KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — University of Tennessee-Knoxville advertising students are working to attract local high school students to careers in advertising.
Dr. Eric Haley, UT-Knoxville advertising professor, said members of the College of Communications’ student advertising club this month have visited Austin-East High School and scheduled trips to Central, Fulton and West high schools.
The UT program aims especially at minorities, which are highly underrepresented in the advertising field, Haley said. It is part of an American Advertising Federation effort to attract minority students to the field, he said.
“Our advertising students have taken the lead in this effort and I’m very pleased with the interest they are generating in area high schools,” Haley said.
UT-Knoxville’s graduate program in advertising was rated last year among the nation’s best by U.S. News and World Report.
UT-Knoxville Ad Club President Michelle Moore said the project teaches high school students about basic advertising concepts, jobs in the field, current advertising campaigns, and skills important to successful advertising.
Moore said the high school students are invited to presentations of UT student ad campaigns that will be entered in this year’s AAF national student campaigns competition.
“It is a great experience to tell these students about advertising,” Moore said. “It is something that can affect their lives in an important way.”
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Contact: Dr. Eric Haley (423-974-5102)