Meet Joe Murphy: Academic Advisor for Communication and Journalism

Intro and interview by Liliana Cifuentes 

Academic advisors play a critical role in student academic success. During each registration period, academic advisors meet with students to provide guidance on their academic progress, course plans and schedules, career options, and campus resources and activities.

We spoke with our academic advisor, Joe Murphy, to learn a little bit about what he does and how he got involved in academic advising. If you prefer listening, we have the audio of the interview available.
 

Name: Joseph Murphy
Title: Academic Advisor, Communication & Journalism
Address: Taconic Building, Room 333
Phone: 518-442-4875
Contact: Communication and Journalism students can make an appointment with him in EAB or via email ([email protected])
 

Here's the full, slightly edited transcript of the interview (audio here).

Liliana Cifuentes (LC): Hello everyone, my name is Liliana and today we are interviewing Joe Murphy who is the current… I'll let him explain. So what do you do for the Department of Communication?
 

Joe Murphy (JM): Hi, Liliana. Yes, my name is Joe Murphy. I am the academic advisor for the Department of Communication. I work with all declared majors in Communication and also Journalism.
 

LC: Okay, so my first question for you is: how did you become involved with the UAlbany's academic advising program?
 

JM: Yeah, I actually applied for a job here back in 2016 as an academic advisor. Before, I was working in residential life for eight years at Skidmore College and was looking to get more into the academic side of working with students than the housing / student affairs side of it. I saw the job posting here - I had been looking into academic advisor positions for a couple of years, looking at a couple of universities, and applying to some other spots that weren't really a great fit.

When the University at Albany one popped up, I talked with a few folks and thought that would probably be a good way in there. So, I joined the Academic Support Center as a general advisor, working with primarily first year and sophomore students, and transfers as they come into the University unsure of what they want to do or their intended majors before they actually get declared. I did that for a couple of years and then worked with Honors College students for a couple of years as well. I went back to working with a general population. Then, the Communication Department advisor was leaving. I was looking for a change, looking to work with more junior and seniors who are more focused on specific programs.

Having been a Communication major myself when I went to SUNY Plattsburgh, I thought this would probably be a good fit. So, I was able to take all the information I learned over the years, working with intended students as they're trying to map out what they want to do, taking my general knowledge of so many programs, and fine-tuning it into a lot of knowledge of one smaller program in that sense.

The great thing of that is that I had five years of training about university policies and all the different majors and minors here. So, I've been able to work with our students in the Department to help them navigate and find what's going to be the best route for them academically. Is it adding a double major? Is it adding multiple minors? What are going to be specific classes that they take that could help them build their transferable skills and such going forward into their next endeavors? Whether that's graduate school, whether that's into the workforce, whether that's to a job or starting out their actual career long-term.
 

LC: Nice! I guess the reason why you're choosing to advise Journalism and Communication students is because of your background as a Communication major at SUNY Plattsburgh compared to other majors like business or public policy.

Given that you work with juniors and seniors a little more now than you did in the past, what types of jobs do you see your advisees usually getting post graduation or what types of internships do you see people getting at around this time in their academic life?
 

JM: I have been with the population long enough to see actual jobs folks are getting. We don't usually meet their last semesters as people are looking to go to graduation. I don't know everything unless they come and chat with me, fill me in, or ask questions on where they're going to.

I know that we have a list of things the Department has put together over the last decade of jobs and employers our students have gone to. I know a lot of our students are looking to go into sports marketing, sports communications, and sports management area. We have students who are looking to go into public relations and marketing as well, which is why we've been trying to tailor some alumni panels of folks who work in a sports route and who work in public relations. Hopefully next year, we'll do something with folks working in the marketing realm. So, these are the types of jobs that students are looking to go into.

As far as internships, it's a little bit of everything. Professor Husson works a lot more in this area. I think as you get an interview with him, he's going to have a lot more insight in the internship side of things. He's the actual internship coordinator, and he's the one who receives tons of information from different folks and different employers.

Students have done tons of internships across campus. We have students who are doing one in the Office of Marketing and Communication at UAlbany. The Office is putting out all messaging and marketing and working with local media. We have students who are working in athletics and their communication departments, helping them with their social media and everything and game day events for different teams.

