay MUCH more attention to VP's post.

No. 

You should look into ACPA's Next Generation program and find yourself a good mentor. 

[alleyoxenfree]

I wish there were some sort of tree diagram that demonstrates on how to advance in this career. Starting out as an academic advisor and working towards dean of students and maybe by some miracle get some experience as a president in a CC or something.

From a CC, you will likely stay within the CC system, as CC's are their own specialized branch of education.

You are asking all the right questions, you just need to continue fact-finding, by meeting people and looking at job ads.  Look at job ads here for Presidents and see what kinds of background they ask for.  Virtually every university has its President's bio posted online.  Study the bio's of younger presidents and you will see trends. 

If your university president or Dean of Student Services has an internship or work study position, or a leadership program, try to get into it.  Ask them questions.  People are flattered when asked to talk about themselves.

[tinyzombie]

OP, you should pay MUCH more attention to VP's post.

No. 

You should look into ACPA's Next Generation program and find yourself a good mentor. 

Oh, you silly little boy.

[merinoblue]

Ambition is great, OP, but be prepared for life to take your plans sideways, and for more interesting and fulfilling career directions to open up, without judging yourself a failure if you don't achieve this dream.

p.s. I voted for "Feedback"