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Public Relations

The Practice

Education

Public Relations Educationfor the 21st Century

The Professional Bond

www.commpred.orgThe Report of the Commission on Public Relations Education

November 2006

www.commpred.org

Edited by Judy VanSlyke Turk, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSADirector, School of Mass CommunicationsVirginia Commonwealth University

The Report of the Commission on Public Relations Education

The Professional Bond

Public Relations

The Practice

Education

Public Relations Educationfor the 21st Century

November 2006

Table of Contents

4 Acknowledgements

5 Executive Summary

11 Preface

13 Introduction

19 Research

21 Ethics

27 Diversity

31 Communication Technology

35 Global Implications

41 Undergraduate Education

51 Graduate Education

57 Supervised Experience

63 Distance Learning

67 Governance and Academic Support

71 Faculty Credentials

75 Professional and Pre-Professional Organizations

79 Professional Certification and Accreditation

85 A Call to Action

91 Members of the 2006 Commission

The Professional Bond — Public Relations Education and the Practice

3

4 THE PROFESSIONAL BOND — PUBLIC RELATIONS EDUCATION AND THE PRACTICE

Acknowledgements

The Commission on Public Relations Education gratefullyacknowledges the valuable support for its 2006 report fromthe following:

Funding

Institute for Public Relations

Public Relations Society of America Foundation

Scripps Howard Foundation

Report Research and Development

University of Florida

University of Maryland

University of Miami

Valparaiso University

Virginia Commonwealth University

Staff Support

Public Relations Society of America

The Commission is also grateful to its active members—those individual educators and practitioners who haveplayed a central role in producing this report, thereby help-ing to strengthen the bond between public relations educa-tion and the practice.

But beyond this traditional purpose, “TheProfessional Bond” report has also been devel-oped to demonstrate, facilitate and encourage thekind of linking of public relations education andpractice that is the hallmark of any profession.

There is much to be done—by every public re-lations constituency—to complete this bonding.So, to emphasize the importance of this mis-sion, the Commission has prepared the specialsection, “A Call to Action,” as the conclusion ofthe report.

“The Professional Bond” report is not meant tobe prescriptive. Its recommendations are pre-sented as objectives for excellence as identifiedby a cadre of distinguished educators and prac-titioners. And, developed in North America, itis simply a point of reference for the develop-ment of public relations education in otherparts of the world.

Because it is so ambitious, the report is, neces-sarily, lengthy. This summary is presented as astimulant to the reader to partake of the entirereport or, at a minimum, to select those topicsfrom among the report’s four basic categories

containing seventeen sections that are most rel-evant to his or her interests. The complete re-port is available in both “hard copy” formatand on the Commission on Public RelationsEducation website at www.commpred.org

Selected highlights of the report follow.

Research for the Report

Based on five “waves” of research, theCommission concludes that there is substantialagreement between educators and practitionerson what a public relations undergraduate stu-dent should learn, and therefore be able to per-form at the practitioner entry level.

Needed at this level: writing skills; criticalthinking and problem-solving skills; “a good at-titude”; an ability to communicate publicly;and initiative.

There also was agreement that a public rela-tions education should include an internship,practicum or some other work experience inthe field.

The research also found considerable support

The Professional Bond—Public Relations Education and the PracticeExecutive SummaryThis report, like earlier reports of the Commission on Public Relations

Education, presents recommendations for public relations undergradu-

ate and graduate education.

5

for interdisciplinary study in subjects such asmanagement and behavioral science.

Public Relations Ethics

In addition to noting that professional ethics islargely predicated on the personal ethics ofeveryone in the public relations professionalcommunity, the Commission emphasizes that:

◆ A consideration of ethics should pervade allcontent of public relations professional educa-tion.

◆ If a curriculum cannot accommodate a dedi-cated ethics course, short one-hour courses ormini seminars can provide a meaningfulethics forum for undergraduates.

Diversity

“Successful managers of organizations now rec-ognize that a diverse workforce—recruited,trained and retained—can deliver valuable in-sights and performance,” the report states.

This section presents an in-depth treatment of defining diversity, identifying its major ele-ments essential to public relations educationand how, in the practice, public relations canadvance diversity in society.

Communication Technology

“Public relations educators must ensure thattheir students are prepared not only to be profi-cient in the use of the most recent communica-tion technology, but also to understand andappreciate the societal ramifications of its use.Educators also must use this technology tomaximize the effectiveness of their own in-struction,” the report states.

The Commission therefore recommends thatthe latest communication technology used inthe public relations practice be integrated intocoursework to the extent that institutional re-sources will allow; and that student proficiencywith such technology may be achieved largelythrough internships.

Global Implications

“Public relations is now arguably becoming aglobal profession in an increasingly connectedworld where mutual understanding and harmonyare more important than ever,” the report states.

In recognizing that public relations varies, un-derstandably, with the society in which it ispracticed, the Commission in this section pres-ents seven levels of analysis to profile public re-lations education and practice in various partsof the world.

These levels of analysis are: cultural values andbeliefs; laws and public policies; externalgroups, organizations and associations; institu-tional factors in the academic setting; interna-tional exchange programs; inter-personalfactors within an institution; and intra-personalfactors among students and educators.

Undergraduate Education

“Undergraduate public relations education hasbeen shifting and repositioning itself in stepwith the practice of public relations… Whenpractitioners aid organizations in developingmutually beneficial relationships among diversepublics, organizations thrive,” the report states.

Therefore the Commission recommends moreemphasis on ethics and transparency, new technology, integration of messages and tools,interdisciplinary problem solving, diversity,global perspectives and research and resultsmeasurement.

This section identifies a broad spectrum ofknowledge and skills that should be taught inthe undergraduate public relations curriculum.

Knowledge to be acquired ranges from commu-nication and persuasion concepts and strategies,relationships and relationship-building and soci-etal trends to uses of research and forecasting,multicultural and global issues and manage-ment concepts and theories. A similar samplingof the skills to be attained ranges from masteryof language in written and oral communica-


Executive Summary

tions, issues management and audience seg-mentation to informative and persuasive writ-ing, critical listening skills and applyingcross-cultural and cross-gender sensitivity.

The Commission has identified the followingcourses for an “ideal” undergraduate major inpublic relations:

◆ Introduction to public relations (includingtheory, origin and principles)

◆ Case studies in public relations that reviewthe professional practice

◆ Public relations research, measurement and evaluation

◆ Public relations law and ethics

◆ Public relations writing and production

◆ Public relations planning and management

◆ Public relations campaigns

◆ Supervised work experience in public rela-tions (internship)

◆ Directed electives

“Although some academic programs will find itdifficult to offer seven courses devoted entirelyto public relations, the Commission believes thetopics covered in the courses above are essen-tial for a quality public relations education.While these topics could be combined intocourses in different ways, and some of thesecourses might also address additional topics, amajor should offer sufficient courses to addressthe knowledge and skills identified as neces-sary for success in the field,” the report states.

The report continues: “A minimum of fivecourses should be required in the public rela-tions major.” An academic emphasis shouldminimally include the following courses:


◆ Public relations research, measurement and evaluation


◆ Supervised work experience in public relations (internship)

◆ An additional public relations course in lawand ethics, planning and management, casestudies or campaigns

Graduate Education

In qualitative research conducted for this re-port, 18 public relations leaders supported sev-eral types of graduate public relations programsrather than endorsing the MBA or dismissingpublic relations graduate education as unneces-sary. The Commission’s research suggests thatgraduate education should move toward under-standing business, management and public re-lations as strategic management functions.

MASTER’S LEVEL

The graduate student should master the follow-ing content areas beyond undergraduate com-petencies:

◆ Public relations theory and concepts

◆ Public relations law

◆ Public relations ethics

◆ Global public relations

◆ Public relations applications

◆ Public relations management

◆ Public relations research

◆ Public relations programming and production

◆ Public relations publics

◆ Communication processes

◆ Management sciences

◆ Behavioral sciences

◆ Internship and practicum experience

◆ Thesis and capstone project and/or comprehensive exam

THE PROFESSIONAL BOND — PUBLIC RELATIONS EDUCATION AND THE PRACTICE 7

The Commission also notes courses such asthese can be configured in three different mod-els, depending on student intent—doctoral pro-gram, advanced career preparation or aspecialization in public relations.

DOCTORAL LEVEL

The Commission notes that the production ofdoctoral graduates has not kept pace with theneed, either in education or in the practice. Soit recommends academic credentials and “in-creased partnerships with professionals [practi-tioners] and professional organizations to helpeducators stay current with the practice of pub-lic relations.”

It also recommends “the development of addi-tional doctoral programs where undergraduateand master’s degree public relations programstrength and faculties exist” and lists a series ofinitiatives to help achieve this outcome.

Supervised Experience

This section provides a valuable checklist of 16 issues to be confronted in developing intern-ships appropriate to the academic institutionand its students. In addressing the difficult sub-ject of paid or unpaid internships, the Commis-sion notes that “students almost always selectthe organizations to which they apply for in-ternships, and organizations offering pay attractthe best candidates.”

For this and other reasons, the Commission rec-ommends that “sponsoring organizations of alltypes—companies, firms, government agenciesand nonprofits—pay public relations studentsfor internships.”

Among its other recommendations: academiccredit for internships should be reserved forworkplace experiences that include an on-sitesupervisor knowledgeable in public relations,and organizations should assign student internsto supervisors who will routinely and clearly in-struct students and evaluate their performance.

Distance Learning

Commission research determined that despitethe rapid growth of online education (distancelearning) in the United States, no complete un-dergraduate public relations online program ap-pears to be available at the time of its research.However, the six universities in the TennesseeBoard of Regents System offer a five-course pub-lic relations sequence (principles, writing, re-search, case problems and campaigns) in theirorganizational leadership concentration for anonline bachelor of professional studies degree.

At the graduate level, there is no entirely publicrelations program that is totally online.

In summary, the Commission suggests that“public relations in the next decade will need toinclude online education in its mix of deliverymethods if it is to keep pace with professionaleducation.” To introduce quality online pro-grams, public relations program administratorsand faculty must address resources (incentives,design and development costs), pedagogy andquality assurance.

Governance and Academic Support

The placement of academic programs withinthe administrative structure of universities seri-ously affects the ability of such programs inpublic relations to independently respond andadapt to the needs of the public relations pro-fession.

“Too, a dominant influencing factor at an insti-tution of higher education is the degree of out-side funding support provided for, or, in somecases, state legislative direction in political re-sponse to a profession,” the report states.

The Commission therefore cites two criticalneeds if public relations is to achieve status asa profession with generally accepted educationrequirements for performance:

◆ Increased economic influence

◆ Increased involvement of professionals and


Executive Summary

the profession to influence the developmentof public relations education.

This section recommends specific steps thatwill increase responsiveness and accelerate ad-vancement as well as intra-institution structuralcommitments that will strengthen public rela-tions programs appreciably.

Faculty Credentials

There is a shortage of qualified public relationseducators, being made more acute by the in-creasing number of public relations students.

This challenge for the profession is com-pounded by the fact that colleges and universi-ties are being pressured by accrediting bodiesto fill faculty positions with Ph.D.s.

The Ph.D. degree prepares faculty not only asteachers but also as scholars who conduct re-search using multiple methodologies to helpbuild theory that adds to the public relationsbody of knowledge.

“While the Commission believes there is aplace in the academy for former practitionerswith substantial and significant experience,those practitioners may be expected to earntheir terminal degrees, i.e., their Ph.D.s, as acredential for becoming full-time faculty,” thereport states.

Professional and Pre-Professional Organizations

Students studying public relations in the UnitedStates have the opportunity to join any of anumber of professional organizations or pre-professional organizations before they graduate.By becoming active members of such organiza-tions, they can begin to see how they might fitinto the profession and, perhaps, form a link toan entry-level position.

This section provides detailed information on anumber of U.S. and global organizations thatassist students in such orientation. The sectionalso presents information on establishing stu-

dent-managed firms through universities andopportunities for scholarships, awards andother support by organizations such as TheLaGrant Foundation (internships and scholar-ships for minority students studying public re-lations), the Council of PR Firms, the ArthurPage Society and PRWeek magazine.

Program Certification and Accreditation

Many public relations academic programs benefitby being certified by the Public Relations Societyof America (PRSA) and/or accredited by theAccrediting Council on Education in Journalismand Mass Communications (ACEJMC).

These programs gain from the extensive self-ex-amination against certification and accredita-tion standards of excellence. And they alsoacquire stature for having met these standards.

PRSA Certification examines the public rela-tions program exclusively while ACEJMC ac-creditation is a “unit” examination, i.e., itreviews all mass communication programs atthe institution, which often include print andelectronic journalism, advertising and public re-lations.

Both programs are voluntary. Each has ninestandards of review with recent added empha-sis on diversity and outcomes assessment.Currently, public relations programs at 14 U.S.universities, one Canadian college and one uni-versity in Argentina are certified by PRSA.ACEJMC currently has granted accreditation to88 mass communication units with public rela-tions programs.

The Commission recommends that more publicrelations programs seek certification and/or accreditation and that more practitioners volun-teer to serve on site visiting teams for these im-portant evaluations of academic excellence. Inaddition, it urges public relations associationsnot now members of ACEJMC to consider join-ing the Council, thereby increasing public rela-tions’ “share of voice” in this importantendeavor.


A Call to Action

Contemporary public relations education is stillyoung, searching for its “home”—and often itslegitimacy—in academe. The field is largelypopulated by practitioners who never had anopportunity for its formal study, thus learningtheir craft primarily from lengthy experience.

That picture is changing. Graduates from publicrelations academic programs are entering thefield in increasing numbers.

“While the record of broad support for publicrelations education by professional groups isgrowing, there is a critical need for similar ac-tion by individual practitioners and the firms,companies and organizations with which theyare associated and in which they are influen-tial,” the report states.

“Too few are contributing financial support topublic relations programs in colleges and univer-sities of their choice,” according to the report.

This final section is the Commission’s clarioncall to practitioners for a new level of commit-ment to public relations education. It enumer-ates eight specific actions—some financial,some “in kind”—that practitioners can take tostrengthen the professional bond between edu-cation and the practice. And, the Commissionnotes, educators likewise can have a vital rolein strengthening that bond, mainly by takingthe initiative to establish or nurture relation-ships with practitioners and their organizations.

The “A Call to Action” section also presents thefirst known “Sampling of Major Gifts to PublicRelations Education,” a valuable compendiumof such largesse provided to stimulate addi-

tional support to public relations programs.

“Today, there are too few ‘angels’ supporting public relations education,but just a few can lead the way.”

Betsy Plank, APR, Fellow PRSA50-year public relations executive and donor

“What a wonderful service you have done for public relations in compiling the list of major gifts to forward publicrelations education”

Harold Burson, APR, Fellow PRSABurson-Marsteller


Executive Summary

A Good Place to StartHere’s how:

Contact the development staff at your almamater if it has a public relations program. Ifnot, select a program from the list of PRSA-certified units in the Program Certificationand Accreditation Section (http://prsa.org/_About/overview/certification.asp?ident=over5) or from the list of ACEJMC accred-ited units (http://www2.ku.edu/~acejmc/STUDENT/PROGLIST.SHTML). A third op-tion is to identify a program that sponsorsone of the more than 270 chapters of thePublic Relations Student Society of America(www.prssa.org).

Any of these first steps will put you on theroad to supporting not only the individual public relations program but also The Professional Bond—Public RelationsEducation and the Practice.

www.commpred.org

If you work in public relations, or teach it, youprobably have used the word “profession” fromtime to time. Indeed, when we define public re-lations in its broadest sense—as an essentialmanagement function that helps an organiza-tion and its publics build relationships that en-able them to understand and support oneanother—a case can certainly be made that pub-lic relations is a profession.

Many scholars argue that an occupation be-comes a profession only if certain conditionsexist, among them:

◆ a substantial body of research-based knowledge;

◆ standardized education systems to help createand disseminate that knowledge;

◆ a commitment to lifelong professional learning;

◆ core ethical principles;

◆ and a fundamental sense of responsibility, in-creasingly global in scope, for bettering ourcivil societies.

While it might seem that The Professional Bondhas been developed primarily to assist educa-

tors as they develop public relations curriculaand administer programs in this field, theCommission on Public Relations Education be-lieves that this report will have value for abroad spectrum of other audiences as well:

◆ Public relations practitioners, as employers invirtually every kind of institution. They willgain a clearer picture of how public relationseducation prepares today’s students to matchpractitioners’ criteria for entry and growth inthe field—and perhaps conclude that practi-tioners must increase their support for publicrelations education.

◆ Business, government and nonprofit leaders.This audience may find new insights intohow public relations can help organizationsbuild and maintain robust, mutually benefi-cial relationships with stakeholders at a time when the challenges of globalization,technology, diversity and ethics have neverbeen greater.

◆ Students who are studying or consideringpublic relations at the undergraduate andgraduate levels. They will learn the intellectu-

Preface

This report is required reading for everyone who thinks public

relations professionalism matters: practitioners, educators, students

and university administrators.


11

ally challenging, socially significant field thatawaits them—where job prospects are bright-est for those who have experienced athoughtful, well-rounded curriculum that pre-pares them for what lies ahead.

◆ University administrators who may develop astronger appreciation for the growing appealof public relations study, as evidenced by in-creasing enrollments. They will perhaps bemoved to channel increased support to suchprograms.

This report is structured for all of these audi-ences. An executive summary, available in bothprint and online, aims to satisfy those who seekto quickly grasp the overall direction and im-portance of the Commission’s recommenda-tions. Readers in search of more depth willwant to review the complete report, which alsois available in print and online.

The Commission on Public Relations Educationincludes representatives of 12 professional soci-

eties in the field of public relations and commu-nication. The Commission published its firstcurricular guidelines in 1975. The 2006 reportmarks the fourth revision over three decades.

The last report, issued in 1999, carried the titleA Port of Entry. That report articulated its mis-sion as providing guidelines, recommendationsand standards for public relations education—undergraduate, graduate and continuing—forthe early 21st Century.

The 2006 report seeks to surpass even the ambi-tious mission of 1999 in connecting public rela-tions education more closely with the practice.This new effort reflects two years of national re-search and study conducted pro bono by theCommission’s educators and practitioners. Itwill be judged a success if intended audiencesconclude that public relations education todayis more attuned than ever to helping the profes-sion build understanding, credibility and trustbetween organizations and their publics.


Preface

This is an understatement when the growthand changes occurring since the 1999 report areexamined. This growth and five major areas ofchange inform this 2006 report.

Growth

This report began as an interim effort on theway to a new full report in 2009, 10 years afterthe last report. Commission members soon dis-covered, however, that the practice of public re-lations has grown and changed so much since1999 that an interim report would have beeninadequate. For example, in a field that wasonce predominantly male, females now consti-tute almost two-thirds of all practitioners and asmuch as 70 to 80 percent of undergraduate en-rollment in some university programs, an im-balance that has been increasing since 1999.

Growth in public relations education is not justa matter of raw numbers, such as those re-flected in ever-increasing classroom enroll-

ments. It is also occurring relative to otherareas within communication, journalism andrelated fields such as marketing and manage-ment. For example, the May 2005 AEJMCNewsletter of the Association for Education inJournalism and Mass Communication [AEJMC]reported that in just the 197 universities re-sponding to a survey, there were “281 pro-grams—133 in public relations, 95 inadvertising and 53 advertising-PR joint pro-grams. Since 1992-93, the number of public re-lations programs increased by 14, whileadvertising dropped 25.” On yet another andvery important front, the Public RelationsStudent Society of America has grown to morethan 270 chapters.

Another sign of growth: journalism as a profes-sion appears to be losing ground to public rela-tions as reflected in projected growth inemployment. The 2006 Bureau of LaborStatistics Occupational Outlook Handbook(http://www.bls.gov.oco/ocos086.htm) pre-

Introduction

The Commission on Public Relations Education said in its October,

1999, report, A Port of Entry, “The changes in public relations practice

since the 1987 Commission on Public Relations Education report are

numerous and profound…. By any measure, the growth of the public

relations profession over the past decade has been astonishing.”


13

dicts that public relations employment willgrow from 18 to 26 percent between 2004 and2014 while jobs for “news analysts, reportersand correspondents” are expected to be rela-tively flat over the same period, growing only 0to 8 percent.

One downside of such growth has been theteaching of public relations-related course con-tent in management, marketing and corporatecommunication programs by faculty not experi-enced in public relations nor properly creden-tialed to teach the subject. As a result we nowunderstand that:

◆ Once-a-decade Commission reports may beinadequate.

◆ Rather than simply reporting its growth andprogress, public relations education hasreached a point where it needs to developnew management strategies.

