Universities offer grad publishing programs

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, April, 1987

Universities offer grad publishing programs

This June New York University will graduate the first recipients of its master's degree program in business publishing. Other schools, Pace University, White Plains, New York, and Drexel University, Philadelphia, also have recently formed master's degree programs in publication management. These programs are forging a new image for publishing on the college campus by going beyond the one or two courses or six-week training programs offered by some colleges.

The directors of these three programs say their curriculums meet the growing need for technical expertise in the publishing industry.

"Until this point, publishing has been an accidental profession,' says Sherman Raskin, head of the Pace program and chairperson of the school's English department. "The industry can benefit from training in this area.'

Since 1985, Pace graduate students have been studying book as well as magazine publishing. Course coverage includes finance, editing, production, marketing and law.

Drexel, which began offering its master's program last fall, teaches business administration, design, production and editing.

NYU's program, part of the school's Gallatin Division, was started in 1985. The program prepares students for management careers at the estimated 5,000 specialized business titles in the country, explains Albert Greco, director of business press studies.

The Gallatin Division, which offers other flexible and individualized curriculums, has been developing its publishing management program since 1983. Its goal is to fill the niche left empty by journalism and strict business administration programs, says Greco. The directors of the other programs stress that this is their goal too. There is a need for specific and technical information on publishing, they say.

"I get something in the mail every day for $500 seminars on how to buy color separations, or other publishing topics,' says Lloyd Rieber, head of Drexel's printing and publishing programs. "We see a pressing need out there for this information.'

Better than an MBA

Traditional Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs don't fill the need, adds Morgan T. Browne, president of Bill Communications and advisory board member for NYU's program. Most MBA ccurriculums are financially oriented and stress managing large companies, but most publishing operations are small, he adds. "MBAs find it hard to fit into the publishing culture. I'd hate to take an MBA and put him into a magazine operation and say, "Now publish.''

The industry is responding favorably to the academic programs, report the schools' directors. Such business publishing notables as J. Roger Friedman, president, Lebhar-Friedman, Inc.; Joseph Hanson, president, FOLIO:; and John Wrede, president, McGraw-Hill Publications Company, have agreed to advise NYU on its curriculum. Executives in the magazine, book and business arenas also advise Pace. They include Hanson; Edward Barry, president, Oxford University Press; Edgar Buttenheim, executive vice president, Springhouse Corporation; and Robert Stern, partner, Arthur Andersen & Company.

Several companies have already approached the schools for job candidates, the directors say. NYU and Pace have placement and internship programs; Drexel is currently organizing these services. Some Pace students who took part in the internship program have landed full-time jobs. NYU has found intership positions for one-third of its 15 graduate students, and one student has taken full-time employment in the business press.

Many students in these programs already have publishing experience, according to the directors. Of the 40 students in the Pace program, 80 percent hold jobs in book or magazine publishing. Most of NYU's graduate students also have field work experience. All but two of Drexel's 15 graduate students have full-time jobs in publishing.

"Many who've started work in publishing come to us to fill in the gaps,' says NYU's Greco, adding that many are editors who want to move into other areas of publishing.

"I didn't have to go back to school to be successful,' says Regina S. Baraban, an NYU student, "but this does round out my knowledge.' Baraban has a 12-year career in business magazine publishing.

Tuition is $8,640 for Pace's 36-credit program; $10,387 at Drexel, which requires 47 credits to graduate; and $10,800 for NYU's 40-credit program.

NYU also offers a bachelor of arts program in publishing. The 30 students in that program study journalism and other liberal arts topics, as well as publishing-related business topics such as circulation and marketing. General business and computer courses are also required.

Drexel offers an undergraduate program in printing, which prepares candidates for management roles in printing operations.