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(Dr. Stimac). Thank you.
I'd like to take a moment now to introduce Dr. WIlliam Elliott,
representing the Graduate School.
Mr. Wiliam Elliott.
(William Elliott). Boy don't I wish.
Thank you.
[audience applause].
(William Elliott). Probably just a little
additional preparation I'd need before reaching that title,
but thank you for the introduction Dean Stimac.
I'll keep that in mind and do my best.
I'll do my best.
But, a pleasure to be with you today.
We appreciate the opportunity to come and talk a little bit about
our graduate education, but primarily want to congratulate
you for your accomplishments in the Rising Stars program.
Just out of curiosity, is anyone considering a graduate degree?
What in?
Just some majors.
What in?
[unclear audio].
I'm sorry?
Pyschology, okay.
Marketing, business.
Some others?
One more.
Communication disorders, okay, wonderful.
Well, you know it's, whatever your field of study is,
a graduate education can be a great option and, obviously,
you've started out on the right track with the GPA that you have
right now, with accomplishments that you've made.
This is, you're truly off to a great start, but I hope that
you'll consider this opportunity, this option
as you go forward.
Maybe we'll see a few more hands in another year or two.
We hope so.
But there are a lot of benefits to a graduate degree.
Some of them are directly related to what you're studying
and probably what you have in mind now for your academic
and your professional goals.
I'd assume that many of you, when you decided to come
to Eastern, part of what you wanted to come here for
was career advancement, you know, getting ahead
in your field of study.
A graduate degree in many cases can advance that much more
quickly than starting out at a Bachelor degree level
and starting out in your field of study, especially when you
start talking about communication disorders,
psychology, places like that.
Also, with an MBA, you know, that can put you
several years ahead in management opportunities.
Just a year of time right now in study, maybe a year,
year and a half, could put you several years ahead
in where you could advance.
Salary, obviously, many people consider that as part of their
career plans.
A Master's degree, in many cases, puts you about $10,000
a year higher in salary than what you would have starting out
with a Bachelor's degree.
Stability, we all are concerned about that right now
with our economy.
Obviously and statistically it's proven that students
with a Master's or a terminal degree are less likely
to be laid off and more likely to hold their jobs
during periods of economic downturn.
So those are great things and, you know, very practical things,
but I think one major advantage of a graduate degree is the fact
that it makes you, it helps you develop analytically
and personally.
It helps you look at, not only things related to your field,
but also just in life.
It helps you become a more critical thinker.
It helps you with critical thinking skills, it helps you
with your presentation skills, and then helps you both
in a career and in your own lives and I think that's
a tangible benefit that you get that's not always directly
related to your studies.
Now, when to prepare, obviously, you've already started down
that path.
Your GPA is a great start.
Some other things that you can look for now in your remaining
undergraduate years.
You can look for programs that have depth and focus, that allow
you to expand on your critical thinking skills, your problem
solving skills, to really look at different viewpoints, whether
you agree with them or not, and debate them from both directions
and understand why different points of view are relevant.
That's a very important skill to have.
Advanced learning opportunities.
You've heard about several great opportunities today.
You've heard about the National Student Exchange, you've heard
about studying abroad, wonderful opportunities.
You can also look for opportunities on campus.
You can look for leadership opportunities in student
government or RSO's, a wide number of places you can look
for there to improve your skills in that regard.
And then also looking at scholarly preparation,
the things you can do right now.
Things like undergraduate research, presentations,
things like that that'll really help you hone your scholarly
skills and make you a more viable graduate candidate when
that time comes to apply for a graduate program.
Now, what do you look for in a good graduate program?
I hope that you would look here at Eastern.
I think we have a number wonderful programs here
on our campus.
Sometimes students have to find that perfect fit for the program
that their most passionate about and few things that you can look
at there.
Make sure that your program has engagement, that the faculty
are passionate about what they're studying,
about the issues that they're researching.
Figure and determine if you are going to be part of that process
and if you're going to be accepted into that group.
Look at focus.
A program should be clearly focused on what the outcome
will be.
A good program will be able to tell you that.
Look at community, you know, our faculty, our outside entities,
our alumni, are they all working together?
Is it a very vibrant program?
You know, you don't want to get in a program that's just kind of
off on its own somewhere.
You want to be involved in a program that will really work
with you and expand your abilities.
And then, finally, looking at funding.
Looking at a good program that has opportunity for scholarship,
for fellowships, for assistantships, things like that
you should be keeping in mind whenever you're looking
for a graduate program.
So those are some things you might want to consider.
We have 27 graduate programs in the Graduate School.
We have six certificate programs, a wide variety
of those all of them matching up with what some of our people
mentioned in the audience.
I hope you'll consider us.
You can speak right now with your professors in your
programs, they can give you additional information
and please stop by Blair Hall in the Graduate School.
We'll be very happy to discuss this issue with you.
And, again, just very pleased to be here today and celebrate
in your progress and in your accomplishments.
So, thanks so much and if you have any questions I'll try
to be around afterwards.
Thanks.
[audience applause].