VCU News Center – VCU Adcenter Named Top Design School by Businessweek

News releases and media advisories

For immediate release:
10/11/2007

Tom Gresham
VCU Communications and Public Relations
(804) 828-6051
tmgresham@vcu.edu

VCU Adcenter Named Top Design School by Businessweek

Graduate advertising program cited for collaborative style

The Virginia Commonwealth University Adcenter, one of the leading graduate advertising programs in the country, has been named one of the world's 60 best design schools by BusinessWeek magazine.

In addition to making the list for the first time, the VCU Adcenter was featured in an article in this week's issue, "Advertising by Design," which cites the program for its collaborative style.

According to BusinessWeek: "Instead of getting students to make portfolios of print or television campaigns – the more traditional approach – students work on holistic brand-innovation projects, designing packaging or retail stores. Though many traditional portfolio-based advertising schools are now adopting this approach, the Adcenter has it built into its core."

"This is a tremendous honor and one that we are most appreciative of," said Rick Boyko, director of the VCU Adcenter. "While our history is short in comparison to other programs, we have been driven to adapt to our industry and challenge our students like no other graduate advertising program in the country. We're humbled that BusinessWeek has taken notice."

VCU President Eugene P. Trani said BusinessWeek's recognition "further validates the ambitious work the Adcenter is doing to reshape advertising and branding education. The VCU Adcenter is setting a new standard in its field."

This year marks the second year BusinessWeek has released its survey of the best design schools. According to the publication, the rankings highlight the growing role the schools play in supplying creative managers to corporate and nonprofit organizations. The magazine enlisted a panel of innovation consultants, design academics and corporate executives to select programs that have curricula they respect and whose graduates they hire.

"What's most exciting is that in essence, corporate America nominated the Adcenter," Boyko said. "This is validation that our students are leaving here with much more than a piece of paper and are making an impact on our industry."

In 2005, the VCU Adcenter was named the No. 1 graduate advertising program in the country by Creativity magazine. In January, the Adcenter will move into its new home – a Clive Wilkinson-designed building that will further fuel collaboration and creativity.

About VCU and the VCU Medical Center:

Virginia Commonwealth University is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located on two downtown campuses in Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 32,000 students in 205 certificate and degree programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-five of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU’s 15 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University compose the VCU Medical Center, one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers. For more, see www.vcu.edu.

About the VCU Adcenter:

Started in 1996, the VCU Adcenter is the first graduate program in advertising to combine business-oriented communications strategy and brand management tracks with a creative program for art directors and copywriters in a business setting. It was formed to develop the skills of talented post-graduates, enabling them to enter the business world with a highly competitive portfolio of collaborative thinking. The VCU Adcenter is the graduate advertising and branding program for the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University. The program offers four tracks: Art Direction, Copywriting, Creative Brand Management and Communications Strategy. VCU Adcenter students earn a Masters of Science degree in mass communications with a concentration in advertising. It is a two-year, full time program that begins each fall.