Communication Studies

Patra Glavin – B.A. 2001

After I graduated from UNCG I was unclear as to where to begin my career and what I wanted my career to be. I knew that I wanted to be in the business of relating and communicating with others, and the field of Development was foreign to me and came as a suggestion from a family friend who was a physician. I applied for a Development Coordinator position at Scripps Health and 2 weeks later my career began.

The field of Development or Fundraising is a wonderful opportunity to meet many fascinating people who each have their own story to tell and want to make a difference in their community. My job is to build a compelling ‘case for support’ and share my organizations need with this individual to explain why they should invest their resources with us over any number of other worthy organizations. I work to build trusting relationships with our physicians and medical staff so that they will ‘refer’ their grateful patients to me when they express a desire to give back for the wonderful healthcare they have received.

In graduating with a Communication Studies degree, I not only understand communication theory and its various paradigms, the power of persuasion and negotiation, what an ethnography is and the importance of cultural recognition, but most importantly and most basically, I know how to effectively communicate with anyone and everyone that I encounter. This simple statement has and will continue to offer me so much more because in the age of computers and electronics, the art of communication has been stifled and presents real challenges to so many as they work to navigate through life.