2012 PROCEEDINGS - Public Relations Society of America

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Using Real World Experience to Develop Public Relations Student's Writing Skills Rochelle R. Daniel Bowie State University rdaniel@bowiestate.edu Abstract The poster presentation would focus on a practice that this instructor has implemented into a public relations program to improve the writing skills of public relations undergraduate students at Bowie State University (BSU), in Bowie, Md. The practice includes initiatives that are similar to how public relations practitioners actually improve their writing skills in the workplace but that have been tweaked for the classroom. An explanation of the similarities in the workplace and how this instructor's initiatives are helping BSU public relations students to improve their writing skills will be included in the presentation. The initiatives are as follows: 1) increasing the number of writing assignments in classes; 2) incorporating a variety of writing assignments (at least one-page long) that focus on topics related to class material; 3) developing and using writing rubrics that help students improve their weak areas; and 4) editing with comments that tell students their problem areas and solutions (which include rewrites) to correct their mistakes Based on this instructor's 20 years of experience in the public relations field, from entry level to managerial, she knows that public relations practitioners need to have excellent writing skills to be successful in the workplace; and that they hone their writing skills by writing a variety of materials from press releases to speeches to web content, and by revising and rewriting based on the feedback from their supervisors and others they work for. By using real world experience to develop the writing skills of public relations students, the instructor's ultimate goal is to increase the marketability of BSU's public relations students. 158
Professional Development Assignment Rebecca A. Deemer, Ed.D. University of Indianapolis rdeemer@uindy.edu Christi D. Larimer University of Indianapolis While conducting ten focus groups with 44 public relations professionals totaling over 360 total years of experience, common themes of desired educational improvement immerged. Along with hoping that novice practitioners were better writers, the desire for professionalization was also prevalent. While the foci of curricula often include tactical refinement and improvements in critical thinking, educators frequently bypass coaching the professional actions of students to prepare them to enter the workforce. Based on findings of said focus groups (both the deficiency of professionalization and the suggestions that may improve the deficiency), a professional development assignment was constructed and administered to students at the University of Indianapolis (UIndy) COMM 140, Applied Public Relations. Applied Public Relations (COMM140) is a course that is taught every semester at UIndy. Students not only construct public relations tactics for clients—they strategize and execute plans. This course requires student-led public relations teams to service not-for-profit organizations throughout the entire semester. Each team (led by a student account manager) is assigned a different organization. Each organization has a different objective. The teams not only formulate a strategic plan; they bring the plan to fruition (with the time constraints of the semester possibly leaving minimal work to be executed by the client). The students are in a business relationship with the client for the duration of the semester. The student managers must learn to manage not only the client relationship, but the teams as well. Having five to six members per group, the subordinate students also gain valuable experience in working with a team and performing public relations and business activities. This course is open to any student with no pre-requisites. A first semester freshman may enroll. The students are encouraged to take the course as many times as they wish during their tenure at the University. Those who are engaged in the course are by default a member of the on-campus public relations agency, Top Dog Communication (TDC). No student can be part of this agency in any given semester without enrolling in the course. As this is the ―applied course‖ in the curriculum, this assignment fit nicely as it helps students begin to network and understand the concept of always staying current in one‘s profession—an applied aspect that is quite noteworthy, but is usually lost as most applied courses focus solely on client work. Although the assignment is part of the Applied PR course, it could certainly be utilized in any public relations course. The Professional Development Assignment The students must accrue points for professional activities all semester. They earn points and summarize them on a spreadsheet (with attachments proving their claims) accompanied with an up-to-date resume. Ten professional development points must be accrued. Examples accrued points include PRSSA meeting attendance (1 point), following 5 PR professionals on Twitter (1 point), PRSA event attendance (2 points), shadowing a PR pro (3 points), and attendance at 159
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2 0 1 2 P R O C E E D I N G S S A N
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Table of Contents Research Papers A
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RESEARCH PAPERS 5
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campus public relations agency. Wor
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involves researchers reviewing the
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showed generalizibility. Therefore,
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References Allen, M. J. (2004). Ass
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Table 2 Small sample of the evoluti
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Table 4 Instrument Refinement Data
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Table 5 Instrument Refinement Data
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Appendix Firm‟s Logo Client Satis
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This section addresses how you feel
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Communication Tools/Tactics Created
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Communication Skills of the Student
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Additional Comments This section al
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Hope for the Future: Millennial PR
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difference with their work, and the
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with participants lacking discretio
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advise on the best strategy, not to
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opportunities.‖ She also added th
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answering all of these questions th
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2011). The lack of control some Mil
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References Berger, B. K., & Reber,
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Looking Back, Looking Forward: A Th
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Internet and Web would help democra
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In 2010, Smith (2010b) used Twitter
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ecently reported implications of Wi
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Internet, as well as the role of cu
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In 2011, Freberg, Graham, McGaughey
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Conclusion Figure 1 on the followin
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How can new media be used to increa
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DiStaso, M.W. (2012). Measuring pub
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Johnson, M.A. (1997). Public relati
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McKeown, C.A., & Plowman, K.D. (199
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Sweetser, K.D. (2007). Blog bias: R
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Yang, A., & Taylor, M. (2010). Rela
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effective public relations practiti
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Additionally, many public relations
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evidence has suggested that public
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As indicated in the literature revi
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This study shows several areas in w
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Table 4: Distribution Across Employ
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Table 7: Frequency of Engagement in
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Table 8: Frequency of Use of KSAs b
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In the context of the public relati
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Lazarus and Folkman (1984) proposed
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identified as educators, and who sk
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practitioners were confronted with
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Organizational factors are importan
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extend one‘s social capital; in c
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Duhachek, A. (2005). Coping: A mult
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5. Instrumental Support I tried to
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Table 2 Hierarchical Regressions Pr
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Page 113 and 114: David, P., Kline, S., & Dai, Y. (20
Page 115 and 116: Table 2 Augmented Dickey-Fuller uni
Page 117 and 118: Table 6 The result of the Toda and
Page 119 and 120: Communication Excellence and Public
Page 121 and 122: organize and integrate a group of p
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Page 141 and 142: Bowen, S.A. (2007). Ethics and publ
Page 143 and 144: Krause, E. A. (1996). Death of the
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Page 149 and 150: Purpose How do PRSSA faculty advise
Page 151 and 152: Findings The descriptive data indic
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Page 161 and 162: shadow a professional opened my eye
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Page 197 and 198: References Bagglione, S. (2006) Rol
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Page 201 and 202: References Austin, L.L., & Toth, E.
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eviewed articles; the other two may
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The remaining points possible were
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2012 PROCEEDINGS - Public Relations Society of America

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