A paramount issue in the management ofgrowth in public relations education is findingways to answer the need for more public rela-tions instructors trained in and committed tothe field. In the past, teaching vacancies in thefield have too often been filled with instructorswithout the Ph.D. or research and theoryknowledge, without actual practitioner experi-ence or both. Absent documented and specificpublic relations experience or graduate study inpublic relations, a degree in English, business,advertising, journalism, mass communicationor other professional fields is not evidence ofpreparation to teach public relations. Indeed, asthe field of public relations continues to growand become more complex and professional, itis increasingly important to recruit only highly

qualified faculty with both theoretical and ex-periential credentials.

In addition to growth, the Commission identi-fied five major themes that characterize the de-velopment of public relations since the lastreport: strategic emphasis, internationalizationof the practice, the importance of diversity, anessential emphasis on ethics and social respon-sibility, and increased questions about curricu-lar and structural independence on somecampuses.

ThemesStrategic Emphasis and Professionalism

The Commission recognizes how rapidly publicrelations is developing from a set of technicalskills into a much more strategic, professionaland management-focused endeavor. Public re-lations is moving up the corporate and public-sector ladders. As a result:

◆ While fundamental writing skills remain atthe core of public relations education, busi-ness and industry have become so strategi-cally oriented in the information age that toomuch focus on technical skills in a curricu-lum may actually disadvantage graduateswho need greater research, problem-solving,strategic thinking, planning and managementand counseling skills.

◆ Departments and programs that rely on su-perficial similarities in writing style by hiringtechnically trained journalism, English andbusiness writers in place of credentialed pub-lic relations instructors are failing to providetheir students with a modern, competitivepublic relations education.

◆ Training in research methods should now beonly a half step behind writing training as apriority in the public relations curriculum be-cause sophisticated research is central tostrategic planning and evaluation. Both quan-titative and qualitative approaches should betaught as required core skills in all public re-lations programs, but the most advanced pro-


… (T)he field of public relations has grown

and changed so much since 1999 that an

interim report would have been inadequate.

Introduction

grams will emphasize multi-methodologicalresearch for both planning and evaluation.

Internationalization

Public relations has become increasingly inter-national and intercultural in the last fewdecades. The Commission’s 1999 report wasmostly silent on international practice and edu-cation in public relations, partly to avoidCommission members being seen as arrogantAmericans. Today, public relations educatorsreadily acknowledge how much they havelearned, individually and collectively, frompractitioners and academics from other cul-tures, and the Commission recommends an on-going and expanding exchange.

Current curricula must be updated to reflect theinternational and intercultural reality that ismodern public relations today:

◆ Public relations educators in the United Statesshould integrate the experiences of practition-ers and teachers in developing areas of theworld into their curricula, including lessonslearned from portions of non-Islamic Asia, theIslamic world, sub-Saharan Africa, SouthAmerica and Eastern Europe.

◆ An emphasis on globalization, interculturalstudies and international programs can nowbe found in the strategic plans of most uni-versities. No academic field on a campus, ex-cept perhaps international studies, is moreinherently international than public relations.Public relations curricula should reflect thisfact, and public relations academics shouldplay an active role in helping to international-ize their campuses.

◆ Because strategic communication campaignsare one of international terrorism’s primaryweapons, public relations academics have aspecial responsibility to contribute to anti-ter-rorism initiatives on their campuses and touse opportunities to educate colleagues onthe requirements of ethical public relationscampaigns.

Diversity

To lead strategic communication efforts in anincreasingly diverse society, public relationsmust meet three diversity challenges. First,public relations must become more diverse inthe composition of its student and practitionerpopulations. Second, public relations must be-come more sophisticated in meeting the com-munication needs of diverse communities.Third, public relations must draw on the diver-sity of the nation as a resource to strengthencorporate, governmental and nonprofit commu-nication. Therefore:

◆ Public relations education programs shouldreflect in their faculty and student composi-tion the racial and ethnic makeup of the soci-ety and the campus to which they belong. Insome cases, this might require new ap-proaches to recruiting, while in others, inno-vative course offerings may be needed, and instill others, changes in policies or practicesmay be needed to attract and retain good mi-nority students.

◆ Major issues in diversity, such as the uniqueeconomic, employment and health-risk issuesconfronting minority communities, should beaddressed in the public relations curriculumso that public relations students are betterequipped to understand the needs of diversepublics.

◆ Public relations curricula also should helpstudents develop a sophisticated understand-ing of the particular communication chan-nels, strategies and customs of minoritypublics to facilitate more sensitive and effec-tive campaigns in both minority and majoritycommunities.

Ethics and Social Responsibility

As public relations evolves into a more strate-gic and international practice, it affects morepeople more profoundly, does so in more coun-tries and cultures and does so more quicklythan ever before. As a result, public relations


practitioners and academics alike have ele-vated their concern for ethics by, for example,impanelling a National Ethics Commission andauthorizing a major revision of the PRSA Codeof Ethics in 2000.

◆ Revisions of the PRSA Code (first adopted in1951), as well as the wording of the Code ofEthics of the International Public RelationsAssociation (IPRA), reflect an increasing con-cern for the social, as well as the economic,role of public relations.

◆ Much of the tremendous expansion and accel-eration of public relations practice over thepast decade can be traced to new informationtechnologies, such as the Internet. As a result,public relations curricula will need to developmore sophisticated ethical analyses to helpguide practitioners in ethics and the use ofnew information technologies throughout andwithin other cultures.

Curricular and Structural Independence

The Commission found an amorphous butgrowing sense that public relations might bene-fit as a profession and in its educational devel-opment by sometimes being taught outside ofjournalism/mass communication and (speech)communication units, the traditional academichomes of public relations education. One con-cern of public relations educators and studentsis that the Commission’s recommended curricu-lum revisions, intensive writing training andpractitioner links that are needed in public rela-tions may not be feasible in combined journal-ism, mass communication or communicationdepartments where public relations’ large en-rollments often are used to fund other subjectareas. As a result, funds generated from public

relations students often do not get used to hirewell-qualified public relations faculty or to offerneeded writing, research and practicumcourses. This means in some cases that publicrelations programs have been, or may be, un-able to fully implement recommendations inthe 1999 and 2006 Commission reports.

The Commission recognizes department anduniversity administrators have to make re-source-allocation decisions based on a varietyof student needs so that using public relations-generated resources to support other programsis sometimes appropriate. Nevertheless, whentuition dollars of public relations students areused to fund other subject areas, the effect is togive public relation students a smaller return ontheir tuition dollars than students in other areasof journalism, mass communication or (speech)communication. Thus:

◆ Decisions to use tuition funds from public re-lations students to help fund other areas of aprogram should be formally and periodicallyreviewed and disclosed to the public relationsfaculty and students involved.

◆ The Commission takes no position onwhether independent departments of publicrelations are desirable. Such decisions shouldbe based on careful consideration of institu-tional missions and program goals as well asan evaluation of how to achieve quality pub-lic relations education and professional prepa-ration of students. Independence might offergreat opportunities in some cases and greatrisks in others.

◆ In this era of decreasing tax support for pub-lic education, the level of practitioner supportan occupation enjoys is viewed as a major in-dicator of the social value of the field. Publicrelations has succeeded in building several ef-fective bridges between the practitioner andacademic communities, although still moreare needed. For example, this Commission isa joint academician-practitioner body. Publicrelations practitioners need to substantially


...(C)ontinued growth and

success in public relations requires

lifelong learning.

Introduction

upgrade their level of financial and other sup-port for academic programs, however, if theyare to assure adequate university programsupport for their profession.

A Call to Action

Finally, the Commission wishes to note twocritically important subjects of significance totoday’s—and tomorrow’s—public relationspractitioners. The Commission suggests thatpractitioners and educators pay special atten-tion to the “A Call to Action” section of this re-port which presents a range of initiatives thatindividuals and organizations can undertake tostrengthen the bond between public relationseducation and the practice. Frankly, practi-tioner support of public relations education hasbeen inadequate. It is time to remedy thisshortcoming!

Too, the Commission notes that, as in all pro-fessions, continued growth and success in pub-lic relations requires lifelong learning. Theopportunities for such professional develop-ment, too many to be identified in this report,are as varied as they are vital—with many suchopportunities provided by the professional soci-eties that are represented on the Commission.The Commission urges every public relationsprofessional to commit to such study, not onlyfor personal achievement, but also for furtherdevelopment of the public relations profession.

Structure of the Report

Recognizing that Commission reports often areused more as reference works than as texts, this

report is divided into 17 sections to facilitatefinding the specific content a reader may need.These sections are:

Executive Summary

Preface

Introduction

Research

Ethics

Diversity


Global Implications


Graduate Education


Distance Learning


Faculty Credentials

Pre-Professional Organizations

Professional Certification and Accreditation

A Call to Action

While this report benefits greatly from theoverall editing of Judy VanSlyke Turk, Ph.D.,APR, Fellow PRSA, the reader will note that thesections of this report vary somewhat in writ-ing style and structure. This is intentional,both because it gives the reader some flavor ofthe variety of practitioner and academic bodiesthat comprise the Commission and, we hope,because it helps reach a spectrum of public re-lations-related audiences with a variety ofvoices from both public relations educationand practice.


◆ A survey of public relations practitioners andeducators. Randomly selected practitionersand educators were surveyed on the state ofpublic relations education’s student outcomesand curricula at both undergraduate andgraduate levels.

◆ Personal interviews were conducted withleading senior practitioners and educators.Telephone interviews were conducted with apurposive sample of leading practitionersfrom corporate, agency and nonprofit publicrelations. They were asked their perspectiveson public relations practice trends and howpublic relations undergraduate and graduateeducation could best contribute to improvingthe practice of public relations.

◆ A survey of leaders of public relations firms.Members of the Council of Public RelationsFirms were asked their perceptions of thevalue of public relations education as a hiringcredential and as preparation for employment.

◆ A survey of faculty advisers to the PublicRelations Student Society of America(PRSSA). Advisers were asked in a Web-based

survey about internships for public relationsstudents at their colleges and universities.

◆ A survey of leaders of public relations aca-demic programs at colleges and universities.Program heads were asked to report on thegrowth and expansion of public relations cur-ricula and enrollment at their institutions.

There was substantial agreement across the fivestudies and between practitioners and educatorsabout what public relations students shouldstudy and learn, and about what public relationspractitioners should be able to do at both theentry level and in senior positions. There alsowas substantial agreement between these 2006studies and those conducted by the Commissionin 1999 prior to its Port of Entry report.

What Skills Practitioners Need

This body of research findings indicates thatthe top-rated competencies sought in hiringentry-level practitioners are writing skills, criti-cal thinking and problem-solving skills, a goodattitude, the ability to communicate publiclyand initiative. For practitioners at a more ad-

Research

This report of the Commission on Public Relations Education

draws on the findings of five research projects conducted in the

United States by Commission members:


19

vanced level, research skills, the ability to han-dle the media professionally, work experiencein public relations, knowledge of the role ofpublic relations on the management team andknowledge of issues management are the mostprized characteristics.

All too often, however, those competencies andskills are weak or missing in both entry-leveland more advanced practitioners. Writing skills,understanding of business practices and criticalthinking and problem-solving skills were identi-fied as deficiencies in entry-level practitioners,while research skills, a global perspective andexperience with a variety of cultures were prob-lematic among more experienced practitioners.

What a Public Relations Curriculum Should Include

A public relations curriculum that would prop-erly prepare undergraduate students to meetthe expectations and challenges of public rela-tions careers would, according to this research,include this essential course content:

◆ writing and speaking skills

◆ the fundamentals of public relations

◆ strategic thinking skills

◆ research skills

◆ planning and problem-solving skills

◆ ethics

◆ the fundamentals of how organizations operate

◆ liberal arts and sciences

There also was substantial agreement that pub-

lic relations education should include an intern-ship, practicum or other work experience in thefield. The survey of faculty advisers to PRSSAChapters indicated that virtually all public rela-tions students complete at least one internship.

At the graduate level, the research showed con-siderable support for interdisciplinary studythat might, for instance, include communica-tion, management and behavioral science.

Trends Affecting Public Relations Practice

These curriculum recommendations were con-sistent with what both practitioners and educa-tors identified as trends in the practice of publicrelations. The public relations knowledge andskills they identified as essential would preparestudents to succeed professionally in the con-text of these trends:

◆ the need for transparency and accountability

◆ the increasing value of public relations to top management

◆ the demand for public relations researchmethodology, measurement and metrics

◆ globalization

◆ an increasingly complex and difficult ethicalenvironment

◆ challenges to institutional trust and credibility

◆ rapidly changing media

◆ technological change

◆ the increasing importance of internal audiences

◆ the need for organizations to integrate their communication


Research

Ethical conduct transcends geographical andgeopolitical boundaries, and a common stan-dard for ethical conduct should apply acrossdifferent countries and regions. Thus, interna-tional ethical standards should be closely ex-amined and followed. Of course, culturalvariables must be considered when public rela-tions professionals practice abroad. However,practitioners should be cautious about deter-mining that questionable practices are “cultur-ally bound.” Rather, public relationsprofessionals should carefully examinewhether these practices are indeed commonlyadopted within a culture and are considered tobe ethical by the majority of local profession-als. Also, a practice is not necessarily ethicaljust because it is widely adopted in one ormore countries, as research on internationalmedia transparency has pointed out(Kruckeberg & Tsetsura, 2003; Tsetsura, 2005).

Recent business and communication scandalshave emphasized the importance of honest,fair and transparent public relations, which is amust in today’s business environment. One ofthe greatest challenges for public relations pro-fessionals is to demonstrate and prove thatnew ways of thinking and new practices are in-deed founded on ethical principles. New-gener-ation professionals should follow honestpractices to build a fundamental trust betweenpublics and organizations. This transparencyrequires ethical decision-making and an in-creasingly influential role at the table wheredecisions are made.

The successful public relations practitioner ishighly intelligent, literate and well-read, an ed-ucated global citizen with an extensive knowl-edge of both the history of civilization and ofglobal current events. The practitioner pos-sesses excellent professional communication

Ethics

In today’s practice of public relations, ethical conduct is quintessential.

Modern public relations is defined by ethical principles, and no public

relations practice should exist in contemporary society without a full

commitment to ethical practice. Ethics for the public relations profes-

sion can be defined as a set of a priori principles, beliefs and values

that should be followed by all who engage in public relations practice.


21

skills and has both exceptional depth andbreadth in public relations theory.

Equally as important as this professional com-petence is public relations practitioners’ ethicalconduct in both their professional and personallives. Reflexively, the traits of successful practi-

tioners help to assure that these professionalsare capable of making informed and well-rea-soned ethical decisions. Practitioners also mustappreciate the societal, organizational and per-sonal necessities for abiding by the highest eth-ical conduct. And, while public relationsprofessional education perhaps cannot makestudents ethical, either professionally or per-sonally, such education can define and teachprofessional ethics. It can provide a body ofknowledge about the process of ethical deci-sion-making that can help students not only torecognize ethical dilemmas, but to use appro-priate critical thinking skills to help resolvethese dilemmas in a way that results in an ethi-cal outcome.

Educators and their institutions, in communica-tion and consultation with practitioners, alsomust identify and resolve their own profes-sional ethical issues related to public relationseducation. Such issues revolve around thetypes and numbers of students recruited forthis professional education and the likelihoodof these students’ success, as well as the num-bers and credentials of faculty who are as-signed to public relations professionaleducation and the budgetary and other re-sources that colleges and universities invest inpublic relations education.

Summary of Recommendations in theCommission’s October 1999 Report

The October 1999 Report of the Commission onPublic Relations Education identified ethical is-sues as a component of requisite knowledge inan undergraduate education, i.e., as a part ofwhat graduates should know and understand.The report also identified ethical decision-mak-ing as a necessary skill. For graduate education,the October 1999 report identified public rela-tions ethics as a content area that should bemastered at a level beyond that expected of un-dergraduates, recommending a seminar on pub-lic relations ethics and philosophy in a sample30-hour program. Significantly, the October1999 Commission report listed as first amongits 12 assumptions: “The ethical practice ofpublic relations is the context in which and forwhich education must occur.”

The report further declared that graduates ofpublic relations programs should be “ethicalleaders appreciative of cultural diversity andthe global society,” further noting, “Public rela-tions practitioners and educators should beleaders in building understanding that publicrelations has a fundamental responsibility tosociety and adds value to society.” The study ofcodes of ethics in public relations, as well as inother professions, was considered to be essen-tial in undergraduate education. Specific legalissues such as privacy, defamation, copyright,product liability and financial disclosure wereto be studied as well as legal and regulatorycompliance and credibility. The 1999Commission report further suggested that atleast one course in public relations law andethics should be included in the curricula ofpublic relations programs.

The October 1999 Commission report identifiedsome ethical issues that merited attention ingraduate education:

◆ philosophical principles

◆ international ethical issues


…(W)hile public relations professional

education… cannot make students ethical,…

such education can define and teach

professional ethics.

Ethics

◆ concealment vs. disclosure

◆ divided loyalties and social responsibility

◆ accountability

◆ professionalism

◆ codes of ethics

◆ whistleblowing

◆ confidentiality

◆ ethical dealing with the media

◆ solicitation of new business

◆ ethics of research

◆ logical arguments

◆ multicultural and gender diversity

The report urged Ph.D. candidates to conductdissertation research that would help to addresssuch important public relations issues as socialresponsibility.

Progress and Change Since the 1999 Report

Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that pub-lic relations educators and professionals arerecognizing the increasing importance andcomplexity of public relations ethics in the 21st

Century. Exciting new research is being re-ported not only by senior scholars, but also byyounger scholars who have made ethics an im-portant and, in some cases, primary part oftheir research agendas.

New Research Findings and Analysis

The Commission’s most recent researchstrongly indicates that, given the organizationalcrises of recent years, ethics and organizationaltransparency are key issues frequently dis-cussed by both practitioners and educators.Qualitative research participants urged under-graduate education programs to include an ex-amination of ethical issues and societal trendsin their curricula. These participants noted the

need for transparency and the increasing trendin accountability, with ethics a more complexconsideration today. The Commission’s quanti-tative research echoed these concerns.

And it has become abundantly obvious thatpublic relations cannot be viewed as a “massmedia” career bound by traditional mediaethics. Rather, it must be seen as a professionof counselors who help to create and maintainan organization’s relationships with its stake-holders and with society at large throughmeans that extend far beyond practitioners’ his-toric expertise in sending messages through themass media. Public relations practitioners arecounselors who are knowledgeable–theoreti-cally as well as technically–about communica-tion in its broadest and most philosophicalsense. The ethical issues of public relations,therefore, extend beyond those of the massmedia. Coursework and instruction dedicatedto mass media ethics cannot fully satisfy theneeds of public relations professional educa-tion.

2006 Recommendations

1. All learning objectives in public relations edu-cation must be placed within the frameworkand context of public relations ethics.Professional ethics must not only be inte-grated into all coursework in public relations,but must also be given priority as a discretecomponent of the public relations curriculum.Public relations ethics are critically importantbecause public relations practitioners sharewith other professional occupations not onlythe ability to significantly help (or hurt) theirclients, but also the ability to greatly influ-ence stakeholders and society at large.

2. Public relations practitioners have an un-questionable moral obligation to act profes-sionally, i.e., in a socially responsiblemanner, within their own societies as well aswithin an emerging global community. To doso, the community of public relations profes-sionals, both practitioners and educators,


must publicly define their relationship to so-ciety as earning a position of trust. Their be-havior must be consonant with theexpectations of society, although they havethe freedom and responsibility to determinewhat they ethically may and may not do as a

professional community within their soci-ety’s moral parameters. These professionalethics must consider both the wider moralvalues of society as well as the aims of pub-lic relations practice.

Of course, this “professional” role with itsaccompanying need for professional ethicsnecessarily elevates public relations practi-tioners above the organizational role of obe-dient technicians who blindly do the will ofmanagers. Complex organizations depend ona range of professionals who have uniqueknowledge and skills and who exert great in-fluence over the behavior of these organiza-tions through their professional ideologies,theories, values and worldviews.

3. The ethical values of such public relationsprofessionals influence the behavior of theirorganizations, and thus their professionalvalues become organizational values. Thosein the public relations professional commu-nity must develop, continually refine andpublicly acknowledge their professional ide-ology, values and belief systems to fulfilltheir professional responsibilities. These val-ues can and must be taught to students whohopefully will accept and assimilate thesecommon values that result in a morally de-fensible body of professional ethics.

