Tombras School of Advertising & Public Relations

PR Student Takes Inaugural Lollapalooza Class

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Senior public relations student Grant Mitchell had the opportunity to participate in Lollapalooza’s inaugural five-week class at DePaul University. During the class, he learned about networking in the music industry and the importance of learning from entry level positions.

“When it comes to any industry, perseverance is key, and this class helped reinforce that for me through all of the guest speakers,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell cites the ADPR community as being critical to him having gained the opportunity to participate in the course. “Everyone in ADPR has been so supportive of me and the professors have been an integral part of me finding opportunities like this one,” Mitchell said.

Senior ADPR Student Talks Summer Internships in a Pandemic

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Patrick Boyd shows off his remote office on the first day of his internship with FCB Health

As a result of attending the annual ADPR New York City networking trip in January 2020, Patrick Boyd landed a once-in-a-lifetime internship working in account management for FCB Health, a healthcare advertising company with a thriving internship program.

Typically, FCB Health’s internship program brings opportunity for the interns to work in the heart of New York City, with workshops, networking opportunities and working on various advertising campaign projects. However, the rise of COVID-19 cases caused FCB Health to make the tough decision to move the internship to remote working.

“Obviously I was a little bummed out when coronavirus changed my plans of working in New York City for the summer,” Boyd said. “But as interns, we had all of the speakers we were supposed to, we were busy every day, we were able to get mentors, we had people to check-in with and so many resources available without even physically being in the office.”

From the end of June to mid-August, Boyd collaborated with interns from around the country in the account management department. He worked with various research technologies, wrote creative briefs and even was part of a pitch to the CEO.

“It felt like I was doing an internship every day which I enjoyed because that was the goal for this summer,” Boyd said. “ADPR prepared me unbelievably well for this internship. I felt like I knew what I was doing and just had a foundation to be able to learn more.”

Boyd started as a sports management major when he first came to UT. As soon as he changed his major to advertising, future job opportunities and real-world practice were the reality of his classes.

“I love it because the faculty just works right beside you and the people you meet in classes become your family,” Boyd said. “You can take yourself as far as you want to go.”

Interim Director of ADPR Announced

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Sally McMillan: Interim Director of the School of ADPR, written by Cara Hunter

Dr. Sally McMillanAfter 20 years at the University of Tennessee serving as a faculty member, associate dean in the College of Communication and Information and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Dr. Sally McMillan will serve as interim director of the School of Advertising and Public Relations starting on June 1, 2019.

McMillan did not always plan on pursuing a career in academics. After changing her major many times, McMillan graduated with a degree in English from Southern Adventist University and went on to teach high school students for two years. After realizing that teaching at a high school level was not her calling, she went on to work in book editing and receive a master’s degree in public relations from the University of Maryland. Later, she moved to Wisconsin with her husband where she was hired by a software development company. Starting in the public relations department, McMillan quickly moved up to vice president for sales and marketing and later president of the company. However, McMillan questioned whether she wanted to work in technology for the rest of her life.

Because she had enjoyed adjunct teaching at the college level and had a passion for research, she decided to attend the University of Oregon, where she received a doctorate in mass communication and society. Upon graduation, McMillan taught advertising at Boston University but quickly realized that she did not want to live in Boston forever and applied for a faculty position at the University of Tennessee. McMillan started as an assistant professor and taught for five years before being recruited to serve as the associate dean in the College of Communication and Information. Five years later, she was recruited to be Vice Provost for Academic Affairs where she focused on developing a strategic plan for undergraduate students.

McMillan took advantage of her time in an administrative role to create positive change for undergraduate students. She helped develop One Stop and uTrack and revised curriculum to make it easier for students to graduate on time. Her work, along with the work of many others is reflected in the fact that the four-year graduation rate increased by 22 percent in 10 years.

In 2015, McMillan left her administrative role to return to teaching. She has taught an assortment of advertising and public relations courses and researches a variety of topics. When asked about which career achievement she is most proud of, McMillan states, “Being able to do research that helps students succeed in college has been the most rewarding. Teaching is great because I can work directly with students to help them learn, but being able to step back and research structural changes that can improve student success is the work that I feel can make the most broad-reaching difference.”

McMillan Award

Throughout her many years as a communication practitioner, technology executive, professor, researcher, and administrator, McMillan’s list of achievements does not go unnoticed. This past October, McMillan was awarded Alumna of the Year by the Southern Adventist University Alumni Association for her outstanding professional contributions to the fields of education, administrative leadership, communication and research. McMillan plans to take her experience and love for students into her new role as interim director to continue leading the School of Advertising and Public Relations in the right direction. See more about her award here.