The world of PR and communications is changing quickly. You know it’s not enough to just get by on what you learned in college. You have to keep learning in order to keep up! But there are so many options for furthering your education — from Google and Hubspot certifications and graduate certificates all the way to postgraduate degrees and professional credentials such as APR certification.

How do you know what kind of certification or degree will help you meet your professional goals? What do the different forms of professional development teach and how will they impact your career? Will it be worth the effort and expense?

Join us as Dr. Kay L. Colley, APR, professor and chair of Mass Communication at Texas Wesleyan University, provides an overview of what you can expect from the different educational pathways and how to figure out which one is right for you. Dr. Colley knows from experience. She has earned an associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, Ph.D., and APR certification, along with countless digital certificates from places like Hootsuite, Hubspot, Meltwater and Muckrack. She now chairs the mass communication department at an institution of higher learning and is uniquely positioned to give insight into this topic.

Find out what educational options are available along with their costs and benefits. Plus, hear personal stories from others who have faced this decision in their own careers, and learn what’s worked for them so you can find the best learning path for your journey.

Dr. Kay Colley
Kay L. Colley, APR, is a professor and chair of Mass Communication at Texas Wesleyan University. She teaches journalism and public relations courses. Previously, she taught journalism and public relations at the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of North Texas, Texas A&M University and Blinn College. She has won several teaching awards including Teacher of the Year from the Small Programs Interest Group of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in 2011 and the Earl Brown Distinguished Faculty member at Texas Wesleyan University in 2011. She has also been named an Engaging Educator at Texas Wesleyan twice.

She firmly believes in the importance of continued education and has undergone training focused on digital content creation at the Poynter Institute, the University of South Carolina, and most recently the Dow Jones News Fund Multimedia Training Academy at the University of Texas at El Paso in Summer 2022. She holds certifications in social media and influencer communications from Hootsuite, Hubspot, Meltwater and Muckrack.

A former journalist and award-winning public relations spokeswoman, Colley holds a PhD in Higher Education from the University of North Texas.

Buy your tickets for this event by midnight Thursday, Mar. 30. We look forward to seeing you!