IMC degree celebrates 10th anniversary

STORY BY DEBORA WENGER

Only 51 adventurous students signed on to enroll in the very first cohort of the integrated marketing communications (IMC) program at the School of Journalism and New Media. The year was 2011, and those enthusiastic student pioneers helped spread the word and grow IMC to more than 1200 students today.

Darren Fike (2013) was part of that first group of intrepid students.

“Thinking back on it, I could sense that the world was changing and that consumer behavior/business was likely to follow,” Fike said. “I knew that I needed to prepare myself for this new era, and that really is what charting a new path is all about. You forfeit certainty in the pursuit of extraordinary results.”

Assistant Dean Scott Fiene was one of the first faculty members hired to teach in the IMC department, and he credits the program’s popularity to several factors.

“First, there are only about a dozen or so IMC undergraduate and graduate programs in the U.S., and ours is the only one housed in a school of journalism,” Fiene said. “That means our students don’t just learn marketing and communications, they learn about media. That’s a big advantage. Second, our faculty is superb. They’re experienced in the profession, they love teaching and they passionately care about student success.”

Fiene says the IMC curriculum – including the required business minor in the undergraduate program – resonates with prospects, parents and employers.

“These three things have sparked an incredible word-of-mouth that’s enabled the program to grow faster than anyone imagined at the start,” Fiene said.

In the 10 years since the start of IMC, the program has put an increased emphasis on writing and has created dozens of new courses. Students can now take advantage of eight specialization areas, including sports communication, social media, public relations, media design and fashion promotion.

Graduating senior Asia Guest says more importantly, the school has made her feel part of a family.

“From the professors, to fellow classmates, to the administration, I couldn’t have asked for a better learning and growth-promoting environment,” Guest said. “Also, I liked the broadness that IMC provides, meaning that the skills and instruction that is taught is invaluable and can be used in various occupations in the marketing world.”

The Georgia native plans for a career working for environmental and social justice and community engagement.

In the past 10 years, the program has launched the careers of more than a thousand students who are now working at Facebook, Coca-Cola, FedEx, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Ole Miss Athletics, and more. Former IMC majors are also working for major public relations firms, agencies and many other creative media outlets.

The program continues to create more experiential learning opportunities for students. A recent opportunity has come about as a competition team that is in its third year. On this team, students write, produce social media content or sell advertising for student media outlets. Plus, IMC majors are the driving force behind the school’s student-produced fashion magazine, and IMC majors also intern by the dozens for Ole Miss Athletics.

Even so, IMC faculty and students have big plans for the future.

“[We’re] 10 years in, we’ve become the largest IMC program in the U.S., and now it’s time we do more to shape and lead the academy and the profession,” Fiene said. “We have an opportunity to become known as a place where thought-leaders converse; where industry professionals converge; where groundbreaking research happens and where the best and the brightest communicators graduate. Ten years from now, we want IMC to be more universally recognized, and we’re the school that can make that happen.”

Happy Anniversary, IMC! Here’s to many more years of fostering innovative education in the School of Journalism and New Media.