We have students who have been working with the Office of Sustainability, building up their own communications that they're sending out to the campus and figuring out different ways to be more interactive there. I've had students who have gone over to the Albany College of Pharmacy, working for their athletics program and doing communication work over there. We've had students who've done the Senate and Assembly internship. We've had some students who have gone down to Washington DC and do the DC internship program as well.

Communication is in almost any job out there. It's all about the messaging, working with people on what's being shared and what's being interpreted. One-on-one work, group work, presentation work. Everything we're learning in our major is going to be applicable to any job out there. It's hard because we are in such a broad major and can go into any realm possible. Some people like more finite lines and directions to go, but really, we can go into any internship, any job out there, and be successful because we're focused on the people and the messaging.
 

LC: You're in a unique position where you studied Communication as a student in college and then you went on to academically advise students who are studying the same thing. Just from your standpoint, why communication? Why did you study it in college? What did you hope to get out of it? And why should other students join the Department of Communication if they're undecided about what they want to study?
 

JM: I think it's perfect if they're undecided what they want to study. When I started out my freshman year, I was actually a Business Management major. That was at Ramapo College in New Jersey. But, I wasn't feeling as connected to the campus. wasn't living on campus, and didn't have the full first year freshman type of experience. So, I was actually already planning to apply to transfer in my sophomore year. I had friends who had gone to SUNY Plattsburgh. So, I visited them. I was like, hey, this will be a better fit, live on campus., have a friend group up there and everything.

But, I just wasn't feeling as connected either to business management. The whole reason I did that was because I worked at McDonald's. A manager was like, Oh, I'm gonna get a management degree and I'll just get a higher management position. So, I was like, well, is management really for me? In all honesty, my one close friend who was going to room with at Plattsburgh, he was a Communication major. Also, one of the few friends I made - she was also transferring to another school somewhere. We were talking about what we were going to be focusing on, and she's like, I'm gonna do Communication. It's really easy. I was like, Okay, my future roommate Communication too. So alright, sounds good to me. That was literally how I came up with Communication. It's so simple. It's such an 18-19 year old mentality. Let me just do something that's easy. It's not always easy. I'll put it that way.

The program at Plattsburgh was very much more of an audio, video, media production type of program. I actually focused more on audio, radio production in my first few years. I got more into the communication theory, persuasion side of things in my senior year, which I found I enjoyed those classes so much. Doing those production classes - you don't realize you're going out and actually recording concerts, local concerts at elementary schools, and anything that the music department's putting on and whatnot. So, your Friday and Saturday nights are gone. You're losing those social nights. Then, when you're sitting in an audio lab working on a project for hours and hours, yes, it may be easy and fun, but it's tedious and long.

I'm sure you and everybody else in the major realizes Communication is not a test based. We're focused more on the written and oral expression of things. I'm glad I went into it, because I learned so many aspects of working with people, from sales to one-on-one interpersonal communication to how to listen to folks.
 

LC: I think a lot of people underestimate how difficult communication can be or they just think it's one thing when it's so many things. But, I also think that's what makes the Department and the study of communication so interesting. You can do so many things with it because almost every job out there requires some level of interaction or communication with people. I think that's what makes it very multifaceted in a sense and that often gets mistaken.
 

JM: I appreciate that we're not a major so focused on a concentration and classes in just one area. I see students have a struggle with this too. What do I pick? What do I pick? Pick one of everything. This is a smorgasbord. This is a buffet. Learn a little bit about all of these topics so that you can work your way into anything in the future and work with anybody in the future.
 

LC: What does it look like? I know I'm sure that toward the beginning of every semester, it's very busy for you and very chaotic. So about how many students do you see yourself advising and do you find that to be a bit overwhelming or challenging at times?
 

JM: Yes. I would say almost any advisor on campus would say that. Right now, my technical caseload is that I have 360 students I work with. But, everybody needs a different level of support and care. Any educator, any teacher is going to tell you they spend 90% of the time on 10% of the people and they spend 10% of the time on 90% of the people. There are students who I see regularly almost every week at my door and there are students I see once a semester - they just want to come chat about classes, get their AVN number, and that's all they need from me.

