Diverse core requirements better prepare students

Dear Editor,

I read with interest George Hashemi’s column “SU should change core requirements” in the January 22 issue of The Daily Orange. Mr. Hashemi believes that SU should reduce core requirements that are unrelated to students’ majors.

I am a Newhouse photojournalism alumna (1979 undergraduate degree and 1984 graduate degree), and after a more than 40-year career in communications, I can say that those core requirements seemingly unrelated to my major helped advance my career. Those bio and Earth science courses? They came in handy when I landed a job with a conservation agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I understood the natural science basis for what the agency did on the land, which informed my writing and photographic assignments. My science background also gave me instant credibility with scientists and technical people, many of whom looked down on communications people who knew “nothing” about science and were “just PR people.”

At Syracuse and early in my career, I was dead-set on being a photographer, not a writer. Well, those Newhouse writing, editing, and public relations courses came in handy when I reached the career ceiling for photographers and moved into broader communications positions. At the start of the Great Recession, with a child starting college, I found myself looking for a job due to government budget cuts. After nearly 30 years in environmental communications, I was able to qualify for and obtain a position as a public information specialist with the NYS Department of Labor — a complete, but necessary, subject matter change.

SU requires diverse core courses for a reason. If you are aiming for a career in communications, you will be communicating about something else, whether it’s the environment or a new social services initiative. It’s helpful to have some subject-matter background or at least a basis for evaluating what your sources say. For those in tech fields, like engineering, who don’t see why they need a writing course: my brother is an engineer. He advanced rapidly in his career, in part because he could write well. The technicians charged with carrying out his plans and designs could understand them.

In my experience, those seemingly unrelated but required core courses helped me in life and my career.

Sincerely,

Karen Rusinski Williamson

Photojournalism 1979/MS Communications Photography 1984