Reimagining The Public Relations Classroom
Commentary by Craig J Selby
As a seasoned practitioner, lecturer and trainer, it’s fantastic to see when others in a similar position innovate in their approach to helping the future generation of industry players. Be it from an industry-driven or academic perspective, it’s important for us all to bridge the gap between the classroom and the client – something that our current generation of textbooks doesn’t address sufficiently.
Back in New Zealand, I enjoyed coordinating a final semester course on Applied Management | Consultancy. Involving some entrepreneurial friends of mine, students were guided as consultants to solve internal organisational issues – small groups worked with each entrepreneur to identify, analyse, and propose solutions for the business. My focus was on the processes involved, and helping to develop the professional skills of the students. (#)
Hence, my nightly trolling through LinkedIn rewarded me with the following post about University Lecturer, Dr Jennifer Little and Unconventional Public Relations – a classroom-based Agency helping students to learn the ropes and get real-world experience. It’s always a brilliant idea when lecturers can bring the real-world (or in this case, Agency life) into the classroom – and help students develop and hone their skills, and introduces them to problem-solving paradigms that won’t be found in a textbook. What an awesome way to bridge that gap and get students enthusiastic about real campaigns, not to mention employment-ready in relation to their peers from other institutions.
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Public Relations Class Takes on Real-World Clients
A public relations classroom has started to feel a lot like a real agency to its students.
Communications lecturer Jennifer Little implemented a service-learning initiative in her public relations campaign class. Service-learning courses incorporate experiential learning, meaning her students work with real clients in the community. This creates a classroom of real-world experiences, giving students a competitive edge in the job market.
Taking the role as a service-learning fellow in the spring, it was there that Little started to develop her ideas for molding the class into a real agency sort of environment.
In preparation for the course, over the summer, Little met with three clients: the Movin’ Mavs, Tobacco Free Campus and UTA’s Startup Lounge. She wrote and reviewed their overview documents and reached out to advising agencies.
Typically, the entire class will work with one client, Little said. It wasn’t until this semester that Little decided to test having three clients simultaneously working with the students.
The other piece she said she’s testing out is having advisory agencies on board.
“We’re actually getting advice by real agencies,” said Victoria Hickman, public relations and advertising senior. “We get to establish professional relationships before we even get to graduate.”
Having been taught by Little before, Hickman said there is value in the hands-on learning environment, which will prepare her for her future career. Hickman plans to attend law school, and said she would like to put her communications and leadership skills to use.
“[Professor Little] really tries to focus on the actual experience part where you’re not just reading things from a book and conceptualizing what you’re learning,” Hickman said. “You’re actually doing it.”
Nicholas Maas, public relations and advertising senior, said this is his first semester taking one of Little’s courses, and it has been engaging since the first day.
“You think of a class and normally it’s, you know, lecture and tests and regurgitating knowledge a little bit,” Maas said. “This is 100 percent application.”
Maas received the role of project manager over his group’s client, the Movin’ Mavs. He said he definitely wanted to help the client increase name recognition with fundraising and remind the campus how special and successful a team it is.
Little said the students will have done many tasks that interns and entry-level employees do in an agency. During the class, students start building their portfolios and professional relationships.
“My goal, really, is to give our students a competitive advantage,” Little said.
Little decided to name her class agency “Unconventional Public Relations.”
“I came up with the ‘unconventional’ name because, you know, it means out of the ordinary,” Little said. “To get attention in PR you’ve got to come up with something that stands out.”
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(#) Selby, C.J., 2000, “Thematic Approach to Teaching Applied Management”, New Zealand Diploma of Business National Conference, 6-7 July 2000.
Picture credit: https://pixabay.com/en/thought-idea-innovation-imagination-2123971/
Source: http://m.theshorthorn.com/news/public-relations-class-takes-in-real-world-clients/article_dc302110-b2bb-11e8-b1c6-4b6b6fbfceb4.html
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