The Commission recognizes the continuing va-

lidity of the recommendations of the October1999 Commission report, but with even moreemphasis. Specifically:

◆ The Commission recommends that a consid-eration of ethics pervade all content of publicrelations professional education. This ethicscontent should be a readily identifiable com-ponent that is well-contextualized and inte-grated, particularly in introductory,campaigns and cases courses in public rela-tions, as well as in law and ethics courses.The last must extend beyond the law andethics of mass media to include public rela-tions law and ethics. Indeed, the Commissionurges that every public relations course beginits syllabus and its first class with the state-ment that every true profession recognizesthat a fundamental priority of any professionis its responsibility toward society at large.

◆ While public relations curricula may not haveroom for a dedicated public relations ethicscourse, one-hour short courses and mini-sem-inars on public relations ethics at the under-graduate level can provide a meaningfulforum for contemporary ethical issues.

◆ At the graduate level, seminars in public rela-tions ethics are recommended, and graduatestudents, particularly at the doctoral level,should be encouraged to consider public rela-tions ethics as a primary area of scholarly in-quiry.

◆ Educators and their students, particularlytheir graduate students, have an obligation tocritically examine and add to the body ofknowledge of public relations ethics throughtheir research and other scholarship.

◆ Educators and their institutions also mustidentify and resolve their own professionalethical issues that are related to public rela-tions education. Those providing public rela-tions education must fully appreciate:

– the importance of public relations as a pro-fessional occupation in the 21st Century;


… (N)o public relations practice should

exist in contemporary society without a

full commitment to ethical practice.

Ethics

– the knowledge and skills required for asuccessful career in public relations intoday’s society;

– the extreme competition for public rela-tions positions;

– the fact that only the most qualified andbest educated students realistically cancompete in this career.

◆ As well as course content, academic rigor alsomust be ensured through normative stan-dards. Preparation for a professional career inpublic relations demands rigorous profes-sional education. In professionalized occupa-tions, e.g., law and medicine, the needs ofsociety are of first concern, followed by theprofessional community’s judgment of an in-dividual aspirant’s worthiness to join thatprofessional community. The goals of the in-dividual student are of tertiary concern. Thisshould also be true for the profession of pub-lic relations.

◆ Finally, colleges and universities providingpublic relations education must ensure the

adequacy of the numbers and credentials offaculty who are assigned to public relationsprofessional education as well as the budget-ary and other resources that institutions in-vest in public relations education.

The Commission notes that professional ethicsare predicated upon the personal ethics ofeveryone who is part of the public relationsprofessional community. Public relations iconBetsy Plank, who has been a leading memberof the Commission since its inception, perhapssays this best:

In recent years, the more I have beenconcerned and thought about profes-sional ethics, the more I am convincedthat they must–inevitably–be groundedin personal behavior and character.What does it profit us if students canrecite ethical codes and be critical ofuntrustworthy corporate behaviors butsuccumb to cheating, plagiarism, etal…? Or if faculty are not vigilant aboutpenalizing such behavior?


NotesKruckeberg, D. & Tsetsura, K. (2003). International index of bribery for news coverage (Institute for Public Relations). Abstract retrieved September 3, 2006, fromhttp://www.instituteforpr.org/index.php/IPR/research_single/index_of_bribery/

Tsetsura, K. (2005). Bribery for news coverage: Research in Poland(Institute for Public Relations). Abstract retrieved September 3, 2006, from:http://www.instituteforpr.org/index.php/IPR/research_single/bribery_for_news/

Plank, Betsy. Fax to Dean Kruckeberg, July 22, 2006

Successful managers in all types of organi-zations now recognize that a diverse employeeworkforce—recruited, trained and retained—can deliver valuable insights and performancenot only in terms of human resources and marketing but also in such C-suite functions as strategic planning and issues manage-ment.

The higher education establishment also hasrecognized the importance of this “culture ofinclusion” and has encouraged it—one mightsay, mandated it—with new standards for ac-creditation of schools of journalism/mass com-munication and certification of public relationsprograms. And public relations professional so-cieties, trade associations and research founda-tions are emphasizing diversity via manyofferings to their members.

The Commission decided that although diver-sity is addressed in other sections of this report,the subject is worthy of a focused, in-depthtreatment here. So this section will define diver-sity, identify its major elements essential topublic relations education and suggest how, in

practice, public relations can advance diversityin society.

Critical Definitions and Outcomes

All public relations practitioners, educators andstudents should be aware of the followingterms related to diversity and their applicationto modern public relations practice.

Diversity—Essentially, diversity is defined asall differences that exist between and amongpeople. Typically, diversity is divided into pri-mary and secondary dimensions, primary beingcharacteristics that are innate and can’t bechanged (such as gender, age, nationality, sex-ual/affectional orientation, ethnicity and race)and secondary being characteristics that can bealtered (such as religion, geographics, maritalstatus and military service). Understanding therole these dimensions play in how people com-municate is as essential as ensuring that organi-zations demonstrate inclusiveness toward thediversity of their employees, volunteers andother key publics.

Culture—Often diversity is confused with cul-

Diversity

The growing commitment to diversity within the public relations

profession—in both education and the practice—is a reflection of the

change and progress in society since the Commission’s 1999 report.


27

ture, because some dimensions of diversity, es-pecially race, ethnicity, regionality and nation-ality, have cultures of their own. Culture istypically defined as the sum total of ways of liv-ing, including behavioral norms, linguistic ex-pression, styles of communication, patterns ofthinking and beliefs and values of a group large

enough to be self-sustaining and transmittedover the course of generations. Frequently, cul-ture plays a greater role in determining commu-nication behavior than race, ethnicity or otherdiversity factors and is what creates conflictsbecause of differences in communication stylesassociated with those cultures.

Segmentation—Regardless of the differentgroups to which individuals may belong, publicrelations practitioners must learn how to iden-tify what elements of diversity are salient invarious situations and must acknowledge thatsaliency often is based on whether individualsidentify with the culture or characteristics asso-ciated with that dimension of diversity. Often,people ascribe identities to people in particulardemographic groups or cultures based on whata person looks or sounds like or on where anindividual resides or was born. Such an ascrip-tion can lead to stereotyping and other prob-lems that make communication difficult andproblematic.

Stereotypes—Stereotypes are judgmentsabout an individual based on that person’smembership in a particular classification. Eventhough stereotypes can be positive as well asnegative, they often are harmful because mostare typically incorrect, apply general beliefs un-fairly to individuals, can lead to negative self-

fulfilling prophesies and lead to prejudice. Useof stereotypes often reinforces misinformationand causes problems even if stereotyping isdone unwittingly. Stereotyping can be just asdangerous as prejudice, which is an irrationaldislike, suspicion or hatred of a certain demo-graphic group. Prejudice is often manifested asracism, sexism and homophobia, creating nega-tive actions, policies, words and beliefs basedon race, gender or sexual orientation. Public re-lations practitioners also need to recognize thedangers of being ethnocentric in their thoughtsand approaches to managing public relationsprojects and teams. Ethnocentrism is the nega-tive judgment of other cultures based on thebelief that a particular cultural perspective isbetter than others.

PR’s Strategic Role in Diversity

Diversity in public relations often takes twoforms: intercultural/multicultural communica-tion and diversity management. The intercul-tural/multicultural communication aspect ofdiversity relates to the practice of public rela-tions particularly when the organization is com-municating with one (intercultural) or more(multicultural) cultural groups different from itsown. Learning how culture and diversity play arole in each aspect of a public relations project(research, planning, communicating and evalua-tion) is therefore critical for intercultural/multi-cultural communication.

The diversity management aspect of public rela-tions involves human resource, staffing, team,vendor and personnel functions. Managing di-versity well will improve the retention of diverseteams, which is considered beneficial to devel-oping innovative solutions and campaigns.Public relations practitioners and scholars mustbecome familiar with, be able to apply and bewilling to research the best practices in both as-pects of diversity within public relations.

Contemporary organizations increasingly havehad to deal with diversity issues and needs,and public relations practitioners should be at


(P)ractitioners, educators and students

must develop an introspective awareness

of their own individual cultures,

socialization and privileges...

Diversity

the forefront in helping organizations respondto these matters. Therefore, public relationspractitioners should be involved in an organiza-tion’s efforts to:

◆ communicate the benefits of diversity initia-tives to the workforce and external publics.

◆ keep pace with the changing demographics ofthe organization’s external environment.

◆ understand how different people work andcommunicate.

◆ advance the organization through relation-ship-building with diverse internal and exter-nal constituent groups.

◆ respond better to social change by interpret-ing, explaining and translating how organiza-tions must adapt to events that occur in arapidly developing and evolving world.

◆ understand that in a global environment, or-ganizations have to think differently about di-versity—no longer competing for local dollars,but for dollars in the greater marketplace.

◆ understand how immigration can enrich aculture and how governments, businessesand other organizations must adjust to handlepossible pressure on economic, social, politi-cal and educational systems.

◆ remain sensitive to matters of diversity and re-spond to a more diverse workplace and culturalenvironment generally and particularly as lawshave increasingly protected the civil rights ofwomen and minority groups and equal oppor-tunities have become a greater reality.

◆ address the challenges of political correct-ness, especially as it focuses on how groups

of people are labeled.

◆ use technological developments to advanceglobal discourse and business.

◆ recognize, as national economics becomemore global in reach, why having a broadercultural perspective is essential.

◆ demonstrate how public relations is makingfull use of the diverse backgrounds, skills andperspectives of all people, thus making work-ing relationships stronger and more effective.

◆ ensure a diverse mix of talent is used on cam-paigns and projects to bring about innovationand creativity, thereby increasing productivityand efficiency.

◆ apply diversity awareness as a means to re-duce the confusion of practices and policiesconcerning issues of affirmative action anddiscrimination and to move beyond the focuson ethnicity and gender to a focus on per-formance—a quality of the work environmentwhere employee skills are used more equi-tably and effectively.

◆ recognize power imbalances that may existbetween the organization and its publics anddevelop measures to ensure the organizationis listening to and proactively engaging disen-franchised and other possibly marginalizedgroups.

To attain the ability to address these and otherissues, practitioners, educators and studentsmust develop an introspective awareness oftheir own individual cultures, socialization andprivileges as well as keen research skills to en-sure their communication and other public rela-tions techniques are sensitive, appropriate andeffective.


For example, even the smallest and most tradi-tional businesses require the Web sites thattheir customers expect, and the submission of asimple news release to a mass medium’s elec-tronic newsroom must satisfy the technologicalrequirements of that medium. Organizationsmust continually monitor blogs, recognizingthat harmful rumors can spread worldwide inminutes. The contemporary practice of publicrelations requires practitioners to immediatelyrespond to emerging issues and crisis situationsvia Web sites, blogs and other new media.Today, the choice of communication channels isdictated by technology: a practitioner must seri-ously consider which message forms and chan-nels would be best for specific publics. Often,new technological forms and channels, such aselectronic pitching, podcasting and blogging,prevail over traditional news releases andmedia kits.

Thus, students must know how to use today’scommunication technology and must monitorand most likely adopt rapidly and unpre-dictably changing technology. Equally impor-tant, public relations students must be taught

to appreciate and to continually explore the so-cietal ramifications of continually emergingcommunication technology. Students mustlearn strategies, not only for using this technol-ogy, but also for dealing with its effects, rang-ing from the ready availability of virtually alltypes of information to questions of personaland organizational privacy.

Public relations practitioners are among theheaviest users of today’s communication tech-nology. However, technology remains simply atool–albeit an important tool–that practitionersmust manage. This means public relations pro-fessionals must not be unduly constrained bytechnology in developing their communicationstrategies, nor must practitioners’ strategiesand tactics be restricted by the technicianswho develop and maintain organizations’ com-munication technology infrastructures. Rather,public relations practitioners must be the man-agers of how their organizations strategicallyuse communication technology to affect publicrelationships. Within their organizations, pub-lic relations practitioners best understand thatcommunication technology that conquers time


The use of communication technology is ubiquitous in contemporary

public relations practice, and often there’s no choice but to adopt the

newest communication technology.


31

and space by permitting instantaneous com-munication worldwide not only can create un-derstanding and cultivate harmony andempathy between an organization and itspublics, but has great potential to generatemisunderstanding and to exacerbate dishar-mony and conflict. With considerable pre-

science, Edward R. Murrow identified the in-herent dangers and limitations of today’s com-munication technology over 40 years ago, inOctober 1964:

The speed of communications is won-drous to behold. It is also true thatspeed can multiply the distribution ofinformation that we know to be untrue.The most sophisticated satellite has noconscience. The newest computer canmerely compound, at speed, the oldestproblem in the relations between humanbeings, and in the end, the communica-tor is confronted with the old problem,of what to say and how to say it.

Thus, public relations educators must assurethat their students are prepared not only to beproficient in the use of the most recent commu-nication technology, but also to understand andappreciate the societal ramifications of its use.Educators also must use this technology tomaximize the effectiveness of their own in-struction.

Summary of Recommendations in theCommission’s 1999 Report

The 1999 Commission report said one factorthat was causing the impressive incrementalgrowth in public relations was communication

technology that had enabled a veritable explo-sion of one-to-one communication leading toan uncontrolled, gateless dissemination of mes-sages. Communication technology-related skillsthe Commission regarded as necessary includedthe management of information; technologicaland visual literacy (including use of theInternet and desktop publishing); and publicrelations writing and production for newmedia. Instructional recommendations includeda greater variety of teaching methods and tech-nologies that might be appropriate in continu-ing education courses.


Changes in communication technology havebeen both immense and obvious since theOctober 1999 Commission report. Public rela-tions educators are not alone in their inabilityto reliably predict what tomorrow’s technologywill be, what will be the societal effects of thistechnology and how it will affect different soci-eties and cultures. Problematic because ofthese unknowns, of course, is what educatorsshould teach their students. Virtually all publicrelations education programs in the UnitedStates, as well as elsewhere throughout theworld, recognize that their curricula must keeppace with the continuing developments incommunication technology to the fullest extentpossible, given the financial and other resourcelimitations that commonly restrict the inten-tions of higher education.

The implications for public relations of changesin communication technology have been pro-found. Students’ reliance on electronic data-bases in their research, rather than ontraditional library holdings, has become thenorm. The implications for public relationspractitioners can also be mind-numbing; in-stantaneous communication through multiplechannels creates the expectation of immediatefeedback, eliminating opportunities for pro-longed deliberation in decision-making.


… (T)echnology remains simply a tool …

that practitioners must manage.



Largely unappreciated is the contention thattechnological developments do not inherentlyprovide meaningful social benefits, as well asthe likelihood that adoption of new technologymay influence different cultures in differentways or to a different extent. Fundamentalquestions remain worldwide about the access

to and control of communication technology aswell as about which parties benefit from ad-vanced technology usage.


Two-thirds of the participants in a qualitativeresearch study conducted by the Commissionemphasized the challenges of today’s techno-logical advances. A related trend that partici-pants identified was the contemporaryproliferation of media outlets.

Quantitative research identified rapidly chang-ing new media as a trend. In this research, edu-cators and practitioners viewed as highlyessential public relations course content suchas “New PR tools and technologies,” e.g., pod-casting, blogging and video blogging, RSS feed-ing, Internet conferencing, e-networking,interactive media kits and e-mail. The researchindicates that all these tools should be clearlypresented to students.

Undergraduates and graduate students alikeshould be aware how public relations practicescan benefit from use of these high-tech tools. Atthe same time, educators should lead classroomdiscussions that explore any adverse impact oftechnology on society and should challengestudents to critically think about use of newtechnologies to reach public relations goals and

objectives. The questions about credibility andethical usage of new technology should also beat the center of all discussions about the role oftechnology in public relations practice.


◆ The Commission recommends that the latestcommunication technology used in the prac-tice of public relations be integrated into allpublic relations coursework to the extent thatinstitutional resources allow. Technologicalsupport of education has become a priorityamong virtually all colleges and universities,not only in the United States, but worldwide.Colleges and universities have been generallyforthcoming in their recognition of the impor-tance of information technology in higher ed-ucation and in its support, and muchinstruction is available (and should be recom-mended to students as needed) in universityshort courses and other venues that most ed-ucational institutions provide outside publicrelations coursework.

◆ Most students have learned basic informa-tion technology proficiency before arrivingon their college or university campuses.Nevertheless, deficiencies in communicationtechnology should be quickly diagnosed andremedied. The Commission recognizes thatsome communication technology that is im-portant to public relations education may beso specialized or so expensive that its use bystudents may only be possible at internshipsites. To ensure that their students learnsuch communication technology, educatorsshould explore a range of educational oppor-tunities that might be available in coopera-tion with practitioners. At the least,awareness and basic understanding of suchtechnologies should be taught, even ifhands-on use is not possible.

◆ Finally, the Commission is equally committedto addressing the philosophical, theoreticaland ethical issues related to communicationtechnology. These issues include societal im-

…(P)ublic relations practitioners must be

the managers of how their organizations

strategically use communication technology

to affect public relationships.

plications and ramifications of new communi-cation technologies. Particularly at the gradu-ate level, such questions should be exploredas components of theoretical coursework aswell as in seminars that are wholly dedicated

to the topic of technology. Such scholarly in-quiry can be facilitated through close commu-nication and cooperation with thepractitioners who use the latest communica-tion technology in their day-to-day practice.



NotesKendrick, Alexander, Prime Time: The Life of Edward R. Murrow. (New York: Little, Brownand Company, 1969, p.5.)

Public relations is now arguably becoming aglobal profession in an increasingly-connectedworld where mutual understanding and har-mony are more important than ever.

In its 1999 Port of Entry report, the Commissionused a framework with seven levels of analysisthat apply to all social systems; in this way, itidentified issues and factors that have implica-tions globally for public relations education andpractice. In this new report, the Commissionuses this framework again and provides an up-dated analysis that may provide new, relevantinsights and, perhaps, stimulate readers tothink of other factors and issues as they goabout the hard work of further improving pub-lic relations in their respective nations. Much ofthat progress will result from the creative appli-cation of current and future public relations re-search in various parts of the world.

Cultural Values and Beliefs Affecting Public Relations

There are generic principles of public relationsthat cut across cultures. For example, relatively

universal values of truth-telling, being fair anddoing no harm to the innocent are expressed incodes of ethics established and/or promoted byglobal professional associations, such as theGlobal Alliance for Public Relations andCommunication Management, the InternationalAssociation of Business Communicators andthe International Public Relations Association.

Aspects of excellent public relations can befound in all parts of the world. Certainly thepublicity model is common worldwide. Of in-creasing importance, regardless of the culture,are strategic and crisis communication manage-ment in response to increasing demands fortransparency and corporate responsibility.

Nevertheless, the performance of public rela-tions varies by culture and by socio-economicand political systems. In fact, the role public re-lations plays within a society can be a definingcharacteristic of that society—along with the roleof the media and the power of public opinion.

Attitudes toward women and socially approvedroles for women are another set of markers fora culture. Worldwide, women are playing more

Global Implications

The rapid expansion and growing sophistication of public relations

around the world, both in higher education and in the practice, since

the Commission’s last report in 1999 is truly remarkable.


35

important roles in the practice of public rela-tions. Consequently, the evolving role ofwomen is strongly affecting the evolving role ofpublic relations in society.

Xenophobia and suspicious attitudes toward“foreign” ideas affect the acceptance and

growth of a Western approach to public rela-tions within a country, especially in the earlystages of the development of the “local” field.Often the concept has to be “reworded” andcontextualized into the culture’s language(s),values and beliefs before the next stage in thedevelopment of the profession takes off.Confucianism and other Asian philosophiessupport a communitarian approach to publicrelations, and are being recognized and incor-porated into theory building and practice.

Now as never before, the public relations fieldis influenced by—and has influence on—evolv-ing global connectedness. On a macro level,this connectedness means growing interactionbetween “rich” and “poor” societies as well asbetween different political, cultural or eco-nomic systems. The result is a host of interna-tional issues affecting strategic public relations,among them: transparency, capital flows, trade,immigration, illegal drugs, disease, resource de-pletion, environmental protection, educationand, even more tragically, regional warfare, eth-nic cleansing and terrorism.

Global advancements in communication,democracy and social interdependencies are in-creasing the importance of public opinion andconsequently, the role of public relationsthroughout the world.

Laws and Public Policies Affecting Public Relations

Corporate transparency legislation in variousjurisdictions around the world is increasinglysimilar. Certainly all capital markets are notalike; but regulations such as Sarbanes/Oxleyin the United States and similar regulations inother financial markets outside the UnitedStates are having a cumulative positive impacton public relations. There are more reasonsthan ever for public relations expertise to be anintegral part of senior management.

Too, there are country-specific regulationsdealing with corrupt foreign practices, free-dom of information, anti-terrorism, corporatedisclosure and private citizen surveillance—each from its own cultural and national pointof view. All of these issues point to a sharedneed and responsibility for all internationalpractitioners to protect the global image of thepublic relations profession and justify its so-cial role.