I want to meet students where they're. If that's all they want, I don't need to push. Share a little bit about what's going on. Let's check and make sure things are good. But hey, here's your info. If you're feeling good. If you're on track and it looks like you don't need further direction, then by all means. You got what you need. But, others who need some more reassurance, more confidence building, really mapping out, laying out different possibilities - whether it's graduation timelines, career options, grad schools, or specific classes. 

Fall is a little busier than Spring, usually have more advisees and I meet with more of them for registration. When you get to Spring, you have so many who are graduating and you don't meet with them unless they want to. But, it really starts out as a kind of first week or two during the add drop period. Anybody stops in, because they're trying out classes, realizing they might not want this, they want to try something else, they're still finishing their schedules. So, it's just a lot of what I like to call triage.

Those first two weeks, let's help, let's work. Let's get you set for the semester. The next couple of weeks, week three and four, I'm meeting with anybody who's on academic warning, probation to do an intervention chat, check in, talk about what happened with the grades of courses last semester, map out what this semester is looking like so far, and strategize ways for success this semester.

Then have a week or two, maybe a little bit of random check ins with folks. Then, you jump right into registration for the next six weeks and just back to back to back to back meetings. Probably one of the most tiring times and repeating myself 250 to 300 times in those six weeks, but hearing 250 to 300 different stories too. That's the interaction with people that I enjoy.

Going over that point, after you get past that, you spend the next couple of weeks - a little bit quieter period. Starting at that point to double check, alright did people register? People are coming in and kind of freaking out about finals and final grades like, I should have dropped this class or can I ask for SU before the SU deadline. So, it's a hard time there.

And in the last week to the semester, it's really checking in like, Hey, did you get registered? Do you need help while you're still here on campus, happy to meet with you. It's a lot of that last week or two. A lot of meetings and people like just reassurance, like just failed a test. What's going to happen? It's like, well, let's wait and see the test is one part of your grade. How was the rest of the semester? You know, we may still pass this. Oh, no, we didn't pass it. Okay, what's our plan B and C? Do we need to end up adding a summer class now? Let's look at what the options are. Should we be adding a sixth class in the fall. It's a lot of puzzling and problem solving. I love doing that stuff.
 

LC: It sounds like you have a lot on your plate, nonetheless. 
 

JM: Ebbs and flows. Not many quiet weeks, these days anymore.
 

LC: Let's move on to some more fun questions. So what is your favorite place in the Capital Region? What do you like to do outside of work?
 

JM: It's a great question. Favorite place? Well, I love going up to the Adirondacks or down to the Casco mountains. I love to hike. I do have a part time job as a bartender at June farms, which is over West Sand Lake. Outdoor venue, outdoor pizza oven, or woodfired pizza stuff, and then specialty cocktails. Then animals. Shire horses, Highland cattle glycosuria pigs, I forget the technical term for them. We got miniature goats and stuff. So just working on a farm, but not like farm work, but create more of the social atmosphere there for folks. So, that's a good spot. Enjoy going there, take my dog loose there as well, run all around. So that's usually where you find me during the summer time.
 

LC: That sounds fun.
 

JM: Yeah, definitely. I have a favorite restaurant or something in the area. I love so many different spots. It is so hard to pick a favorite. It depends. If I just want comfort food, tipsy mousse is pretty good druthers. Innovo kitchen up in Latham they're really good as well. I love going to places that got a good deal. So I'm usually shooting for like Happy Hour spots and specialty nights.
 

LC: We're gonna have to check those out for sure. What do you need in your refrigerator at all times? What's like the staple thing you need in there?
 

JM: These are fun and hard questions. Pizza is my favorite food. But, pizza is not in my my fridge every day. I would say milk, but I go in and out of spurts of like vegan and vegetarian and all that stuff. I always have to have like bananas or trail mix around.
 

LC: Yeah, anything wrong with those?
 

JM: No, those are staples, Seltzer, lime, polar lime Seltzer, or like Hannaford store brand lemon lime seltzer. It's got to be lime or lemon lime.
 

LC: All right. Thank you so much for your time, Joe. We're just out of time here. It was very nice.
 

JM: It was great talking with you, too. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to reach out. Thank you.