The Syllabus

MCOM 205 Intro to Public Relations

Instructor: Dr. Kelley Crowley

M/W/F 11:00 - 11:50

Course Philosophy:

To understand the needs of a client a PR professional must immerse him/her self in the world of the client. The underlying tenant of this class is that you cannot do “good work” for a client if you don’t understand who they are – even better than they know themselves and their audiences.  If public relations is advocacy work then the practitioner must understand what is being advocated and that happens best through immersion.

Course Objectives:

·      To understand the process of client immersion

·      Process what is learned to the creation of a campaign

·      Develop a useful client campaign based on immersion techniques

·      Apply social media to campaign based on understanding client uses

Course Purpose:

This class focuses on creating a PR campaign that promotes increasing literacy at the middle school level. To begin this process we must first understand the following:

·      Why kids don’t read (on their own for fun.)

·      What are their biases and perceptions about reading (on their own for fun.)

·      What are their blocks to reading (on their own for fun.)

·      What can be done to encourage reading?

Think about your own answers to these questions as a place to start in the materials.

Begin with who you are as a reader and how you approached reading in school.

Some of you are avid readers. Others will read but don’t read for fun. Still others frown at me when I talk about reading at all.

I’m not here to pass judgment on you regarding any of these points; you all can guess how I feel about reading. But knowing who and how you engage reading can help up to tap into others like you.

Get it?

Check out the resources on the side to help you begin to answer these questions.

I want all of you prepared to give some feedback on the first day of school. 

If you immerse yourselves in the ideas of literacy first the PR will come naturally.

Class Schedule

The class schedule is subject to change without notice. The professor holds discretionary power to change the assignment or class topics based on current events, class discussions or just better ideas.  College is about learning to learn.

Roll with the changes.

Week 1 Aug 26 – 30

Review of questions and possible answers

Reading self analysis

Bring a favorite reading to class

Week 2 Sept. 2 – 6

Your research should begin to lead into how to be engaged

What influences a personal belief system (what makes something important)

Colbert/ What Women Want

Week 3 Sept. 9 – 13

Thinking about the toolbox, what goes in it and how would they use it.

Week 4 Sept. 16 – 20

More toolbox creation and The Outliers

Week 5

Roll out for the kids

Introduce toolbox

Begin to formulate event

Week 6 Sept. 23 – 27

The PR begins

Developing the tools for working with the mass media

Develop tools of social media

Develop plans for assessment

Week 7 Sept. 30 – Oct. 4

The media relations begins

Who are our audiences?

What are the best ways to reach them?

Week 8 Oct. 7 – 11

Anatomy of a special event

What is the point?

Week 9 Oct. 14 – 18

Fall Break

More special event planning

Development of multi media materials

Week 10 Oct. 21 – 25

Development of multi media materials

More research and development

Week 11 Oct. 28 – Nov. 1

Week 12 Nov. 4 – 8

Presentation development

Week 13 Nov. 11 – 15

More presentation development

Begin rehearsals

Week 14 Nov. 18 – 22

Event date TBD/TBA

How do an campaign analysis

Week 15 Nov. 25 – 29

Event date TBD/TBA

Presentations

Week 16 Dec. 2 – 6

Event date TBD/TBA

Presentations

Karen Huff

Tote bags

Written communication with the students

What is you grade based on?

You will have a portfolio at the end of the semester that will contain the following:

An executive summary (3-5 pages)

An individual PR plan based on your executive summary (3-5 pages)

A narrative document  (2-3 pages)

This will be the featured material on a web document that you will create.

There will also be a mid-term based on five essay question 50 points

The portfolio is 50 points

A total of 100 points based an a 10% scale.

Now the fine print . . .

Plagiarism:

Cheating, even if unintended, will not be tolerated in this class. To avoid any confusion, plagiarism involves presenting someone else’s work as your own. In its most common form, plagiarism is lifting full paragraphs and/or excerpts from articles or film reviews found in print media or on the Internet without providing an appropriate acknowledgement or citation. Any suspected case of plagiarism will be remanded to the Academic Integrity Board. Please note, once a case is turned over to this board, it is out of an instructor’s hands. On a final note, students should be reminded that plagiarism is almost as easy to detect, as it is to commit. Should you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism see one of the course faculty immediately. (See Student Handbook for details on violations and disciplinary actions. E.g. Article IV. Violations: Section 1. Cheating; Section 2: Plagiarism).

Honor Code Statement:

Undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff are responsible for upholding the Honor Code, being aware of the University’s Honor Code procedures, and reporting any violations of the Honor Code. Ignorance is not an acceptable defense for failing to follow the Honor Code. Trust and mutual respect are essential to an environment in which learning is fostered.  The Honor Code, printed in the Shenandoah University Student Handbook, and on-line, provides mechanisms for dealing with academic dishonesty.  Students are expected to read the provisions of the Honor Code and to abide by them.

 Learning or other Disability:

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities.  Under ADA, a disability is defined as physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity.  If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, please register with Disability Services (located in the Academic Enrichment Center in Howe Hall, Room 204) at the beginning of the semester, or as soon as possible, so that arrangements can be made.  Disability Services will provide you with an accommodation form, which you will be responsible for submitting to the course instructor.  Please call the Academic Enrichment Center at 540-665-4928 or email dwyne@su.edu for information and the required documentation.

Inclement Weather Policy:

The Senior Vice President & Vice President for Academic Affairs (SVP) is responsible for decisions regarding class cancellations and is the official designated to authorize and post notification of class cancellations and campus closings.   Per the university’s inclement weather policy, the course instructors reserve the right to hold a make-up class on the Saturday immediately following the campus closure.  For this course, the course instructors will contact all students via electronic mail with information about how the missed class session will be made-up.  It is the responsibility of each student to check his/her email for course make-up information.  The complete inclement weather policy can be found at http://www.su.edu/about/6746BF5B511F404896EB4A5122EA833C.asp.  For questions regarding the policy, please contact the Office of Academic Affairs at (540) 665-4525.