National and international trade agreementshave public relations implications. Recent exam-ples: U.S.-based Google in China and a Dubai-based company seeking to manage U.S. ports.

A potent combination of political will, publicrelations strategies and the creation of techno-logical infrastructure has narrowed the commu-nication gap between government and thepeople and stimulated consensus building. Thiscan be seen especially in India.

And in certain regions of the world, most es-pecially in Korea, government/corporate coop-eration in generating and sharing researchdata is critical to the success of public rela-tions campaigns.

External Groups, Organizations andAssociations Affecting Public Relations

Expertise in global communication is now in-creasingly available through professional confer-ences, workshops, Web-based seminars, blogsand Web sites. These resources are available not


… (T)he role public relations plays

within a society can be a defining

characteristic of that society….

Global Implications

only to practitioners but also to educators.

At many large counseling firms, recent interna-tional growth rates have exceeded domesticgrowth rates. These firms have rapidly expandedtheir business in Asia (one firm reports havingseven offices in China), Latin America, Europeand the Middle East. Global networks of coun-seling firms, such as Pinnacle and WorldCom,are serving clients throughout the world.

With increased international trade and capitalflows, many corporations have found it neces-sary to open public relations offices and/or re-tain local or international counseling firms invarious countries. Similarly, issues originatingin one part of the world are metastasizing inter-nationally via the Internet, demanding globalcrisis communication management.

An example of excellent global public relationsis the World Bank’s “Communication forDevelopment” program which has assigned tosome communicators the role of researchingand reporting conditions in developing coun-tries and then playing a central role in develop-ing and implementing change strategies as wellas communications.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) todayoften involves international and multiculturalstakeholders. Stewardship of this function is in-creasingly being awarded to the top public rela-tions officer function, even when it operatesunder a different title. CSR’s global implicationsare becoming more apparent as corporations in-creasingly examine their potential responsibili-ties and opportunities in developing countriesthrough conduits such as the United Nations’Millennium Development Goals.

Globalization and information technology havemade nation-to-nation public diplomacy andnation-to-the-world communications far morerapid and transparent. As governments, non-governmental organizations, allied industriesand corporations grapple with “winning thehearts and minds” of often distant and hostilepublics, foreign service experts are being

teamed with public relations specialists in pub-lic diplomacy programs.

College/University Factors Affecting PublicRelations Education and Practice

The rapid growth of public relations practiceworldwide has called for an active developmentof public relations education. For example, atthe time of the 1999 Port of Entry report, theconcept of public relations was foreign to manycommunication professionals and journalists incountries like Russia, Ukraine and China.Today, Russia accounts for more than 80 uni-versity-based public relations programs, andChina has more than 320 institutions of highereducation that offer public relations courses.

Importing or significantly adapting NorthAmerican and Western European models ofpublic relations has become a standard practicefor many countries in Latin America and Asia.Many such programs are built closely on theWestern prototypes and offer traditional classesin public relations tactics, such as media rela-tions, as well as comprehensive public relationscampaigns.

Many students of public relations in countriesoutside the United States receive more trainingin strategic management than do some studentsin the United States. The best programs outsidethe United States stress classes in the liberalarts and the social sciences, with an emphasison psychology, political science, marketing andmanagement.

Public relations schools of thought outside ofthe United States often emphasize a “relationalapproach” to public relations, as opposed to a“persuasive approach.” Chinese and SouthKorean educators, for instance, emphasize har-mony and compromise as major subjects, in thebest tradition of Confucianism. And—in a re-versal of influence patterns—some of theseAsian philosophies and theoretical frameworksare making their way to the United States andaffecting public relations theory and practice.


The placement of the public relations programwithin a specific department of a school at aneducational institution varies greatly aroundthe world. In North America and WesternEurope, traditional public relations programsare housed in or near journalism schools andmass communication programs. But elsewhere,

as more departments and schools are eager tobenefit from lucrative opportunities to teachpublic relations, the placement of the programsmore often than not reflects the aggressive lead-ership of various departments. Consequently,some public relations programs outside theUnited States are being developed and housedin such non-journalism, non-communicationdepartments as history, political science or soci-ology. Each of those programs is grounded inthe theories and practices of the home disci-pline and science.

As a result, many of these public relations pro-grams have developed their own schools ofthought concerning the role of public relations insociety and how best to teach the practice of pub-lic relations. Educators have studied the develop-ment and placement of public relations programswithin universities in different parts of the world.

Influence on public relations education andpractice spreads beyond traditional educationalinstitutions. In countries where public relationsis very young as a profession, public relationspractitioners and educators, in effect, “teach bydoing” through continuous communicationwith journalists and their communities in gen-eral. Such construction of the social professiontakes place through constant comprehensiveconversations and discussions of what public

relations is, as well as what it should andshould not be.

Educators and practitioners of public relationscan contribute significantly to the formation ofthe “conscience of society” by practicing ethicalpublic relations. And universities with publicrelations academic programs and excellent uni-versity relations departments can become rolemodels for other educational institutions and,in fact, for all manner of organizations in theirnation or region.

College/University Small Group FactorsAffecting Public Relations

International exchange programs for facultyand students are contributing materially to theunderstanding and development of global pub-lic relations. They are projecting their regionaland global perspectives “one classroom at atime,” thereby having a significant impact ontheir participants and the profession.

By their significant and growing numbers,North American educators who have taught orare teaching outside the continent have espe-cially influenced the development of the field inother countries. Many new public relations pro-grams, including several programs in theMiddle East and in Russia, have been created orexpanded by these educators. And when theyreturn home, these educators bring back newperspectives of public relations benefiting boththeir students and colleagues. Likewise, publicrelations educators trained in master’s and doc-toral programs in the United States, GreatBritain, and Australia, in particular, are influ-encing the development of theory and expand-ing global research.

Educators and practitioners from around theworld who are actively involved in professionalorganizations and attend international and re-gional research and professional developmentconferences are also greatly influencing theglobalization of public relations curricula andthe status of the profession worldwide.


The placement of the public relations

program within a specific department of a

school… varies greatly around the world.

Global Implications

Interpersonal Factors Within Institutions of Higher Education Affecting PublicRelations

The relationship between university administra-tion and faculty is critical to academic successthe world over. However, in the development ofpublic relations programs in countries new tothe concept, this relationship can result in situ-ations that may seem strange to American edu-cators and practitioners.

Many of the university public relations pro-grams in the United States are based, at least inpart, on the way the practice is developing; ad-ministrators have (or claim to have) a basic un-derstanding of the field. However, many of theadministrators in newly emerging marketeconomies do not understand the value of pub-lic relations to society and most public relationseducators in these countries don’t have formaltraining in the field. Therefore, some of theseuniversity administrators offer programs thatare widely interdisciplinary and develop theirown views on how public relations should bepracticed and taught.

Increasing multiculturalism and the diversifica-tion of the public relations field worldwide arecreating new opportunities in the classroomand in the global public relations practice, aswell as creating a greater need for practitioners,students and educators to be sensitive to diver-sity issues such as race, sex, age, ethnic originsand religious preferences.

Intrapersonal Factors and Individual Traits Affecting Public Relations

Advertising, marketing and public relationscampaigns are shaping a global “mediatedself.” It is striking to see in modern shoppingmalls around the world how similar are middle-class teenagers: they often walk in an electronic

fog of their own making, listen to the sameglobal rock stars, repeatedly use cell phones,wear the same brands of clothes and eat at thesame fast-food franchises. Especially amongyoung people, there is a growing awareness andrecognition of their commonality with theirpeer group elsewhere in the world. The global“mediated self” is both an opportunity for goodand a potential problem for educators and prac-titioners alike.

On the other hand, cultural identity affects howan individual recognizes problems, perceiveshis or her level of involvement in a situation,and how information is searched for andprocessed.

Gender, physical traits and internalized sexroles remain significant cultural traits, withboth limitations and strengths for different indi-viduals. These differences affect the profes-sional development of public relationspractitioners.

Background and training of educators have aninfluence on how public relations is taught andhow curriculum is developed.

Personal ethics and identification with an or-ganization concerned about professional ethicshelp the individual practitioner develop a moralframework for public relations practice.

The factors listed above are indicative of fourglobal trends: 1) the expansion of public rela-tions capabilities in virtually every nation; 2)the increasingly sophisticated agenda of 21st

Century corporate social responsibility; 3) thecritical importance of transparency and publicrelations for both public and private organiza-tions; and 4) the increasing number of publicrelations educators and students teaching andstudying outside their country of origin.


Recent research provides a deeper understand-ing of the demands on and changes affectingthe field of public relations. There is a clearneed to put more emphasis on particular issuesand trends in the field such as ethics and trans-parency, new technology, integration of commu-nication messages and tools, interdisciplinaryproblem-solving, diversity, global perspectivesand research and results measurement.

Undergraduate public relations education hasbeen shifting and repositioning itself in stepwith the shifts in the practice of public relations.Those academic programs that consciouslyaligned themselves with the recommendationsof the Commission’s 1999 report have foundthemselves well-positioned to respond to trendsand changes in the field as they have occurred.Such responsiveness points to a closer workingrelationship between educators and practition-ers than may have been the case five years ago.


In the field of public relations, the greatestchanges/advancements have been in the areas

of diversity, technology and global communica-tion. Crisis communication and social responsi-bility have also emerged as essential publicrelations functions.

The public relations industry is under increasedscrutiny to embrace and demonstrate its abilityto diversify its workforce and communicateacross cultures, races, genders, sexual orienta-tions, languages, ages and other dimensions ofdiversity. When practitioners fail to do soproactively, with sensitivity and understanding,negative activism and negative attention di-rected toward organizations often result. On thecontrary, when practitioners aid organizationsin developing mutually beneficial relationshipsamong diverse publics, organizations thrive.Incorporating elements of inclusion and diver-sity throughout the undergraduate curriculumis therefore essential to adequately prepare fu-ture practitioners for the roles they will play insuch relationship-building.

Web sites in this millennium have gone frombeing a corporate frill to an organizational ne-cessity. Blogging has become both a threat and


The knowledge and skills required of public relations practitioners have not

changed much in content over the past seven years. But they have been

significantly refocused and repositioned in terms of priority and emphasis.


41

a tool for organizational communication, andpublic relations professionals must monitorblogs (and, in some cases, respond to them) inan effort to protect, maintain and defend repu-tation. Consequently, some colleges and univer-sities are beginning to develop courses to teachskills necessary to use these new technological

tools. Other programs, noticing that web sitesand blogs are often lacking in quality and style,emphasize adapting traditional skills such aswriting to the new technology.

As international trade and commerce continueat a rapid pace, as U.S. companies seek out-sourcing as a method of increasing profit mar-gins, as arguments flair over immigration, asissues such as terrorism and health pandemicsface the entire globe, practicing public relationsinternationally and not just locally has becomea requirement, not an option. Some undergrad-uate programs are adding global content(which is popular among students), and someare offering a semester abroad with internshipopportunities in addition to courses in culture,language and international history.

As the news media, in an effort to compete forreaders and viewers, concentrate on crises andscandals, companies and organizations are feel-ing the need for public relations departmentsand practitioners to protect their reputationsand lead crisis communication planning and re-sponse. Issues management, crisis manage-ment, community relations andrelationship-building have been key foci of re-search and practice, particularly post-9/11 andpost-Enron. These foci have transitioned fromresearch into the classroom and are being

taught as part of the public relations curricu-lum. The inclusion of public relations at themanagement level in dealing with these issuesand crises has precipitated a move toward inter-disciplinary undergraduate education. Ratherthan directing students to complete courses inrelevant disciplines such as business and so-cial/behavioral sciences, some of the content ofthose kinds of courses is being incorporated di-rectly into the public relations curriculum.

Even with educational programs keeping pacewith changes in industry, the shortage of fac-ulty with appropriate academic and profes-sional qualifications continues to plaguepublic relations education. The shortage of fac-ulty with a doctoral degree might actually becalled a crisis. As programs grow and expandwith more classes offered, students are increas-ingly being taught by faculty not qualified inpublic relations. Some see a solution throughjoint Ed.D. and Ph.D. programs providing aca-demic training for practitioners who are part-time instructors interested in qualifying forfull-time positions. Meanwhile, the competitionfor doctoral talent is exacerbated by the grow-ing global interest in public relations education.Faculty with public relations Ph.D.s are beingrecruited to join faculties outside the UnitedStates.

Finally, the trend toward outcomes assessmentat colleges and universities corresponds to thetrend toward better measurement and assess-ment in the field. Assessment in public rela-tions education focuses on basic standards ofperformance. Many programs are therefore im-plementing summative evaluation (i.e., portfo-lio reviews) of public relations students as theyapproach graduation to determine whetherbasic standards have been met. There is alsoheightened interest in tracking graduates to as-sess placement and career paths.


As the field of public relations has changedsince the Commission’s 1999 report, education


…(P)ublic relations education must be

interdisciplinary and broad, particularly

in the liberal arts and sciences.


has kept pace with those changes. So, while thefundamental knowledge and skills recom-mended by the 2006 Commission have notchanged since 1999, the Commission suggests aneed for refocusing and realignment in terms ofwhat is most heavily emphasized in an under-graduate public relations curriculum. The pur-pose of an undergraduate degree is still toprepare students for entry-level positions and toadvance over the course of their careers intoleadership roles. But what they need to knowand be able to do has shifted somewhat.

Research suggests that professional success re-quires that the right knowledge and skills beaccompanied by appropriate personal traits,and certain attributes have been identified asdevelopmental necessities. It continues to becrucial that graduates be responsible, flexibleand professionally oriented self-managers. Forcommunication to occur with and among di-verse audiences, individuals must be able to re-spond and adapt to new and changingsituations and to feel comfortable in having tomake such adjustments without giving up per-sonal identity. Students must have intellectualcuriosity and be able to think conceptually.They must have positive attitudes and be ableto take criticism. They must be organized self-starters who take initiative to solve problems.They must be both creative and pragmatic, andthey must have integrity as team participantsand leaders. Students should be able to demon-strate respect and empathy; even if practition-ers do not belong to a group or agree with it, apractitioner must be able to show appreciationfor those who are different and be able to un-derstand others’ cultures and perspectives.

Therefore, public relations education must beinterdisciplinary and broad, particularly in theliberal arts and sciences. A minor or doublemajor is recommended to broaden students’ education and knowledge base.

The following reorganization of the knowledgeand skills identified and recommended in the1999 Commission report reflects current re-

search on requirements for successful entryinto the field.

1. Necessary Knowledge and Skills

The following knowledge and skills should betaught in an undergraduate public relations cur-riculum:

Knowledge

◆ Communication and persuasion concepts and strategies

◆ Communication and public relations theories

◆ Relationships and relationship-building

◆ Societal trends

◆ Ethical issues

◆ Legal requirements and issues

◆ Marketing and finance

◆ Public relations history

◆ Uses of research and forecasting

◆ Multicultural and global issues

◆ The business case for diversity

◆ Various world social, political, economic and historical frameworks

◆ Organizational change and development

◆ Management concepts and theories

Skills

◆ Research methods and analysis

◆ Management of information

◆ Mastery of language in written and oral communication

◆ Problem-solving and negotiation

◆ Management of communication

◆ Strategic planning

◆ Issues management


◆ Audience segmentation

◆ Informative and persuasive writing

◆ Community, consumer and employee rela-tions and other practice areas

◆ Technological and visual literacy

◆ Managing people, programs and resources

◆ Sensitive interpersonal communication

◆ Critical listening skills

◆ Fluency in a foreign language

◆ Ethical decision-making

◆ Participation in the professional public relations community

◆ Message production

◆ Working with current issues

◆ Environmental monitoring

◆ Public speaking and presentation

◆ Applying cross-cultural and cross-gender sensitivity

2. The Undergraduate Curriculum

The undergraduate public relations curriculummust continue to be strongly grounded in tradi-tional liberal arts and social sciences.Coursework in public relations should be builton a foundation of liberal arts, social science,business and language courses. More than ever,this knowledge base must be interdisciplinary.Principles of public relations and managementmust be intertwined with and related to busi-ness, behavioral science, technology and otherdisciplines. Changes in the field of public rela-tions demand integration of the knowledge andskills of these disciplines. With the growingneed for students to be completely conversantin principles and practices of business, there isa parallel need for them to master principles ofetiquette and professionalism.

Globalization now requires more attention in

today’s public relations education. It is notenough to offer a course with a global focus.Global concepts must be integrated throughoutthe curriculum because many students will beaddressing issues related to globalization, di-versity and multiculturalism as they enter thepractice of public relations. Fluency in a lan-guage other than English also is desirable.

Given the organizational crises of recent years,ethics and organizational transparency also re-quire emphasis across the public relations cur-riculum. Similarly, relationship-building hasbecome a critical skill. In preparation for work-ing with diverse publics and global issues, stu-dents will need to learn that establishing trustand acceptance among publics begins with hav-ing a clear understanding of those publics anddemonstrating sincerity and commitment.

Technology and its use and abuse have becomeanother important consideration in public rela-tions practice. Students must not only under-stand current technology and its use, but mustdevelop skills that will enable them to adapt torapid changes and advancements. It is insuffi-cient to train students to use current technol-ogy; they also must be able to identify andanalyze new technologies as they emerge, un-derstand the ramifications and implications anddevelop strategies for using the latest technolo-gies and dealing with their effects. Technologywill not be sufficiently addressed if isolatedfrom the rest of the curriculum; the only effec-tive way to prepare students for the rapidchanges they will face is to integrate the studyand use of technology across the curriculum.

More critical than ever is the need for solid re-search skills and the ability to interpret and useresearch in decision-making. Students must becapable of conducting research, analyzing andinterpreting data and information, integratingresearch into planning and management andconducting evaluation that demonstrates re-sults. In conducting secondary research, stu-dents should recognize that a variety of voicesexist and that many people on the fringes of so-



ciety, or outside the mainstream or center, areoften not adequately covered in media andother published works and therefore won’t berepresented in secondary research sources.Similarly, when learning about primary re-search techniques, students should recognizethe influence that culture and other aspects ofdiversity have on research design, methods,participants, analysis and presentation of re-search. And greater emphasis needs to beplaced on using solid research to design andmanage messages. Not only must students beable to design messages that motivate publicsto action, they must be able to manage the dis-tribution and flow of messages to ensurepublics actually receive them and that dialogueis facilitated.

Finally, the ability to incorporate the internalaudience into public relations planning andcommunication is increasingly required inmeeting the challenges and opportunities pre-sented to an organization. Whereas organiza-tions have always identified employee publicsamong those considered important, human re-sources departments increasingly are expectingpublic relations to manage employee communi-cation, a change from the days when human re-sources considered communicating internally tobe its exclusive purview.

3. Content of Undergraduate Courses

The following topics are all deemed essential toa strong undergraduate education in public re-lations regardless of the course(s) in whichthey are taught. While many of the topics lendthemselves to be framed within a specificcourse, care must be taken that the concepts,knowledge and skills described above are inte-grated throughout the public relations curricu-lum so students better understand theinterdisciplinary nature of the practice.

◆ Theory, origin, principles and professionalpractice of public relations: the nature androle of public relations, the history and devel-opment of the field, theories and principles

underlying PR practice and the societal forcesaffecting the profession and its practice.Important to include are the societal mandateand ethical justification of public relations ina democratic society and free-market econ-omy. Also included are practitioner qualifica-tions (including education and training),responsibilities and duties, diversity compe-tencies and skills, functioning of public rela-tions departments and counseling firms andlife-long learning and professional develop-ment. Also included are a variety of special-izations in public relations such ascommunity relations, employee relations,consumer relations, financial and investor re-lations, governmental relations, public affairsand lobbying, fund raising and membershipdevelopment, international and cross-culturalpublic relations and publicity and media rela-tions.

◆ Public relations law and ethics: includingcodes of ethics and practice in public rela-tions and in other professions; ethical issuesand trends toward greater organizationaltransparency and core values; specific legalissues such as privacy, defamation, copyright,product liability and financial disclosure;legal and policy considerations relating to di-versity in the workplace and in communica-tion and legal and regulatory compliance.

◆ Public relations research, measurement andperformance evaluation: including quantita-tive and qualitative research designs,processes and techniques such as public-opinion polling and survey research; experi-mental design and research; new researchmethods and tools; fact-finding and appliedresearch; observation and performance meas-urement; social, communication and em-ployee audits; issue tracking; focus groupsand interviews; use of external research serv-ices and consultants and the ability to effec-tively direct their efforts; media and clippinganalysis and historical research. The empha-sis should be on measurement of tangible re-



sults in evaluating program effectiveness,staff and counselor performance; criteria forperformance; and reporting the results ofevaluation. The impact of culture and diver-sity should be carefully considered.

