What Are We Teaching PR Students?

A PR Student is what we call someone who graduated from a Professional or Research Master's program and who, through professional experience, wants to enter the marketing/communications field. The field includes public relations, communications management, corporate communications, government communication, journalism and journalism studies.

Professional Master's programs are great for PR students because of their high level of demands for research-based content such as case studies and all resources must pass a "test" (academic rigor) after completion. This type of program emphasizes in-depth research in new areas and takes the time to make sure they know exactly what they're teaching their students by testing it out first before teaching it to them. Although a Master's degree isn't necessary for PR students to enter the field, it's better to have one in hand than not.

As you can see from the questions, we help our students swim through their Master's programs. We give them pointers and make sure they're ready to move on after graduation. We want them to get hired as quickly as possible and these questions are designed to help us find out what they've learned since they graduated. There are also some problems that we address right away. Here are some examples:

If you didn't graduate from a PR Master's program and need help asking these questions, click here .

We want to make certain our students are getting the most from their Master's program. We don't want any PR students sitting in class learning things other than what they should be learning, so we run through a few questions based on the "sunnah" or traditional learning of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

If you're interested in joining our PR Master's program , click here .

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Article: What Are We Teaching Our PR Students?

What are we teaching our PR students? I'm constantly impressed by the passion, hard work and dedication of those who choose to become the next generation of professionals in public relations. Without the years of training, study and education that master's program demand, PR people would not have the critical skill sets needed in today's fast-paced communications environment.

And yet, what do I see at our student Master's program graduation ceremonies? ... What I see is too many graduates that are ill-equipped to make their way in this changing environment. Like so many of my colleagues, I know that there is a huge job market out there for talented public relations professionals. But what I also know is that many employers, especially the top firms, are not willing to invest their time and money in a candidate who is not well-trained and ready for the job.

Students who have been a part of my public relations program at Old Dominion University wanted to find out how we could help prepare graduates for what they would face as new professionals. So they did something about it. They started an initiative called "Mastering Public Relations." The key behind this initiative was to ensure that our students knew from day one what was expected of them professionally.

The first step in our process was to come up with a list of questions that we could use as guidelines during student evaluations at the end of each semester. These questions would help us improve the program and learn what students thought about the coursework that they were being exposed to. Since we use a case study approach to teaching, our evaluations are based on student responses as they analyze each case.

Below are a few of the questions we used for our student evaluations:

In addition to evaluating the case study content, we wanted to provide students with an opportunity to build their professional network. That meant asking them how they would go about finding a job after they graduated. The criteria they used were:

What type of job? Which place? How much salary? How many years of experience required? What types of people do you imagine working here? How important is it that my skills match up with what they're looking for? What's most important about my interview with company personnel (boss, clients, coworkers)?

Answering these questions allowed students to see what kind of opportunities awaited them in today's market. And on top of that, they had a guideline to help them match the kind of work they'd be doing to their own professional aspirations.

The last step in the process was to share their responses with faculty members and other students. During this phase, we were able to use the information that we collected from our student evaluations as the basis for determining how we could take our program to the next level.

Students at Old Dominion University are extremely fortunate to have their Master's program led by someone with a wealth of experience in public relations and communications management. I was a practicing PR professional for more than twenty years prior to coming into academia, so I was able to bring both sides of my life together under one roof. I had a passion for teaching, but also actually did public relations work in the private and non-profit sectors. This made it easy for me to balance public relations with the structure and standards of academia.

While working as a PR professional, I learned that what I was doing was nothing short of a miracle: having the time to do both my work and my classroom work was a lot more than most professionals in the field ever have to deal with. Over the years, I was able to develop many different courses that meet PR students' needs both culturally and professionally. When you are able work on both sides of your field, you know that all of your students are getting as much as they possibly can out of your classroom experience.

This is how "Mastering Public Relations" came to be. It's what I have learned from my career in public relations and communications management. I'm proud of what we have accomplished thus far, and believe that there is so much more that we can do to ensure our graduates are ready for the challenges of their professional lives.

Public relations is a powerful tool that can be used to help solve important problems. As PR students and practitioners, we should all be concerned about the issues facing our communities, countries and planet. And so, I'm working alongside my students to make sure that we are doing whatever we possibly can to ensure success in all areas of their lives—and ours as well.

As a former public relations professional, educator and consultant it is difficult for me not to comment on the profession's direction with the various changes taking place at all levels. In order to remain competitive in today's marketplace, public relations professionals need skills that they may or may not currently possess-strategic thinking, data analysis and management of social media.

Conclusion

Student orientation is a planned program to introduce new students to the teaching and learning environment in their respective college or department, encourage them to participate in campus activities and integrate them into the academic community. The orientation is intended to help students become familiar with the campus, its resources, services and policies. The orientation also serves as a time when students meet many people involved in their academic experience and become acquainted with faculty members. This interaction helps build relationships that will endure throughout the student's academic career at Loyola University Maryland.