By Jack Bozikis
PEORIA, Ill. (25 News) – Bradley University has launched a new Media Engagement Lab aimed at giving students hands-on experience with the data and analytics increasingly used across the communications industry.
The lab officially launched this week and is designed to support classroom learning while helping students build skills they can carry into internships and full-time jobs.
Sara Erlichman, an assistant professor of communication and director of the Media Engagement Lab, said she came to Bradley about a year ago with the goal of creating the program. Before entering higher education, Erlichman worked in analytics for a global communications consultancy.
She said that experience showed her how valuable data skills have become in communications, public relations and marketing.
Faculty members will be able to incorporate the lab into their courses, giving students opportunities to work with data while developing critical thinking and analytical decision-making skills.
Erlichman said those abilities are becoming more important as companies collect and rely on larger amounts of information when making business and communications decisions.
“In the industry and public relations, strategic communications, marketing, any report that falls on the CEO’s desk is informed by data,” Erlichman said.
She said students will have opportunities to develop skills in technical proficiency, pattern recognition, hypothesis formation and data analysis. The goal is for students to not only understand numbers, but also learn how to interpret them and apply what they find to real-world communications strategies.
Erlichman said data can help organizations understand whether campaigns are working, identify patterns in audience behavior and make better-informed decisions about future strategies.
The lab currently gives students access to social listening capabilities, but Erlichman hopes the program will continue expanding.
Over the next several years, she would like to see the lab grow into a larger physical space and provide access to additional platforms and data sources, including audience intelligence and media monitoring tools.
Erlichman said the long-term goal is to give Bradley students experience with the same kinds of tools and data they may encounter after graduation, helping them enter the workforce with skills that can immediately be applied on the job.
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