◆ Public relations planning and management:including theory, techniques and models re-lated to setting long- and short-term goals andobjectives; designing strategies and tactics;segmenting publics and designing effectivemessages; identifying appropriate channels toensure message receipt; analyzing problemsand opportunities; communicating with topmanagement; developing budgets; contin-gency planning for crises and disasters; man-aging issues, developing timetables andcalendars; and assigning authority and re-sponsibility. Diversity should be well-inte-grated into the content and should includethe business rationale for diversity in organi-zations and the demographic changes withincountries and across global communities thataffect the role and practice of public relationsworldwide.

◆ Public relations writing and production:Public relations writing is an essential, dis-crete skill that is not fully addressed in jour-nalistic writing, composition or creativewriting. Content here should address commu-nication theory; concepts and models formass, interpersonal, employee and internalcommunication; new and emerging commu-nication technologies and their use andabuse; organizational communication and dy-namics; communication with diverse audi-ences and across cultures; persuasion andpropaganda; controlled versus uncontrolled

communication; and feedback systems. It alsomust include competency in such skills as de-sign, layout and graphics; electronic mediaand Web publishing; speechwriting and deliv-ery; spokesperson training and speakers bu-reaus; corporate identity and reputation;photography and filmmaking; and workingwith outside suppliers. It requires a solid un-derstanding of media, media channels, the so-cietal role of media and the challenges in theexplosion of electronic and digital media vehi-cles. It includes message strategy and delivery(i.e., planning, writing, producing and deliv-ering communication to publics in all mediachannels). It also includes a focus on design-ing messages to be sent in channels that willensure publics receive and act on them.

◆ Public relations action and implementation:Content includes the actual implementation ofcampaigns; continuing programs (e.g., prod-uct publicity and safety); crises and isolatedincidents; individual activities of practitionersand firms, clients and employers; meetingsand workshops; and special events. It shouldinclude ongoing evaluation of efforts and cor-rective action based on results measurementwhile a campaign or program is in process.

◆ Supervised work experience in public rela-tions: Internships and other pre-professionalwork experiences have become essential inpublic relations education. These practical ex-periences must be supervised by faculty andpractitioners who cooperate to provide profes-sional experience directed by learning objec-tives and assessed throughout to assure aquality practical educational experience.Students should be sufficiently prepared byprerequisite courses to receive and completesubstantive assignments that prepare them toapply the skills and principles they are learn-ing in their programs.

◆ Disciplines related to public relations:Supporting disciplines that provide appropriatesupplements to public relations educationalprograms include intercultural communication,

A minimum of five courses should be

required in the public relations major.


international communication, political com-munication, organizational communication, in-terpersonal communication, rhetoricalcommunication, small group communication,psychology, sociology, marketing, managementand organizational behavior, finance, journal-ism, radio and television production, advertis-ing, photography, filmmaking, art design andgraphics, information technology and newtechnology. Students should be encouraged topursue a double major or minor in a relatedarea of interest.

◆ Directed electives: Certain content in otherdisciplines should be considered essential forthe development and preparation of public re-lations professionals. It is recommended thatpublic relations education become truly inter-disciplinary and that content in these areas beintegrated into public relations coursework asdescribed above. Nevertheless, more in-depthtreatment of the content in related disciplinesmay be desirable through elective courses tosupplement the core public relations andcommunication courses. Recommended disci-plines for inclusion are business manage-ment, marketing, accounting, finance,economics, consumer behavior, political sci-ence and the political system, public adminis-tration, social psychology, sociology, culturalanthropology, English and English writing,political science, including government andpolitical campaigns, intercultural communica-tion, ethnic and feminist studies, and interna-tional business and communication.

4. Content Configuration in the UndergraduateCurriculum

This report affirms the 1999 report’s identifica-tion of the following courses for an ideal under-graduate major in public relations:

◆ Introduction to public relations (including theory, origin and principles)

◆ Case studies in public relations that review the professional practice

◆ Public relations research, measurement andevaluation

◆ Public relations law and ethics


◆ Public relations planning and management



◆ Directed electives

Although some academic programs will find itdifficult to offer seven courses devoted entirelyto public relations, the Commission believes thetopics covered in the courses above are essen-tial for a quality public relations education.While these topics could be combined intocourses in different ways, and some of thesecourses might also address additional topics, amajor should offer sufficient courses to addressthe knowledge and skills identified as neces-sary for success in the field.

A minimum of five courses should be requiredin the public relations major. An academic em-phasis should minimally include these courses:


◆ Public relations research, measurement andevaluation



◆ An additional public relations course in lawand ethics, planning and management, casestudies or campaigns

Programs that offer minors should make it clearthat a minor in public relations is not sufficientto prepare students for the professional practiceof public relations. Nevertheless, programs mayoffer minors in public relations to enhance theunderstanding of students in other professional


disciplines that use or cooperate with public re-lations. A minor in public relations shouldspecifically address the knowledge outcomesidentified above rather than just the skills out-comes.

5. Undergraduate Curriculum Models

Because public relations education may be lo-cated in various schools and colleges throughouta university, programs are subject to the core re-quirements of the unit within which the publicrelations program is housed. For example, pro-grams housed in journalism schools differ signif-icantly from those in traditional schools ofcommunication or schools of business becauseof the requirements imposed upon journalismschools that wish to be nationally accredited.The Commission suggests three models todemonstrate differing curriculum constructionswithin the guidelines stipulated above.

Journalism/Mass Communication Model

(The Accrediting Council on Education inJournalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) permits no more than 40 credithours in journalism or mass communication in a 120-hour degree program.)

◆ Mass communication and society

◆ Mass media writing

◆ Communication law

◆ Media ethics

◆ Public relations theory and principles

◆ Public relations writing

◆ Public relations research

◆ Case studies in public relations


◆ Internship in public relations

◆ Communication electives (e.g., communityjournalism, management, production, multi-cultural, international, conflict resolution, messages and media effects and gender, raceand ethnicity in media)

◆ External requirements (e.g., English writing,accounting, marketing, business managementand finance)

Communication/English/Liberal Arts Model

◆ Communication principles and practice

◆ Research methods

◆ Communication writing

◆ Communication production

◆ Public relations theory

◆ Public relations techniques

◆ Public relations writing


◆ Internship

◆ Communication electives (e.g., multiculturalcommunication, interpersonal communica-tion, persuasion, small group communication,ethics, organizational communication)

◆ External requirements (e.g., statistics, economics, psychology, sociology)

◆ External electives (selected courses outsidecommunication)

Business/Management Model

◆ Marketing and finance

◆ Marketing research and statistics

◆ Marketing management

◆ Consumer insight


Public relations education programs

must improve their assessment of results–

measurement of outcomes of learning.


◆ Communication skills and persuasive messages

◆ Public relations strategy and tactics

◆ Creative message strategy

◆ Media economics and technology

◆ Managing communication integration

◆ Internship

◆ Business electives (e.g., public relations strategy, public relations planning, investor relations, crisis management, issues management, ethics, international business)

6. Teaching Methods in the Undergraduate Program

The 1999 Port of Entry report suggested morethan a dozen ways that instruction can be deliv-ered to students, ranging from traditional lec-tures to simulations, games and the use ofsmall-group projects. A variety of instructionalmedia, assignments and in-class activities thatcan create a bridge between theory and practicealso are suggested. The more advanced studentsshould be involved in client work and cam-paigns. There should be opportunities to engagein research and in competitions both within theuniversity/college and with public relations aca-demic and practitioner associations.

The increasing growth of online courses is de-manding a reassessment of teaching methodsand more research on the challenges of globalcurriculum offerings. Learning to Teach, pub-lished by the Educators Academy of thePublic Relations Society of America (PRSA)and available on CD, is a comprehensive re-source of teaching methods that have beentried, tested and proven effective in public re-lations education.

Teaching pedagogies that emphasize teamworkand client service should be well-integrated intoprograms. To aid in students’ acquisition of di-versity competencies, professors should when-ever possible diversify teams and assign clients,

case studies or service-learning opportunitiesthat involve diverse groups, issues and organi-zations. Students should also be encouraged toseek numerous pre-professional experiences likeinternships or volunteer opportunities throughstudent professional organizations and their ac-ademic units. The academy must diligently seekto bring practitioners to campus as part of theoverall student experience.

7. Undergraduate Program Evaluation

Normative, formative and summative assess-ment measures should be used to determinewhether students have learned what their aca-demic programs intend. These could includeentrance/exit examinations, internship evalua-tion, capstone courses and portfolio review.And traditional self-assessment should be usedto measure program effectiveness. This mightinclude examining student evaluations, faculty-student ratios, placement and graduate schooladmission rates, alumni and employer satisfac-tion and input from advisory boards.

External program review is also valuable.Sources for this include the Certification inEducation for Public Relations (CEPR) offeredby PRSA (available to all public relations pro-grams) and the ACEJMC (available to publicrelations programs in journalism and masscommunication colleges, schools or depart-ments).

Public relations education programs must im-prove their assessment of results—measure-ment of outcomes of learning. Educators mustbecome more sophisticated and request theparticipation of practitioners to determine ifstudents are reaching the goals set for theirentry into the profession. To this end, this newreport has included assessment as a separatesection to more clearly identify guidelines.

8. Faculty Qualifications

The 1999 Port of Entry report suggested thatboth academic and professional credentials andpractical experience are important for public re-


lations faculty. Ideally a full-time faculty mem-ber will have both academic credentials (usu-ally a Ph.D.) and professional credentials—significant work experience in public relations.Programs may need to hire faculty without ter-minal degrees who have significant and sub-stantial professional experience in order tomeet student demand. In addition, all facultymembers should be active in professionaland/or academic associations and should becontributing to the public relations body ofknowledge through scholarship and profes-sional or creative activity.

The 1999 Port of Entry report repeats a recom-mendation from the 1987 Commission report:“Public relations courses should not be taughtby people who have little or no experience andinterest in the field and have no academic prepa-ration in public relations.” The Commission re-

peats that recommendation again in 2006.

9. Resources to Support Public RelationsPrograms

Public relations students should have the sameaccess to both faculty and resources as studentsin other academic programs in the academicunit where public relations is taught.

Faculty workloads should be balanced to in-clude time for teaching, advising, research,service, administrative assignments and the ad-vising of student organizations such as thePublic Relations Student Society of America.

Public relations education requires administra-tive and financial resources that include ade-quate faculty and staff with properly equippedclassrooms, appropriate technology, well-stocked libraries, travel and professional devel-opment funding and office support.



The typical curriculum gives a hodge-podge ap-pearance of adding public relations courses toexisting journalism and communication pro-grams. Educators have reported, however, agrowing number of integrated advertising andpublic relations master’s degree programs.

Inconsistencies, hodge-podge and integrationwill not be enough if graduate public relationsprograms want to achieve accreditation.Beginning in 2006-2007, the Accrediting Councilon Education in Journalism and MassCommunications will examine more rigorouslygraduate master’s programs for a focusedknowledge experience. Professional master’s de-gree programs will be reviewed separately fromundergraduate programs, using the same ninestandards applied to undergraduate programs.To achieve accreditation, professional master’sprograms, such as public relations, must alsodemonstrate how their master’s graduates at-tain, in addition to practice skills and expertise,the additional core competency of “contributingto knowledge appropriate to the communicationprofessions in which they work.”


Research for the Commission’s 2006 report in-cluded a review of public relations programgraduate Web sites, telephone interviews with18 public relations leaders and a quantitativesurvey of educators and practitioners. The PRleaders supported several types of graduatepublic relations programs rather than endorsingthe MBA degree or dismissing public relationsgraduate education as unnecessary. They feltthat graduate education should be interdiscipli-nary, combining public relations, communica-tion and management courses.

The Commission’s quantitative study testedseveral options for graduate education. Morethan 60 percent of practitioners and educatorssampled agreed that graduate public relationseducation should be an academic area of studywith interdisciplinary focus (communication,management and behavioral science), or an ac-ademic area with a management focus. Thesurvey participants’ opinions reflected three dif-ferent, but also overlapping, profiles that theCommission labeled the academic disciplinary

Graduate Education

Master’s degree curricula across journalism and communication

programs in the United States show little consistency in the content

and coursework offered as was also the case in 1999.


51

focus, the academic focus and the professionalfocus. Few participants said that no graduateeducation was needed.

In 2006, practitioner respondents in theCommission’s qualitative survey recognizedtrends that were driving public relations thatwere not as important in 1999: rapidly chang-

ing new media; transparency and accountabil-ity demands; recognition of PR’s increasingvalue by top management; the need and de-mand for measurement; globalization; diver-sity; ethics issues and credibility crises; moremulti-disciplinarity and integrated communica-tion; and the need to align public relations withbusiness strategy and social demographicchanges. This research suggests that graduateeducation should move toward understandingbusiness, management and public relations asstrategic management functions.

Therefore, the Commission’s 2006 recommen-dations for graduate education provide revisedcontent areas and three different graduate cur-riculum models.


Master’s Level Education

1. Revised Content Areas

The following content areas should be the focusof advanced, intensive study at the graduatelevel. The expectation is that students will de-velop abilities to critically analyze and synthe-size the body of knowledge in strategic publicrelations management by producing critical es-says and original research projects that will en-hance their professional performance.

The student should master the following con-tent areas beyond undergraduate competencies:

◆ Public relations theory and concepts. Thisarea should familiarize students with theleading theories of public relations scholar-ship (e.g., public relations, rhetorical, com-munication and management). Contentshould address such topics as the four dimen-sions of public relations, public relations rolesand strategic management of public relations.This area should include public relations his-tory, contemporary issues and trends (e.g.,encroachment, feminization of the field, di-versity, integration) and practice challenges(e.g., social, political and economic andglobal influences).

◆ Public relations law. This area should ad-dress regulations and laws that affect thepractice of public relations. Content shouldinclude constitutional restrictions on freedomof expression and federal and state laws andregulations dealing with such matters ascopyright, defamation, privacy and commer-cial speech. Understanding of contracts, affir-mative action and Equal Opportunity lawsand other regulations affecting the manage-ment of public relations also should be ad-dressed.

◆ Public relations ethics. This area should ad-dress the philosophical and practical aspectsof public relations ethics. Content should in-clude such topics as philosophical founda-tions, principles and codes, professionalism,accountability, divided loyalties, responsibleadvocacy, social responsibility, global ethics,political correctness and truth and trans-parency.

◆ Global public relations. This area should ad-dress public relations practice in the interna-tional and transnational environment,covering global trends and topics such asmulticultural communication knowledge andskills, public diplomacy, multiple cultures anddiversity within nations, international legal


The Commission highly recommends

that students entering master’s programs

in public relations have professional

public relations experience.

Graduate Education

and ethical codes and political systems.

◆ Public relations applications. This areashould familiarize students with public rela-tions practice in corporate, government andnonprofit settings. Content also might providefor specialization in practice areas such ashealth care, politics, business, technology, en-vironmental and multicultural and globalpublic relations.

◆ Public relations management. This areashould cover all aspects of strategic public re-lations management, including principles,planning, organizing, evaluating, staffing,counseling, leadership, leading in inclusivesettings and budgeting. Content should in-clude reputation management, integratedpractices, concepts of organizational effective-ness, organizational policymaking, issues andcrisis management, relationship-building withinternal/external publics, activism and medi-ation, negotiation and conflict resolution.This area should consider how public rela-tions is managed in a diverse world of poli-tics, economic systems and distinct culturalvoices. Diversity management involveshuman resources, staffing, team, vendor andpersonnel functions. It requires knowledge ofglobal and local social, political, economicand historical frameworks, policies and laws.Content should include theories and princi-ples of diversity such as power and identity;international, intercultural, multicultural andcross-cultural communication; and multicul-tural marketing.

◆ Public relations research. This area shouldinclude the application of social science re-search to the planning, implementation andevaluation of strategic public relations prac-tices. Students should gain familiarity withquantitative and qualitative research meth-ods, experimental design, sampling, dataanalysis, report writing, research ethics andchallenges of researching minority groups.

◆ Public relations programming and produc-

tion. This area should include advancedprinciples and practice techniques, particu-larly those related to the use of new technol-ogy, the Internet and telecommunication.Students should become proficient in re-search-based strategic planning, audienceanalysis, message development and designand distribution channels.

◆ Public relations publics. This area should in-clude studies of publics and their relationalinterests in and consequences on organiza-tions. Students should learn the situationaltheory of publics; activism theory; and theo-ries of power, risk communication, crisiscommunication, relationship and relationshipmanagement, identity, gender, culture andother dimensions of diversity.

◆ Communication processes. In this area, stu-dents should learn theories and practices ofcommunication (organizational, interper-sonal, intercultural, small group, persuasion,rhetorical and conflict resolution).

◆ Management sciences. This area should in-clude accounting, finance, management, mar-keting, diversity management and strategicintegrated communication applications.

◆ Behavioral sciences. This area should ac-quaint students with social psychology, cul-tural anthropology, sociology and politicalscience. Content should be designed to helpstudents develop an understanding of groupbehavior, behavioral change, organizationalculture and relationships.

◆ Internship or practicum experience.Graduate students should obtain and buildtheir strategic management skills throughproject assignments as well as in internshipand practicum experiences. Whenever possi-ble, assignments requiring students to workin environments different from their own so-cial group should be completed. They shouldreceive supervisory mentoring and also ap-praisals of their work. They also should pro-duce academic work, such as papers, journal


entries or essays about their experiences forreview by their academic advisers.

◆ Thesis and/or capstone project and/or com-prehensive exam. The thesis should representscholarly research to test public relations the-ory, with the assistance of a faculty advisory

committee (6 credits). The capstone projectshould also include original research but witha “deliverable” to advance the practice of pub-lic relations (3 credits). A comprehensive examgenerally asks the student to provide closed-book essay answers on course content in afour-hour time period. No credit hours shouldbe awarded for comprehensive examinations.

2. Master’s Program Models

These three program models assume that themaster’s student has an undergraduate degreein public relations or a substantial skills-and-knowledge foundation in public relations.Students who do not have requisite undergrad-uate preparation should complete foundationalundergraduate coursework before entering pub-lic relations master’s programs. TheCommission highly recommends that studentsentering master’s programs in public relationshave professional public relations experience.

Courses are listed for each model that providethe requisite content.

MODEL A(This model focuses the student on preparingto enter a doctoral program.)

• Public relations management

• Public relations publics

• Global public relations

• Ethics and philosophy in public relations

• Research methods in communication

• Research design in public relations

• Theories of communication

• Two electives (recommended that these bemanagement courses)

• Thesis

MODEL B(This model provides advanced career prepara-tion through coursework in public relations andmanagement disciplines.)

• Public relations theory

• Public relations law and ethics

• Public relations research methods

• Public relations management

• Accounting

• Finance

• Marketing

• Strategic planning

• Two electives

• Thesis or capstone project

MODEL C(This model provides studies for a specializa-tion in public relations. It provides an interdis-ciplinary course of study by bringing in contentfrom other disciplines into public relationscourses and through collateral electives.)

• Strategic PR in a digital environment

• Strategic PR research and evaluation

• Strategic PR management

• PR law and ethics

• Organizational communication

• Strategic media relations

• Strategic PR in global, multicultural and diverse environments

• Strategic PR campaign design and implementation

• Collateral Electives (two courses in one areasuch as nonprofit/public sector management,


The production of doctoral graduates

has not kept pace with the need either in

education or the profession.

Graduate Education

environmental policy, business/management,corporate public relations, international mar-keting or management, sports management,public affairs, educational institutions man-agement, entertainment, health communica-tion or other appropriate area)

The Commission’s research findings that show apreference for graduate education that is interdis-ciplinary and management- or business-focusedwill require public relations programs to workwith different academic units, such as businessschools, to deliver these curricula. Faculty andpractitioners agree on the importance of super-vised experience. However, the ability of the stu-dent; the nature of the program and its homeinstitution; the availability of opportunitieswithin a reasonable distance from the college/university; and other issues have contributed to agreat variety in students’ experience.

Doctoral Education

The production of doctoral graduates has notkept pace with the need, either in education or inthe practice. Many teaching positions at universi-ties where educators are required to have doc-toral degrees remain unfilled. Since the 1999Commission report, the scarcity of public rela-tions professors with Ph.D.s has only increased.Hallahan (PR Tactics, 2003) reported that “aPh.D. is required at better universities for bothhiring and tenure. Colleges are under increasedscrutiny from their regional accrediting agenciesto demonstrate institutional quality. Two fre-quently used metrics are the percentage of Ph.D.son the faculty and the quantity and quality offaculty research in scholarly journals.” This trendsuggests that public relations educators will besought for their academic credentials first withless interest in their professional experience. Butfaculty also need to know how public relations ispracticed. The Commission recommends seekingincreased partnerships with professionals andprofessional organizations to help educators staycurrent with the practice of public relations.

