**Senior Communication students at Bluffton University are contributing content to Pulse Media over the coming weeks as part of the first steps to a productive merger between BU and the University of Findlay. The Bluffton University student newspaper is called The Witmarsum but is on hiatus this fall.
Column By Andrew Collinsworth
BU Senior, cola-b@bluffton.edu
As a student in Communication in the Professions at Bluffton University, it seems that I am getting a first glimpse of what the future may hold for Bluffton and Findlay students.
Communication in the Professions is the final course for Communication and Media majors at Bluffton University, and in the recent past has been taught by Marathana Prothro. Prothro accepted a role as the Director of General Education at Bluffton University and Bluffton had to find a new professor to teach this course. With no one available to teach the 1 p.m. class on Thursday afternoon, Bluffton reached out to University of Findlay for a helping hand.
Enter, Amy Rogan. Rogan is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in Media and Communication at the University of Findlay, starting there in 2014. Once a week she makes the drive down I-75 to Bluffton University and Centennial Hall to teach the class of six seniors hoping to figure out what they want to do after college.
As a junior in the spring of 2024, I have to admit that the news of the merger was very surprising, but I didn’t think it would have any impact on me. That same thought echoed in the minds of all of the class, including senior Kennedy Parker.
“When the merger was announced I didn’t think it would change anything while I was here,” said Parker. “But it has definitely benefitted me already.”
The class has had multiple opportunities to take part in events at the University of Findlay, including events in the Wilkin series regarding journalism and democracy, and most recently a job fair held at the University on Sept. 24. Our class was able to go and meet with companies about potential job opportunities, get our resumes in employers’ hands, and set up interviews in the afternoon for internships or job openings.
Kailea Kerr took advantage of the opportunity by getting her foot in the door with Marathon.
“The way the job fair was set up allowed for interviews,” said Kerr. “I already had a connection with Marathon and kind of utilized that to get an interview. It went really well and I’m hoping to get an internship over the summer.”
There were a lot of unknowns, doubts, and fears regarding the merger for Bluffton University students, and while some of those unknowns still exist, it is safe to say that the immediate impact on Bluffton University students has been a positive one.