For the first time in the U.S., students of the Atlanta University Center (AUC) will have the opportunity to complete a four-year college degree in which the last two years of the curriculum are devoted to equipping them with the skills to succeed in media sales, operations, and marketing starting in the Fall of 2026.
Juniors and seniors at Clark Atlanta University (CAU), Morehouse College, and Spelman College will be eligible to register for the courses. The curriculum will be derived from the successful Media Sales Institute (MSI) curriculum, which prepares and pre-qualifies college graduates for careers in media sales, operations, and marketing departments.
Founders of the MSI – the leading talent development program for diverse media sales professionals – unveiled plans for the new Media Sales curriculum on June 15, 2023, at the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB)/MSI graduation at Morehouse College with its “inaugural” media partner, Gray Television and the CAU School of Business and Division of Communications Arts within the School of Arts & Sciences.
The leadership team from CAU, Gray Television, and the MSI Foundation principles met in late September to discuss the launch of the Media Sales Department (MSD) curriculum. The design, research, development, and accreditation of the curriculum are forecasted to take five years.
Housed at CAU’s School of Business, the new curriculum will focus on radio, television, cable, print, digital, and interactive media sales to address the media industry’s challenge of ensuring a diverse workforce. It will be open to students in all majors at the AUC.
Dean of the CAU School of Business Silvanus Udoka said, “I am proud and excited to be a part of this initiative and partner with the MSI Foundation, along with the media industry to offer the first collegiate concentration in media sales, operations, and marketing in the country! Building on the very successful MSI curriculum, the expanded reach that this program will offer promises to accomplish our shared goals of sustained creation of primed media sales professionals for today and tomorrow.”
MSD Developers Jeffrey P. Myers and Dana Myers have teamed up with the NABOB Telecommunications Education and Management Foundation for more than 20 years to provide professional development that prepares graduates to hit the ground running as they begin their careers in media sales.
Jeffrey P. Myers says, “Our strategy is the best long-term plan to recruit diverse, pre-screened, and highly qualified entry-level employees into the media industry. Building this curriculum and partnership has been part of a 20-year journey that started with the MSI program in 2000. We are proud of an amazing alumni network that consists of more than 1,000 graduates being employed in media sales departments.”
Sponsoring companies will have the opportunity to serve as “adjunct professionals” and “adjunct practitioners” throughout the curriculum’s design.
“Gray is excited to be part of this innovative approach to preparing students for the ever-changing world of media sales,” says Gray President and Co-CEO Pat LaPlatney. “The entire industry will benefit from having students who will have spent years learning how best to help advertisers tell their stories across so many platforms.”
The MSI Foundation and their funding partners will underwrite the five-year design cost. Starting in 2028, the program’s cost will be supported by student enrollment at CAU’s School of Business and the Division of Communication Arts in the School of Arts and Sciences.