Here are some of the challenges to be con-

fronted in graduate education:

◆ Lack of understanding of public relations on the part of society and within academia,creating disconnects in communication andinterdisciplinary cooperation, particularly inrelation to the understanding of ethical re-quirements and social responsibility of publicrelations performance.

◆ Growing complexity of a behavioral, commu-nication and business management knowl-edge base that requires time and resources toresearch and access before connections canbe accurately identified.

◆ Need for greater interaction among practition-ers and educators to foster unity and identityand to facilitate mutual understanding of theprofession’s evolving educational and re-search needs.

◆ Limited visibility of the profession within academia due to lack of economic support for the profession’s research and educationalneeds.

To meet these challenges, the Commission rec-ommends:

◆ The development of additional doctoral programs where undergraduate and master’sdegree public relations program strength andfaculties exist.

◆ The identification of Ph.D. degrees specifi-cally in public relations, particularly in col-leges or schools with existing graduateprogram strength in public relations.

◆ The creation of additional endowed chairs in public relations that will allow increasedgraduate student direction and research productivity.

◆ Continued progress toward the developmentof interdisciplinary graduate programs.

◆ Professional encouragement of the develop-ment of specializations within public rela-tions through financial support where


institutional and program strengths exist forthe specialization.

◆ The creation of “distinguished visiting lecture-ship” positions that will enable the employmentof top practitioners in public relations programs.

◆ Increased financial support for research thatwill enable more qualitative and quantitativeresearch.

◆ The creation of “faculty fellowships” at cor-

porations and public relations firms that willenable practitioners to increase their knowl-edge of research and education needs andthat facilitate cooperative research betweeneducators and practitioners.

◆ The creation of competitive managementlevel traineeships for master’s and doctoralstudents of public relations within public rela-tions firms, corporations, nonprofit organiza-tions and governments.


Graduate Education

NotesHallahan, Kirk, (http://www.prsa.org/_Publications/magazines/0803spot4.asp,accessed May 9, 2006).

The models recommended were built applyingflexible time and content delivery designs thatpermit students to access courses in other aca-demic disciplines. Too, in offering the course indistance learning or weekend formats, manage-ment faculty, for example, could teach busi-ness courses to public relations students. Thissection briefly describes the nature of the su-pervised work experience (internship), pres-ents several issues surrounding differences inthe manner in which programs define this ex-perience and offers recommendations for suchexperience.

Summary of Recommendations in Previous Commission Reports

Two previous Commission reports (1987 and1999) included “supervised experience” as oneof the core courses in their recommended un-dergraduate curricula. A Port of Entry (1999)asserted that it was “… imperative that publicrelations students have the opportunity toapply the skills and principles they learn to theprofessional arena.”

Three qualities were included to describe theexperience:

1. cooperatively supervised by a practitionerand a faculty member;

2. learning objectives guide the experience;

3. consistent and continuous evaluation of the performance of the student during theexperience.

Given those qualities, the report noted thatwhen public relations students undertake an internship, they should (a) know the facultyand practitioner supervisor, (b) create objec-tives for the learning and professional perform-ance that are understood and agreed to by bothsupervisors and (c) have the benefit of continu-ous assessment of their work by their supervi-sors throughout the internship.

Supervised work experience for graduate stu-dents assumed lesser importance than for un-dergraduates in the 1999 report. Specifically,supervised instruction was a complement, oran alternative, to a comprehensive examina-tion. If undertaken, however, the three qualities


Perhaps no one aspect of public relations education has

generated more discussion and diversity of implementation

than the recommended “supervised work experience.”


57

guiding the undergraduate work experiencealso were applicable to a graduate internship.

The flexibility permitted in the previous reportshas led to considerable variety in work experi-ences, depending upon how institutions ad-dressed several issues. Some of those issueshave included:

◆ Is completion of an internship a condition forgraduation? Should an internship be requiredof all public relations students?

◆ Should a supervised work experience becounted as an internship only if credit isgiven?

◆ Should credit be permitted for more than oneinternship and should more than one intern-ship be counted toward graduation require-ments?

◆ If the work experience is unpaid, should itcount as a for-credit internship?

◆ Is securing work experience the responsibilityof the student or the college/university?

◆ Should part-time work be counted as “super-vised work experience”?

◆ If the student is paid (i.e., receives an hourlywage or stipend), is the student an employeeof the employing organization or a student ofthe university?

◆ If a student is enrolled for credit, how shouldthe experience be graded? Who should deter-mine the grade? Is “pass-fail” an appropriategrading policy?

◆ Should it be expected that the student willproduce a tangible product for the experienceto be given credit? Should the student pro-duce/create/design/write/conduct researchappropriate for a professional portfolio?

◆ Should the student write a report about theexperience in addition to supervisor evalua-tions and the accumulation of evidence ofwork completed?

◆ Should the faculty supervisor visit the work-place of each student supervised, and howoften?

◆ Can an intern be “fired” by the practitioner? Ifso, does the internship count as supervisedwork experience?

◆ What is the appropriate title for supervisedwork experience: internship, externship, co-operative work, practical experience or someother label?

◆ Should oncampus work assignments becounted as a supervised work experience?

◆ How long (measured in hours, or weeks)should work experience last?

◆ How much credit should be given for intern-ships of varying lengths: e.g., one credit hourfor a set number of hours of work completed?

A variety of answers to these and other ques-tions has led to a variety of methods used to pro-vide students with supervised work experience.


Research conducted by the Commission for thisreport reaffirmed the central importance of su-pervised work experience to public relationsstudents. Practitioners surveyed identified it asthe highest-scored essential ingredient of an un-dergraduate education. Educators equally val-ued supervised experience and credibility.Practical experience also was one of the top fiveconsiderations in entry-level hiring decisions.In short, the attitude of educators and practi-tioners alike remains unchanged since the 1999report: supervised work experience is an essen-tial part of public relations education.

However, some discrepancy between faculty at-titudes and institutional performance was re-vealed in the recent research. The broad,quantitative research study conducted in prepa-ration for the Commission’s report showed thatwhile both educators and practitioners believeinternships or practicum experience are a



highly essential part of public relations educa-tion, both groups judged the quality of intern-ships as only “okay” at about the midpoint on a5-point scale.

A survey of faculty advisers to Chapters of thethe Public Relations Student Society ofAmerica (PRSSA) revealed that fewer than halfof the programs require public relations ma-jors to complete an internship for academiccredit. Yet internships for academic credit areencouraged. About three-fourths of the publicrelations majors at these colleges and universi-ties typically complete an internship for aca-demic credit. Furthermore, students in almostall the programs (98 percent) complete an av-erage of one or more internships—for-creditand/or noncredit—during their undergraduatecollege careers.

Survey results showed that only 36 percent offor-credit internships pay students a stipend orsalary, an issue of concern since students mustpay tuition and fees to receive academic creditfor an internship. Therefore, nonpaying intern-ships for credit actually cost the studentmoney. Furthermore, nonpaying internships—for-credit or noncredit—discriminate againststudents with financial need because theyoften must work to attend college and cannotafford to give up paying jobs to take on non-paying internships.

Discussion about paid internships inevitablyraises questions about nonprofit organizations,which stereotypically are portrayed as poor and

unable to pay interns. Whereas volunteer-staffed nonprofits with revenues of less than$100,000 certainly would find it difficult to paya student intern, many nonprofits seeking pub-lic relations interns have much higher revenuesand multiple paid employees. Museums, col-leges, hospitals and local chapters of large na-tional organizations usually are far from poor.Reported annual revenue for some well-knownnonprofits, such as the American Red Cross,American Cancer Society, Boys and Girls Clubs,Goodwill, United Way and YMCA, is $1 billionor more nationally. And, while staff salaries atnonprofit organizations are below salaries inthe for-profit sector, they still are relativelycompetitive. For example, a 2005 compensationstudy by GuideStar found that top program offi-cers at charities with budgets between $1 mil-lion and $2.5 million (classified as mid-size)earned a median salary of $62,700 in 2003.1

The 2005 survey of top executives’ compensa-tion conducted by The Chronicle ofPhilanthropy showed that the national presi-dents of the well-known nonprofits listed aboveearn more than $300,000 per year.2

Another study found that the annual mediansalary of public relations directors for local non-profits was about $50,500 in 2004.3 It is there-fore difficult to understand why morenonprofits cannot pay student interns at leastminimum wage.

A few additional points regarding public rela-tions internships at nonprofits should be made.Nonprofits that are volunteer-staffed with rev-enues of less than $100,000 are unlikely to havean employee with expertise in public relationsor communication who would be a suitable in-tern supervisor. Academic credit should not begranted for such experiences.

A valuable resource for educators is theGuideStar Web site (www.guidestar.org), whichprovides annual revenue, number of employeesand other information about specific nonprof-its. The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Web site


Many educators and practitioners argue

that payment for work increases the

professionalism of the internship experience

and rightfully recognizes returned value to

the organization.

(www.philanthropy.com) also is useful for edu-cators and nonprofit practitioners desiring tomake a case for paying interns who want towork at nonprofits.

Many educators and practitioners argue thatpayment for work increases the professionalismof the internship experience and rightfully rec-ognizes returned value to the organization.Some educators who responded to the surveybelieve that public relations firms using unpaidinterns to acquire and maintain clients are con-tributing unethically to their bottom line.

A May 2006 Op-Ed piece in The New YorkTimes, titled “Take This Internship and ShoveIt,” simply stated, “Unpaid internships are notjobs, only simulations. And fake jobs are notthe best preparation for real jobs.” The authorcited several studies relevant to this discussion,including a 1998 survey of employers by theInstitute on Education and the Economy atColumbia University’s Teachers College, whichfound that “compared to unpaid internships,paid placements are strongest on all measuresof internship quality. The quality measures arealso higher for those firms who intend to hiretheir interns.”4

Regardless of opinions and studies, one basicprinciple of the marketplace should be kept inmind: Students almost always select the organi-zations to which they apply for internships, andorganizations offering pay will attract the bestcandidates.

Results of the internship survey also indicatethat availability of public relations internshipsis not a problem. Participants were asked torate the availability of public relations intern-ships for their students on a scale from 1 to 10,with 1 representing “way too few” and 10 rep-resenting “more than we can fill.” The resultingmean score was 6.88, meaning that, on aver-age, internship opportunities meet and slightlysurpass the number needed.

Although more internships in general are notneeded, students would benefit from an in-

creased number of internships with certaintypes of organizations. At the top of the list forsurvey respondents were more internships withcompanies and corporations, followed by pub-lic relations firms and government agencies.

PRSSA faculty advisers reported that typicallyonly about two-thirds of the internships cur-rently available to their students are “high qual-ity.” When asked to name the one factor theybelieve is most important to making an intern-ship high- quality, the overwhelming pluralityfocused on the internship supervisor and his orher availability, expertise and working relation-ship with the student.

Ranking second as a quality factor was studentsbeing given meaningful assignments and notbeing treated primarily as clerical workers.

The importance of the faculty supervisor’s com-municating often and openly with internshipsponsors was underscored by the study’s find-ing that internship coordinators generally havelimited contact with students during their in-ternships. The majority reported that the per-son coordinating public relations internshipsfor academic credit in their programs has for-mal contact with the student only about once amonth or even less frequently.


1. The Commission recommends that sponsor-ing organizations of all types—companies,firms, government agencies and nonprofits—pay public relations students for internships.

2. The Commission recommends that academiccredit for internships be reserved for work-place experiences that include an on-site su-pervisor knowledgeable in public relations.

3. The Commission strongly recommends thatorganizations, regardless of type, assign stu-dents to supervisors who will routinely andclearly instruct students and evaluate theirperformance.

4. The Commission recommends that educa-



tors make concerted efforts to communicatewith practitioners—in person, by phoneand/or by e-mail—to candidly discuss needsand expectations of public relations interns.

5. The Commission recommends that public re-lations faculty have a high degree of qualitycontrol in the administration of internshipsfor public relations students.

6. The Commission recommends that, whenfaculty hold primary responsibility for coor-dinating internships, the work be credited aspart of the faculty member’s normal teach-ing load.

7. The Commission recommends that, whenfaculty hold primary responsibility for coordi-

nating internships, one instructor be assignedfor every 30 students taking internships foracademic credit during a term.

8. The Commission recommends that individ-ual public relations educators and associa-tions to which they belong conduct in-depthresearch to determine best practices in pub-lic relations internships.

It is hoped that research findings presentedhere and recommendations by the Commissionwill assist public relations educators and practi-tioners in their efforts to offer high-quality in-ternships for their students. Doing so willbenefit the public relations profession now andin the future.


Notes1 [Blum, Debra E. (2005, October 13). Female charity executives win big increase in pay. The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved September 12, 2006, from http://www.philan-thropy.com/premium/articles/v18/i01/01003501.htm]

2 [Executive compensation survey. (2005, September 29). The Chronicle of Philanthropy.Retrieved September 12, 2006, from http://www.philanthropy.com/premium/stats/salary/]

3 [Langer, Steven. (2004). Compensation in nonprofit organizations (17th ed.). Crete, IL: Abbott,Langer & Associates.]

4 [Kamenetz, Anya. (2006, May 30). Take this internship and shove it. The New York Times,p. A19.]

The Sloan Foundation’s report, Growing byDegrees: Online Education in the United States,2005, documents that online education has be-come part of the mainstream of university edu-cation. For example, the report includes thefollowing findings:

◆ The number of students taking at least oneonline course grew 18.2 percent in 2004 to2.35 million students.

◆ 65 percent of schools offering graduate face-to-face courses also offer graduate courses online.

◆ 63 percent of schools offering undergraduateface-to-face courses also offer undergraduatecourses online.

◆ Among all schools offering face-to-face mas-ter’s degree programs, 44 percent also offermasters’ degree programs online.

◆ 43 percent of business schools also offer on-line business degrees.2

The Wall Street Journal reports that, despite thepublicity focus on the University of Phoenixand other for-profit schools, it is the public uni-versities that are going online “big time.”According to Gary Miller, associate vice presi-dent for outreach at Penn State University,3

“Public universities are moving into the onlineenvironment extremely rapidly.” In fact, thereare more than 51,450 students enrolled in theonline University College of the University ofMaryland, more than 9,200 at the University ofMassachusetts and nearly 20,000 at TroyUniversity in Alabama.4

Yet few public relations courses are currentlybeing taught online in American universities.No complete undergraduate programs havebeen found online in public relations.5 The sixuniversities in the Tennessee Board of Regentssystem (Austin Peay, East Tennessee State,Middle Tennessee State, TennesseeTechnological University, Tennessee State and

Distance LearningWhile distance education involves any type of education that is

delivered away from a main college or university campus, online

education is the focus of this section. Online education now includes

more than one million students in online degree programs out of

the approximately 15 million total students enrolled today in higher

educational institutions in the United States.1


63

University of Memphis) come close: they havea five-course sequence of public relationscourses available in their organizational leader-ship concentration for an online bachelor ofprofessional studies degree. The five coursesare the typical ones covering the suggested top-

ics in the 1999 Port of Entry: public relationsprinciples, writing, research, case problems andcampaigns. An internship is also available.

At the graduate level, there is no program thatis totally online and entirely a public relationsprogram. West Virginia University has an inte-grated marketing communication online pro-gram. Austin Peay University has an onlinemaster’s degree in corporate communication.The University of Maryland’s University Collegeoffers a master’s degree in management andpublic relations. Syracuse University has a cam-pus component plus online instruction for itsmaster’s of public relations and management.The University of Memphis has an online mas-ter’s degree in journalism with a concentrationin public relations available.6


To have quality online programs, several issuesmust be considered by public relations programadministrators and faculty. These include re-sources (incentives, design and developmentcosts), pedagogy and quality assurance.

Resources: University administrators mustprovide additional resources to develop onlineprograms if a school decides to undertake thetask of developing a program, either at the un-dergraduate or graduate level. While a singlecourse may be done without more assistance,

public relations faculty members typically haveheavy teaching loads, advising responsibilitiesand research agendas, which don’t allow extratime for many additional duties. Many majoruniversities with well-designed programs andcourses often provide teaching/learning-centersupport with instructional design assistance aswell as production assistance for preparing ma-terials for online instruction. But the universityshould also provide a teaching load reductionfor the designer of a new online course. As anincentive, the designer often will also receiveextra compensation, or a stipend, for preparingthe course(s).

The intellectual property rights for the newlydesigned online course usually go to the de-signer/instructor. However, the university willretain the right to use the course, should thedesigner leave the university.

Pedagogy: Different skills and methods ofteaching are needed for online instruction. Fiftyyears of research show students learn morewhen they collaborate with each other, receiveprompt and trusted feedback, have more inter-action with the professor and have more op-tions of learning style. This can all happen withonline instruction.

No longer is the instructor the key person; in-stead, the key is the student learner. Emphasisis on how to best meet the learning objectivesof the course. The instructor is much more acourse manager, rather than the center of thelearning process. The more the student can beinvolved with the course material through as-signments, online discussions and group exer-cises, the more likely the learning objectives areto be obtained. Typically, there are several stu-dents in a classroom setting who are reluctantto ask questions. However, with online classes,students are much more likely to be involvedwith the professor and other students throughe-mail, discussion postings, assignments andchat rooms.

Online courses may not always be the ideal


… (I)t is the public universities that

are going online “big time.”

Distance Learning

choice for students, but are the realistic choicebecause of work schedules, home responsibili-ties and/or special needs. The successful onlinestudent tends to be an adult learner who ishighly motivated, mature and focused on learn-ing. In one major online statewide program, thetypical student was found to be 40 years oldand female with two children.7

Lessons learned from students taking onlinecourses include these:

They tend to be motivated, focused and appre-ciative of the opportunity to learn, no matterwhere they live or how much they travel. Theirwork is often superior to on-campus students.The students often get to know one anotherbetter than they would in a classroom setting.Some material is even easier to master onlinethan other types of coursework.8

Instructors report that class size needs to besmall (typically 25 or fewer for a lecture courseand 15 or fewer for a writing or graduatecourse).

At least weekly involvement and considerablecontact with students are essential. The instruc-tor and students need to be comfortable withcomputers. Courses need to be evaluated differ-ently, and there needs to be a technology hot-line for immediate help.

Regional college and university accreditingagencies require that the services provided toonline students are similar to on-campus stu-dents. Lessons learned from administrators sug-gest these services should be the same orsimilar to those provided by these campus of-fices: financial aid, admissions, bursar, registrarand advising.

Opportunities for career counseling and otherservices also may need to be provided. Libraryservices need to be available from a distance;therefore, students should be able to accesselectronic journals, databases and even booksas well as interlibrary loan. Administratorsmust be prepared to deal with copyright and

other intellectual property rights issues. Theyneed to provide incentives to faculty to developcourses as well as teach them and to provideinstructional design assistance. Administratorsalso must provide oversight to insure that allprograms, courses, instruction and faculty areable to meet accreditation standards when de-livering online courses.9

Quality Assurance: The North CentralAssociation of Colleges and Schools has led theway in developing standards evaluating onlinedegree programs.10 The other regional accredit-ing associations have joined together to use thestandards developed by North Central and ap-

proved by all eight regional groups. TheCouncil for Higher Education Accreditation(CHEA) has developed guidelines for qualityassurance in online and distance education.Various other groups also have developed on-line guidelines, including Blackboard, a majorcourse management software vendor, and theSloan Consortium and Educause, both educa-tional-based associations which work with dis-tance education issues and research. Problemsin quality assurance that continue to be ad-dressed include testing and evaluation, studentinvolvement and quality of student services.

Conclusion

Public relations education in the next decadewill need to include online education in itsmix of delivery methods if it is to keep pace


Public relations education in

the next decade will need to

include online education in its

mix of delivery methods….

with the rest of professional education.Professional education has led the way in on-line programs because the demand among theadult learners (persons 25 years old and older)is for those programs. Business, education andhealth care are those areas most in demand bythe adult student.11 Those are the programsmost offered, not only by for-profit institutions

such as Phoenix and Strayer, but also by tradi-tional state and private colleges and universi-ties. The traditional higher education systemhas been slower to enter into online educa-tion, but is now moving into it much morerapidly because of the public demand for qual-ity online education from credible higher edu-cational institutions.


Distance Learning

Notes1 Carol Aslanian, higher education consultant, presentation at Association for Continuing

Higher Education, Region VII Annual Convention, Fort Worth, TX, April 21, 2006.

