Individual Semester Project - 50%
This is a comprehensive semester-long project in which each student works on a strategic campaign.
Each student will select an organization and identify a public relations situation it faces. After instructor approval of this topic, the student will develop a comprehensive public relations campaign for this organization. Your grade for this project will be based on the following criteria:
- 25% Formative Research
- 25% Strategy
- 25% Tactics
- 15% Evaluative Research
- 10% Written/visual Presentation (Final)
Article Reviews - 10%
Each student will photocopy two articles from Public Relations Strategist (or another professional publication approved by the instructor) and two articles from an academic journal such as the Journal of Public Relations Research, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Marketing, Communication Quarterly, Human Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Journal of Applied Communication, Journal of Applied Communication Research or Journal of Advertising Research. Write a review of about 300 words for each article. Discuss your thoughts on the article, what it accomplished for the reader, what you learned from it, and whether/why you would recommend it to another student. Your grade for each review will be based on the following criteria:
- 20% Summary of main points.
- 30% Content: Does the information seem to be balanced? Well presented? Credible? relevant?
- 30% Personal Discussion: What you learned; personal evaluation; recommendation.
- 20% Writing mechanics.
Case Study - 25%
Each student will report to the class on a successful/unsuccessful public relations campaign. Information can be obtained at the Website www.silveranvil.org, which includes the two-page synopsis for each competition entry. The student will write a 2 -3 -page evaluation of the campaign. All writing must adhere to APA format style. Your grade for this project will be based on the following criteria:
- 20% Background & analysis; discussion of research.
- 20% Discussion of strategy.
- 20% Discussion of tactics and campaign evaluation.
- 20% What you learned; personal evaluation.
- 20% Writing mechanics; oral presentation; PowerPoint support.
Quizzes 5%
You will identify a list of terms, phrases and acronyms that every public relations practitioner should be familiar with. Provide a brief definition for each term, and identify the full name for the acronym.
Discussions 10%
Each module will include a graded discussion about the current content. They are designed both to help you learn and for you to assist each other in learning, connecting, and applying the module connect.