2 The Sloan Consortium, “Growing by Degrees: Online Education in the United States, 2005.”

3 Daniel Golden, “[email protected],” The Wall Street Journal Online, May 9, 2006.

4 Ibid.

5 Survey done by Dan Lattimore of all PRSSA schools, Spring 2006.

6 Ibid.

7 Regents Online Degree Programs, Tennessee Board of Regents, Nashville, TN.

8 Dan Lattimore, “Regents Online Degree Programs: What We’ve Learned,” ETHED Conference,Nashville, TN, April 2003.

9 Ibid.

10 http://www.ncahlc.org/download/Best_Pract_DEd.pdf

11 Aslanian, April 21, 2006.

In organizational structures, the relationshipbetween the manager of the public relationsprogram and top management has long beenrecognized as a critical factor in the effectiveperformance of public relations. Less recog-nized is the influence of where academic pro-grams are placed within the managementstructure of universities on the ability of aca-demic programs in public relations to respondand adapt independently to the needs of thepublic relations profession.

Public relations practitioners and educatorsneed to understand the following relationshipsto understand the position of public relationseducation compared with academic and profes-sional education programs within universities:

◆ Concentrations and sequences of study existwithin academic departments. Control andadministration are directed by a chair who isinfluenced primarily by the dominant coali-tion of faculty within the department.

Although public relations faculty may haveearned respect and consequently influenceand even autonomy, public relations se-quence and program coordinators may nothave an official voice in the administrative hi-erarchy beyond what is awarded them by thechair or department head.

◆ Centers are frequently the next step towardbecoming a department or interdisciplinaryunit, and directors may have budget control,official reporting responsibilities and varyingdegrees of independence within the academicunit in which they are placed.

◆ Schools, on the other hand, are frequently theintermediate unit between development froma department to a free-standing college. Theyare normally headed by a director or dean,who has greater status within an institutionof higher education than does a departmentchair. Schools may be departments (inde-pendent academic units) with budget and

Governance and Academic SupportPublic relations education has evolved within the United States largely

as a part of programs in journalism and mass communication or within

departments of communication studies. Programs with strength in jour-

nalistic writing were logical areas for public relations program develop-

ment, as were programs with strength in organizational communication.


67

curriculum control within academic areas,but not necessarily. Often, departmental iden-tification may only indicate sophistication ofacademic program development, rather thanindividual academic degree program budgetcontrol by chairs of units within the school.

◆ Colleges may have departments, centers andsometimes even schools located within them.If so, these academic units may have directbudget and curriculum development responsi-bilities and autonomy in the recruitment (andrecommendation to the dean, provost or vicepresident of academic affairs or to the dean offaculties and vice president) for the employ-ment and retention of faculty.

Other factors that substantially influence thedevelopment of public relations within univer-sities and liberal arts colleges relate to institu-tional missions; the history of academicprogram development within an institution ofhigher education; the strength of the existingcurriculum; the research and publicationachievement of existing faculty; and the reputa-tion of student and alumni achievement.

The academic backgrounds of faculty withinthe unit having control, and the professionaland academic experiences of administrators atall levels within the chain of command, alsomay substantially influence the development ofacademic programs. These experiences may ei-ther facilitate program development or limit it.The development of undergraduate and gradu-ate programs also are influenced by institu-tional strength or weakness in areas wherepublic relations has interdisciplinary needs for

the identification of courses as directed elec-tives, as part of students’ liberal education re-quirements or for the interdisciplinary optionsthat can be offered.

The dominant influencing factor at an institu-tion of higher education will be the degree ofoutside funding support, or, in some cases,state legislative direction in political responseto a profession. These institutional differencesand variations make it difficult to prescribe asingle model for the governance of public rela-tions programs within universities. Instead,they point out two critical needs if public rela-tions is to achieve status as a profession withgenerally accepted educational requirementsfor performance (one of the criteria for identifi-cation of a profession):

◆ Increased economic influence.

◆ Increased involvement as professionals andas a profession in influencing the develop-ment of public relations education.


Public relations programs must be responsive tothe profession they are designed to serve.Following are steps that can be taken to increaseresponsiveness and accelerate advancement:

◆ Increased autonomy of public relations facul-ties in defining curriculum and degree re-quirements.

◆ Increased involvement of public relations pro-gram heads and their faculties in budget deci-sions related to their programs.

◆ Increased independence of public relationsfaculties in defining employment, tenure andpromotion criteria and in making recommen-dations to higher-level administrators for newfaculty employment.

◆ Increased achievements and visibility of pub-lic relations academic program administrators.

◆ Independent ability to communicate with andbuild alumni support.


The one dominant influencing factor

at an institution of higher education

will be the degree of outside funding

support provided….


◆ Independent professional identity of enrolledstudents equal to existing programs in jour-nalism, marketing and advertising where theyexist in programs of higher education.

◆ Greater autonomy in the control of admissionstandards within institutional mission guide-lines.

◆ The ability to have independent identity andcontrol as public relations faculties over theprofessional support received for scholar-ships, chairs, lectureships and public relationsprogram support.

◆ Independent ability as public relations pro-grams to define needs and program prioritiesand to direct funds in supporting student ac-tivities.

◆ Adequate staff and graduate assistantshipsupport to develop and carry out programsdeveloped by the public relations programfaculty.

In view of these needs and the differences inacademic institutions, the following manage-ment or governance structures are recom-mended to academic administrators and toprofessionals for the use in the next decade:

◆ The creation of Centers for Public RelationsResearch and Education within departmentsor schools where student enrollments man-

date the need for increased professional pro-gram recognition and public relations facultycontrol.

◆ The assignment of staff or graduate assistantsupport to coordinators of sequences of pub-lic relations sufficient for the adequate super-vision of PRSSA activities, student publicrelations agencies and program developmentsuch as lectureships, conferences, advisorycouncil development, alumni and profes-sional development and communication.

◆ Increased efforts to involve leading public re-lations practitioners as members of public re-lations advisory councils for academicprograms that help define involvement needs,recommend supervision structures and shareachievements.

◆ Increased recognition at the national level forpractitioner contributions to advisory councilsat the institutional level.

◆ Increased support from national PRSA in cre-ating an annual Education/ProfessionalAdvancement Day for PRSA chapter programswith recommended areas for panel discus-sions designed to educate practitioners as tothe status and needs of higher education aswell as how PRSA members and chapters canbe involved in speaking up for advancementsin public relations education.


Qualifications for teaching public relations at acollege or university generally include a Ph.D.degree. Those holding Ph.D. degrees who alsohave had substantial and significant practi-tioner experience are highly preferred. TheCommission encourages those faculty whohave Ph.D.s, but who have limited or no practi-tioner experience, and those without this termi-nal degree who are former practitioners, topursue a range of academic and professionalexperiences that will familiarize them withboth the knowledge and the skills needed inthe current practice of public relations.

In addition to the academic credential of a doc-torate, a broad knowledge of communicationsciences, behavioral sciences and business, aswell as considerable cultural and historicalknowledge, also are highly desirable in publicrelations faculty.

Summary of Recommendations in theCommission’s October 1999 Report

The October 1999 Commission said the idealfull-time public relations educator would have

both a terminal degree (usually a Ph.D.) andsignificant practitioner experience. When thisideal was not possible, the report suggested abalance among public relations faculty, i.e.,those who had terminal degrees and those whohad substantial and significant practitioner ex-perience. The report urged that adjunct facultyhave both practitioner experience and at least abaccalaureate degree–with accreditation by aprofessional public relations association beinghighly desirable. The report further recom-mended that all public relations educators beactively engaged in scholarship or in profes-sional and creative activity, in part throughtheir active participation in practitioner and/oracademic associations. Full-time faculty shouldprovide the majority of public relations instruc-tion in an academic unit.

The October 1999 Commission report recog-nized that the doctoral curriculum in publicrelations historically had been a specializedoption within a broader program, usually in“mass communication” or “communication.”Such a theory-and-research degree would pre-pare public relations faculty to add to the body

Faculty Credentials

The recommendations of the Commission’s October 1999 report

remain valid. But the critical shortage of qualified public relations edu-

cators has become even more acute since that report was published.


71

of knowledge in the field. Faculty holding aPh.D. also would be aware of the relationshipof the public relations body of knowledge toother communication-related knowledge, e.g.,interpersonal, rhetorical, organizational andsmall group, and would thus be able to inte-grate a range of knowledge into their teaching

and research. Faculty having such scholarlybreadth also could develop competing para-digms of public relations that would be basedon different metatheoretical and philosophicalfoundations, which could be shared in an in-terdisciplinary, multicultural and global con-text. Public relations faculty also were urgedto keep current in their knowledge through“professor in residence” programs, faculty-professional exchanges, participation in pro-fessional development programs andsabbaticals in which they work in a practi-tioner environment.

The October 1999 report reiterated a recom-mendation from the 1987 Commission report:“Public relations courses should not be taughtby people who have little or no experience andinterest in the field and have no academicpreparation in public relations.”

Progress and Change in Public RelationsEducation Since the 1999 Report

The critical shortage of qualified public rela-tions educators has become even more acutesince the October 1999 report because of the in-

creasing numbers of public relations studentswho are filling the nation’s classrooms. Indeed,since the last Commission report, the demandfor public relations professors with Ph.D.s hassignificantly increased. Furthermore, collegesand universities are being pressured even moreby their regional accrediting bodies to fill fac-ulty positions with candidates having Ph.D.s.As a result, public relations educators are beingvalued more for their academic credentials thanfor their practitioner experience, which previ-ously might have compensated for the lack of aterminal degree.

The numbers of doctoral students planning aca-demic careers in public relations is slowly in-creasing. Several existing doctoral programshave paid increasing attention to public rela-tions education and some new public relationsdoctoral programs have been developed. Still,these recent efforts do not sufficiently addressthe continuing shortage of qualified public rela-tions educators.

The good news is that scholarly conventionpaper presentations by junior professors anddoctoral students are providing anecdotal evi-dence of a new generation of public relationseducators who exemplify the ideal qualifica-tions identified in the October 1999Commission report. While public relations cen-ters and endowed chairs at universities remainfew in number, they nevertheless have helped“institutionalize” public relations doctoral edu-cation programs as well as attract students todoctoral study in public relations.

The shortage of qualified faculty and thepaucity of doctoral programs in public relationsare exacerbated by the growing body of publicrelations knowledge that must be taught in doc-toral-level courses. Without enough facultyknowledgeable and academically prepared toteach this growing literature in the field, thereis the danger that the growing number of bac-calaureate and master’s program students willbe less than adequately taught.


The critical shortage of qualified public

relations educators has become even more

acute… because of the increasing numbers

of public relations students who are filling

the nation’s classrooms.

Faculty Credentials


Public relations educators must be fully quali-fied to teach what students at the undergradu-ate, master’s and doctoral levels need to know.Research by the 2006 Commission identifiedseveral trends for which public relations educa-tors must adequately prepare their students.These include: the need for transparency andaccountability; the increasing value of publicrelations to top management; the demand forpublic relations research methodology, meas-urement and metrics; globalization; an increas-ingly complex and difficult ethicalenvironment; challenges to institutional trustand credibility; rapidly changing media; tech-nological change; the increasing importance ofinternal audiences; and the need for organiza-tions to integrate their communication.

Research by the 2006 Commission revealed thatundergraduate students particularly need thefollowing subject matter: writing and speakingskills, the fundamentals of public relations,strategic thinking skills, research skills, plan-ning and problem-solving skills, ethics, funda-mentals of how businesses operate, and afoundation in the liberal arts and sciences.Qualitative research indicated that students alsoneed to learn about technological advances, thestrategic function of public relations, multidisci-plinary approaches to public relations, meas-urement in public relations, the integration ofmarketing and communication, globalization,the need for transformational leaders and anunderstanding of factors leading to the disinte-gration of civil society. Even though some ofthis content is taught outside public relationscourses, public relations faculty are responsiblefor making sure that students master it.

Commission research suggested that graduateeducation content should move toward under-standing business and management and publicrelations as a strategic management function.Subject matter for graduate study that wasidentified as important by the Commission’squantitative survey research included an under-

standing of the social consequences of publicrelations as well as its global harmonizing role,the economic contributions of public relations,familiarity with a range of research methodolo-gies and an understanding of cultural diversity.Quantitative research noted that graduate stu-dents should be taught subject matter aboveand beyond that of undergraduate students,with content including: public relations theoryand concepts, public relations law, public rela-tions ethics, global public relations, public rela-tions applications, public relations managementand diversity, public relations research, publicrelations management, public relations pro-gramming and production, public relationspublics, communication processes, manage-ment sciences, and behavioral sciences. Again,public relations educators must integrate intotheir teaching much of this subject matter andbear primary responsibility for student masteryof the content. Qualitative research found sup-port for graduate education that was interdisci-plinary, e.g., communication, management andbehavioral sciences.


All of the recommendations of the October1999 Commission report remain valid, but theneed for adhering to them is more emphatic.The world and relationships among its inhabi-tants have gotten more complicated since thelast report; and the public relations body ofknowledge has increased geometrically.Qualifications of public relations educators nor-mally include a Ph.D. degree, which preparesfaculty for careers, not only as educators, but asscholars who conduct research using multiplemethodologies to help to build theory that addsto the public relations body of knowledge. Ofcourse, those holding a Ph.D. degree who alsohave had substantial and significant practi-tioner experience are even more highly desired.

Public relations faculty also must be broadlyeducated in communication sciences, behav-ioral sciences and business, as well as have


considerable cultural and historical knowledge.Such breadth will help ensure that public rela-tions educators include in their teaching andconsider in their scholarly agendas public rela-tions as a strategic management function, withfull appreciation of the internationalization ofthe practice and the importance of understand-ing diversity, ethics and social responsibility.

Public relations education should not beviewed as an “easy next job to which to retire,”because many colleges and universities that tra-ditionally have not had research emphases arenow requiring it from their faculty. Time willtell whether the practice of hiring “professors ofpractice” and others with practitioner creden-tials can continue much longer. A successful ac-ademic career increasingly will require a recordof scholarly publication and national and inter-national recognition in the scholarly commu-

nity. Without faculty who fit this model, publicrelations education programs won’t be valuedbecause their faculty will be considered “sec-ond-tier.”

Thus, while the Commission believes there is aplace in the academy for former practitionerswith substantial and significant experience,those practitioners may be expected to earntheir terminal degrees, i.e., their Ph.D.s, as acredential for becoming full-time faculty.

The Commission encourages those faculty whohave Ph.D.s but who have limited or no practi-tioner experience, and those without this termi-nal degree who are former practitioners, topursue a range of academic and professionalexperiences that will familiarize them withboth the knowledge and the skills needed inthe current practice of public relations.


Faculty Credentials

Together with their class work, involvement insuch organizations helps them begin to see howand where they might fit into this profession. Italso is the link between the classroom and theirfirst jobs. And, by joining a professional organi-zation’s student chapter, students are providedwith opportunities to experience leadership.Finally, such professional organizations givestudents the opportunity to meet public rela-tions professionals informally, participate inprofessional development programs and makecontacts for internships and later jobs.

An Array of Organizations

The largest pre-professional organization, thePublic Relations Student Society of America(PRSSA), offers membership or affiliate mem-bership through collegiate chapters for publicrelations students. Many other professional or-ganizations offer student memberships and

have student chapters to aid in public relationsstudents’ professional development. On an in-ternational level, students can join theInternational Public Relations Association(IPRA). And the International Association ofBusiness Communicators (IABC) has studentchapters on some college campuses.

Many nation-specific professional organizationsoffer student memberships, including thePublic Relations Society of America (PRSA),which offers an associate membership to full-time doctoral students at a reduced rate.(IPRA’s Web site www.ipra.org, contains a listof many of these professional organizations.)

Several U.S.-based national affinity and special-ization professional organizations offer studentmemberships, such as the Association forWomen In Communications (AWC), which hasstudent chapters; Hispanic Marketing andCommunications Association (HMCA); Hispanic

Professional and Pre-Professional OrganizationsStudents studying public relations in the United States have the

opportunity to join a public relations organization before they are

graduated. By becoming active members of a pre-professional organi-

zation or a student member of a professional organization, students

begin to realize that they are part of something much larger than

being public relations students on their campuses.


75

Public Relations Association (HPRA); NationalBlack Public Relations Society (NBPRS);National Government CommunicatorsAssociation (NGCA); National InvestorRelations Institute (NIRI); and the NationalSchool Public Relations Association (NSPRA).

Many states and regions have public relationsorganizations that also welcome students.

Two prominent academic societies providemany opportunities for public relations gradu-ate students: the public relations divisions ofthe Association for Education in Journalismand Mass Communication (AEJMC) and theNational Communication Association (NCA).Many of the associate members of the journal-ism organizations that comprise UNITY(Journalists of Color, Asian AmericanJournalists Association, National Association ofBlack Journalists, National Association ofHispanic Journalists and the National Lesbianand Gay Journalists Association) are public re-lations practitioners. Depending on the proxim-ity of the local chapters of these organizations,students should be able to meet local profes-sionals and begin to make the transition fromstudent to working professional.

Leading Organizations in Detail

◆ PRSSA—By far the largest organization, withchapters on more than 270 campuses and amembership of more than 9,000, is the PublicRelations Student Society of America (PRSSA).Each chapter is sponsored by a local profes-

sional chapter of the Public Relations Societyof America (PRSA). Undergraduate and mas-ter’s students are welcome.

Members join through a chapter at their col-lege or university in November or March.Students at schools without PRSSA chapterscannot join; however, the PRSSA 2005-2006National Committee approved a one-yearpilot program for PRSSA Affiliates. This pro-gram was designed for those students whoare interested in public relations, but attendcolleges and universities that do not meet thequalifications to establish a PRSSA charter.Affiliates receive certain PRSSA benefits, butare not considered members of PRSSA.Schools without Chapters are encouraged toapply for a charter if they meet the criteria.

Schools with PRSSA chapters must offer atleast five courses in public relations repre-senting the core recommended by theCommission on Public Relations Education.They also must have at least one faculty ad-viser who is a PRSA member and a profes-sional from the host PRSA chapter assignedas a professional adviser.

Students gather in the fall for the PRSSANational Conference held in conjunction withthe PRSA International Conference to learnabout the latest developments in the profes-sion. They meet with professionals in plenarysessions to hear major speakers. In thespring, the students elect their national offi-cers at their assembly and travel with othersin their chapter to regional conferences. Theregional conferences provide an opportunityfor those unable to travel to the nationalConference. PRSSA members receive copies ofPR Tactics, the same monthly publication sentto all PRSA members, and their own nationalnewspaper, FORUM. All members may com-pete for individual scholarships and awards atthe national level.

PRSSA students can access the PRSSA Website including PRSSA’s listings for internships


…(P)rofessional organizations give students

the opportunity to meet public relations

professionals informally, participate in

professional development programs and

make contacts for internships and later jobs.


and full-time jobs and they have access tosections of PRSA’s Web site. Additionally,members receive an e-mail of news stories re-lated to the public relations industry.

PRSA and PRSSA co-sponsor the nationalBateman public relations campaign competi-tion. Students, working in five-person teams,do research, plan and implement programs ontheir campuses on a topic announced in thelate summer of each year. The top 10 schoolsare recognized in the spring, with the topthree teams winning prizes.

Graduating students who have been PRSSAmembers may join PRSA at a reduced rate fortwo years. Also, the application fee is waivedfor them.

PRSSA headquarters is in New York. The URLis: www.prssa.org

◆ IABC—The International Association ofBusiness Communicators (IABC) sponsorschapters on 40 college campuses in theUnited States and Canada. It boasts morethan 1,300 student members. Students canjoin IABC as student members in locationswhere there is no student chapter. Studentmembership is open to all students workingtoward a degree or certificate and not work-ing in the communication industry.

Campus chapters enjoy the support of a fac-ulty adviser, who is a member of IABC, and achapter liaison from the sponsoring chapter.The faculty adviser can serve both roles forIABC.

Students receive the monthly CommunicationWorld magazine and CW Bulletin, and haveaccess to Job Center and to selected parts ofthe IABC Web site. They are welcome to at-tend IABC’s international conference for pro-fessionals at a special student rate.

Members may compete in the Student “GoldQuill” competition. This competition recog-nizes excellence in critical thinking, programplanning and evaluation.

The IABC application fee is waived for gradu-ating students who join an IABC chapter, andthey receive a discount on IABC professionalmembership dues.

IABC headquarters is in San Francisco. TheURL is: www.iabc.com

◆ IPRA—The International Public RelationsAssociation (IPRA) welcomes students asmembers of the professional organization at aspecial student rate. It does not sponsor stu-dent chapters. Member students can accesscase studies, conference papers and Frontlinearticles from IPRA’s Web site.

IPRA headquarters is in the United Kingdom.The URL is: www.ipra.org

◆ The Global Alliance—The Global Alliance,an umbrella organization that includes repre-sentatives of more than 60 national and inter-national public relations organizations, alsohas an interest in developing relationshipswith student organizations. PRSSA is onesuch organization with whom the GlobalAlliance has developed a relationship. TheGlobal Alliance member organizations fromaround the world have programs for studentsthat vary greatly, but are nonetheless aimedat fostering a connection to the professionalbodies in public relations.

Founded in 2000 and incorporated in 2002,the Global Alliance has grown to be the voiceof the profession on a global scale. Throughthe Global Alliance, students in affiliated or-ganizations can gain access to a network thatreaches more than 160,000 professionalsthroughout the world.

For more information, please see: www.globalpr.org.

◆ HPRA—The Hispanic Public Relations Societyof America (HPRA) is a nonprofit organizationthat serves communication professionals inthe Southern California area. HPRA’s missionis to provide career advancement opportuni-ties for individuals from entry to senior levels


in the public relations, marketing and adver-tising fields. HPRA does not have a student so-ciety, but offers a student membership rateand a scholarship program to undergraduatestudents pursing a degree in public relationsor related communication fields.

HPRA headquarters is in Los Angeles,California. The URL is: www.hpra-usa.org

◆ NBPRS—The National Black Public RelationsSociety (NBPRS) serves its members throughinitiatives such as career development andtraining, program enhancements, chapter mo-bilization, networking and scholarships. NBPRSdoes not have a student society, but offers astudent membership rate to those currently en-rolled in a public relations/communication pro-gram at an accredited college or university.Student members are encouraged to attend itsnational conference, which offers professionaldevelopment, resume enhancement and net-working opportunities.

NBPRS headquarters is in Hollywood,California. The URL is: www.nbprs.org

◆ AWC—The Association for Women inCommunications (AWC) supports 38 studentchapters across the United States. Serving pub-lic relations, journalism and other communica-tion disciplines, AWC has a combinedprofessional and student membership of 4,000.

Student chapters all have a faculty adviser and,where possible, a professional chapter liaison.

Students compete for scholarships throughAWC’s Matrix Foundation. Students are wel-come at the professional association’s annualconference at a special student rate and re-ceive the quarterly Matrix and the monthlyInterCom newsletter. Student members haveaccess to job/salary survey data and theCareer Center on AWC’s Web site.

Students have the option of affiliating with a

student chapter (where available) or a profes-sional chapter. And graduating student mem-bers can join AWC without paying theapplication fee.

AWC headquarters is in Severna Park,Maryland. The URL is: www.womcom.org

Other Professional Opportunities for Students

◆ Student-Run Firms—Any college or univer-sity can start a student-run firm. The idea isto allow students to work in groups to tacklereal problems and opportunities for localclients. Some universities, such as HowardUniversity, have incorporated their studentfirms into their curricula. However, most stu-dent-run firms are operated through PRSSAchapters. PRSSA promotes this within itschapters and annually gives an award for thebest student-run firm. PRSSA offers a nationalaffiliation for qualifying chapter firms. Someclients pay for the firm’s services; other proj-ects are done pro-bono. Information on howto begin a student firm is available atwww.prssa.org. Other information that wouldaid in developing a public relations firm isavailable from the Council of Public RelationsFirms, which is a trade association for publicrelations agencies, www.prfirms.org.

◆ Other Student Opportunities—Many otherprofessional organizations offer professionaldevelopment, scholarships and awards forstudents, even though they may not offer stu-dent memberships. An example is TheLaGrant Foundation, which offers internshipsand scholarships to minority students pursu-ing public relations. The Council of PublicRelations Firms offers resources for career de-velopment; PRWeek offers a student-of-theyear competition, and the Arthur W. PageSociety offers students internships, a casestudy competition and other career resources.



The latter’s process is a self-help initiative, nota formal assessment of the quality of public re-lations programs. Therefore, this report dealsonly with the PRSA and ACEJMC processes,both of which are voluntary external reviewprocedures.

The ACEJMC accreditation process, however,has undergone major changes since 1999. Forexample, ACEJMC no longer is authorized bythe U.S. Department of Education to grant pro-fessional accreditation; rather, it is sanctionedby the Council for Higher EducationAccreditation (CHEA). It recently condensed itsstandards from 12 to nine. The PRSACertification in Education for Public Relations(CEPR) Program has continued to expand.

ACEJMC Accreditation

ACEJMC traces its beginning to 1945, when theAmerican Council on Education in Journalismwas formed to evaluate and accredit journalism

programs. Originally an association of journal-ism education and newspaper organizations,the Council broadened its mission to mass com-munication, including public relations, andchanged its name in 1980. ACEJMC offices arelocated in the William Allen White School ofJournalism and Mass Communications at theUniversity of Kansas, Lawrence. It has no con-nection to or affiliation with the university.

ACEJMC accredits academic units that offer pro-fessional programs to prepare college studentsfor careers in journalism and mass communica-tion. The unit may be a college, school or de-partment. Components of the unit, such as apublic relations program, are covered under unitaccreditation, but are not accredited individually.

ACEJMC accreditation is voluntary. The processbegins with a letter from the chief executive of-ficer of a college or university inviting ACEJMCto review a relevant unit. It then proceedsthrough four stages that usually span two

Program Certification and AccreditationThe Commission’s 1999 report dealt with certification and accreditation

processes of three organizations: the Public Relations Society of

America (PRSA), the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism

and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) and the National Communication

Association (NCA).


79

years: production of an extensive self-study, athree-day site visit by a team of two or more ed-ucators and one practitioner, review and recom-mendation by the Accrediting Committee andreview and final recommendation by theAccrediting Council. Units must apply for reac-creditation every six years.

The self-study is organized by nine standardson which the unit will be evaluated. The sitevisit team, after reading the self-study, examin-ing records and documents, attending classesand interviewing students, faculty and adminis-trators, produces a written draft report in whichthe unit is found in compliance or noncompli-ance with each of the nine standards. Based onits findings, the team makes one of three rec-ommendations: accreditation/reaccreditation,provisional reaccreditation (meaning the unithas specified deficiencies that can and must becorrected within two years, when a revisit willbe conducted) or denial. The nine standards ofACEJMC accreditation are as follows:

1. Mission, Governance and Administration

2. Curriculum and Instruction

3. Diversity and Inclusiveness

4. Full-time and Part-time Faculty

5. Scholarship: Research, Creative andProfessional Activity

6. Student Services

7. Resources, Facilities and Equipment

8. Professional and Public Service

9. Assessment of Learning Outcomes

Starting in fall 2006, the same nine standards willbe used by ACEJMC to assess professional mas-ter’s degree programs (Ph.D. programs aredeemed academic and, therefore, are not eligiblefor professional accreditation). ACEJMC willmake separate evaluations of undergraduate andgraduate programs, including separate, and possi-bly different, recommendations for accreditation.

A fact often overlooked by practitioners is thatACEJMC “embraces the value of a liberal artsand sciences curriculum as the essential foun-dation for a professional journalism and masscommunications education.” Compliance withthe standard on curriculum and instruction re-quires that students take a minimum of 80 se-mester credit hours outside of the journalismand mass communications unit, of which 65 se-mester credit hours must be in the liberal artsand sciences. In other words, in an accreditedunit requiring 120 semester hours for a bache-lor’s degree, public relations students com-monly take only 40 semester credit hours incourses focusing on their major. Their educa-tion is well-rounded, with twice as manycourses taken in such subjects as history, politi-cal science, sociology and philosophy.

ACEJMC now also requires that an accreditedunit’s students must be educated in 11 pre-scribed competencies and values:

1. understand and apply the principles andlaws of freedom of speech and press, includ-ing the right to dissent, to monitor and criti-cize power, and to assemble and petition forredress of grievances;

2. demonstrate an understanding of the historyand role of professionals and institutions inshaping communication;

3. demonstrate an understanding of the diver-sity of groups in a global society in relation-ship to communication;

4. understand concepts and apply theories inthe use and presentation of images and in-formation;


Overall, only 94 out of more than 3,000

U.S. colleges and universities have public

relations programs certified or accredited

by either PRSA or ACEJMC….


5. demonstrate an understanding of profes-sional ethical principles and work ethicallyin pursuit of truth, accuracy, fairness and di-versity;

6. think critically, creatively and independently;

7. conduct research and evaluate informationby methods appropriate to the communica-tion professions in which they work;

8. write correctly and clearly in forms andstyles appropriate for the communicationprofessions, audiences and purposes theyserve;

9. critically evaluate their own work and thatof others for accuracy and fairness, clarity,appropriate style and grammatical correct-ness;

10.apply basic numerical and statistical concepts;

11.apply tools and technologies appropriate forthe communication professions in whichthey work

In addition, graduate students should be able tocontribute to knowledge appropriate to the com-munication professions in which they will work.

The site-visiting team delivers its draft report tothe unit administrator and the university CEObefore leaving campus. After input from the unitreviewed, the site-visiting team submits a finalreport to headquarters, and the team chair pres-ents the findings and recommendation to theAccrediting Committee at its annual meeting,usually held in March. Based on the unit’s self-study, the site-visiting team’s report and discus-sion, the committee votes and forwards arecommendation to the Accrediting Council. TheCouncil makes the final decision regarding ac-creditation at its spring meeting, usually held inMay. An appeals process is in place. All ACEJMCmeetings are open to the public, and all votes onaccrediting decisions are taken in open sessions.Self-studies and site-visiting team reports areavailable to the public upon request.

Site-visit team members are selected from a

pool of educator and practitioner volunteerswho have served on previous teams and/orparticipated in a training session. Many aremembers of the Accrediting Committee or theAccrediting Council (members cannot vote onschools they visited as part of a team). In form-ing teams, ACEJMC is committed to recruitingmembers who are representative of the unit’svarious disciplines. An effort also is made to in-clude a person of color on each team and atleast one member who is not a Committee orCouncil member. Noteworthy for this report,ACEJMC recently cited a shortage of public re-lations professionals available for service onsite-visiting teams.

The Accrediting Committee’s 15 members arenominated and elected by the Council. Eightmust be educators, and seven represent relatedindustries, such as advertising, broadcasting,newspapers and public relations. TheAccrediting Council currently consists of 18 rep-resentatives of 16 professional organizations (forexample, the American Advertising Federationand PRSA), 15 representatives of five educa-tional associations (for example, the Associationof Schools of Journalism and Mass Communica-tion) and three public members who are not af-filiated with the field. Membership on theACEJMC Council is open to all membership or-ganizations of educators or professionals in jour-nalism and mass communication. Dues aretiered by status as an education or industry asso-ciation and by size of operating budget.

Representation of public relations in theACEJMC accreditation process has increasedsubstantially since the Commission on PublicRelations Education’s 1999 report—demonstrat-ing laudatory response from practitioners to theCommission’s “A Call to Action.” For example,whereas only one practitioner organization,PRSA, had a representative on the ACEJMCCouncil in 1999, PRSA now has two representa-tives on the Council, and the Arthur W. PageSociety, which became a dues-paying memberof the Council in 2004, has one representative.


In other words, instead of one voice and onevote, public relations now has three voices andvotes. (In addition, several representatives ofeducational associations on the Council have abackground in and appreciation of public rela-tions and uphold the interests of public rela-tions education.)

Still, participation by more public relations pro-fessional associations is needed. In comparison,for example, newspaper journalism has repre-sentatives of six professional associations onthe ACEJMC Council: the American Society ofNewspaper Editors, Associated Press ManagingEditors, Inland Press Association, NewspaperAssociation of America Foundation, Society ofProfessional Journalists and SouthernNewspaper Publishers Association.

It is estimated that more than 1,000 U.S. col-leges and universities offer courses in public re-lations, yet only 88 have units accredited byACEJMC. In the absence of accreditation tostimulate and encourage sound education pro-grams, public relations will remain a professionin name only.

PRSA Certification

PRSA established its Certification in Educationfor Public Relations (CEPR) program in 1989.CEPR is a voluntary program and, in manyways, emulates the ACEJMC accreditationprocess. Unlike ACEJMC accreditation, how-ever, CEPR deals solely with public relationseducation programs and only at the undergrad-uate level. It originally was targeted at publicrelations education programs housed in unitsnot eligible for ACEJMC accreditation (for ex-ample, departments grounded in the traditionaldiscipline of speech communication), al-though, to date, few such programs have takenadvantage of the certification opportunity. Theprogram is administrated by PRSA, with thePRSA board of directors making final decisionson certification.

The review process is conducted by two accred-

ited PRSA members, one a practitioner and theother an educator, who examine the curricu-lum, resources, facilities, faculty qualificationsand university support that is provided to pub-lic relations education. On-site meetings areconducted with numerous stakeholders, includ-ing faculty, department and university adminis-trators and public relations students. Calls aremade to local professionals and alumni to learntheir assessment of the program. The intensivetwo-and-one-half day review culminates in awritten report and a meeting of the team withthe academic vice president and/or the presi-dent of the university.

Successful programs are granted PRSA certifica-tion for a six-year time period. The processmust be repeated for re-certification.

PRSA certification is based on program compli-ance with nine standards:

1. Public Relations Curriculum

2. Public Relations Faculty (Full- and Part-time)

3. Resources, Equipment and Facilities

4. Public Relations Students

5. Assessment

6. Relationships with Alumni and Professionals

7. Relationships with Total Unit and University

8. PRSSA Chapter

9. Diversity

Overall, only 94 out of more than 3,000 U.S.colleges and universities have public relationsprograms certified or accredited by either PRSAor ACEJMC; 8 are certified by PRSA, and theirunits also are accredited by ACEJMC.

Public Relation Programs Certified by PRSA

Currently, public relations programs at 14 U.S.universities, 1 Canadian college and 1Argentinean university (16 in total) are certifiedby PRSA. Half of the 16 programs are housed in



academic units that also are accredited byACEJMC. The Certification in Education forPublic Relations (CEPR) programs, listed by theunit and university in which they are housed,are as follows:

■ Department of Advertising and Public Relations, University of Alabama*Box 870172, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0172http://www.ccom.ua.edu/apr/index.html#Tel: (205) 348-7158Fax: (205) 348-2401

■ Universidad Argentina de la EmpresaBuenos Aires, Argentina 1016http://www.uade.edu.ar/FRSET_HOME.asp?vPAG=

HOME.aspTel: (54-114) 441-1260

■ Department of Journalism, Ball State University*Art and Journalism #300, Muncie, IN 47306-0485http://www.bsu.edu/journalism/Tel: (765) 285-8200Fax: (765) 285-7997

■ Department of Communications, Brigham Young University*360 BRMB, Provo, UT 84602-6404http://cfac.byu.edu/com/index.phpTel: (801) 422-2997Fax: (801) 422-0160

■ Department of Communications, California State University—Fullerton*800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton, CA 92834-6846http://communications.fullerton.edu/comm/index.

htmlTel: (714) 278-3517Fax: (714) 278-2209

■ Department of Communication, Eastern Kentucky University AC 108-EKU, 521 Lancaster Ave., Richmond,

KY 40475-3102http://www.communication.eku.edu/Tel: (859) 622-1871Fax: (859) 622-8214

■ School of Journalism and Broadcasting, Western Kentucky University*216 Mass Media & Technology Hall, Bowling Green,

KY 42101-1070http://www.wku.edu/Journalism/Tel: (270) 745-4144Fax: (270) 745-5835

■ Department of Communication, University of Maryland2130 Skinner Building, College Park, MD 20742-7635http://www.comm.umd.edu/Tel: (301) 405-8979Fax: (301) 314-9471

■ Department of Journalism, University of Memphis*300 Meeman Journalism Bldg.,

Memphis, TN 38152http://www.people.memphis.edu/~jourlib/Tel: (901) 678-2401Fax: (901) 678-4287

■ Department of Communication, Southeast Missouri State University*107 Grauel Bldg., One University Plaza,

Cape Girardeau, MO 63701-4799http://www.semo.edu/communication/Tel: (573) 651-2241Fax: (573) 651-5967

■ Communication Arts Department, Ohio Northern University Freed Center, Ada, OH 45810http://www.onu.edu/a+s/comm_arts/index.htmlTel: (419) 772-2049Fax: (419) 772-1856

■ Communication Department, Radford University 200 Jefferson St., PO Box 6932,

Radford, VA 24142http://www.radford.edu/~spch-web/Tel: (540) 831-5281Fax: (540) 831-5883

■ Department of Public Relations and Advertising, Rowan University37 Bozorth Hall, 201 Mullica Hill Rd., Glassboro,

NJ 08028-1701http://www.rowan.edu/colleges/communication/

departments/publicrelations_advertising/Tel: (856) 256-4265Fax: (856) 256-4344

■ Corporate Communications Graduate Certificate Program, Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology1750 Finch Ave. East, Toronto, ON M2J 2X5, Canadahttp://www.senecac.on.ca/fulltime/CCMC.htmlTel: (416) 491-5050

■ Department of Communication Arts, Valdosta State University College of the Arts, Valdosta, GA 31698http://www.valdosta.edu/coa/com/index.htmlTel: (229) 333-5820Fax: (229) 293-6182

■ School of Mass Communications, Virginia Commonwealth University*901 West Main Street, Rm. 2216, PO Box 842034,

Richmond, VA 23284-2034http://www.has.vcu.edu/mac/Tel: (804) 828-2660Fax: (804) 828-9175

*Also accredited by ACEJMC


Units with Public Relations ProgramsAccredited by ACEJMC

As of November 2006, 109 academic units atU.S. colleges and universities are accredited byACEJMC. They represent only 25 percent of the432 departments and schools of journalism andmass communication listed in the 2005-06AEJMC Journalism & Mass CommunicationDirectory. Of the 109 accredited units, only 88(81 percent) house public relations programs, asidentified by a Chapter of PRSSA, which re-quires at least five courses in public relations tobe chartered, and/or a proclaimed concentra-tion of study in public relations included in theunit’s entry in the 2005-06 AEJMC Directory andverified on the unit’s Web site. Further analysisof the 88 schools showed that, of the accreditedunits, public relations is offered at 25 that grantPh.D. degrees, 42 that grant master’s degreesand 21 that grant only bachelor’s degrees.

There is substantial variation among the pro-grams, particularly at the undergraduate level.Whereas some offer a bachelor of arts or sci-ence degree in public relations, others providean emphasis on only two or three courses thatlead to a degree in another discipline, such asjournalism. Furthermore, at some accreditedunits, public relations courses are taught prima-rily by adjunct and nontenure-track faculty. Inother words, not all accredited public relationsprograms are equal in breadth or depth. At thegraduate level, public relations is almost alwaysa specialization.


Regardless of the outcome of either theACEJMC accreditation or the PRSA certificationprocess, the value of self-examination cannotbe over-emphasized. Reviewing the substanceand pedagogy of an institution’s public rela-tions program provides insights and bench-marks, while offering opportunities foralterations and new directions. While theprocesses may appear daunting, the Arthur W.Page Society, PRSA, the Institute for PublicRelations and ACEJMC regularly conduct train-ing programs to increase the number of quali-fied reviewers and to instruct institutions onthe preparation necessary for outside review.

The Commission recommends that:

◆ more public relations education programsshould seek accreditation and/or certificationto complete a thorough self-examination ofthe program.

◆ more public relations practitioners should vol-unteer to serve on site-visiting teams.

◆ more industry organizations, such as theCouncil of Public Relations Firms and theInternational Association of BusinessCommunicators (IABC), should apply formembership on the ACEJMC Council.Representation also is needed from educatorassociations with large public relations mem-berships, such as NCA and ICA.



Such established professions did not spring full-blown from the head of Zeus. They have a longhistory of development and have, at times,been bruised by struggles to bring their profes-sionals—both practitioners and educators—to ashared vision about what constitutes strong,ethical practice in service to society.

By comparison, public relations practice andeducation for public relations are still works-in-progress. Contemporary public relations educa-tion is still young, still searching for its“home”—and often its legitimacy—in academe.The first initiative to define a curriculum wasmade only 31 years ago. The field is still largelypopulated by practitioners who never had anopportunity for its formal study, thus learningtheir craft primarily from lengthy experience.

Inevitably, that picture is changing. Graduatesfrom public relations academic programs areentering the field in increasing numbers. Manyare products of the estimated more than 270

U.S. colleges and universities that now offer atleast basic undergraduate study in public rela-tions. As they attain positions of power and in-fluence, their allegiance to formal study will bereflected in their support for education.

Current Levels of Support for Education

But in the meantime, the need for public rela-tions education is urgent and escalating rapidly,surfacing new issues that must be addressedand resolved. These issues present an increas-ing challenge to professional organizations aswell as to individuals who practice and educatein the field of public relations.

While the record of broad support for public rela-tions education by professional groups is growing,there is a critical need for similar action by indi-vidual practitioners and the firms, companies andorganizations with which they are associated andin which they are influential. Yes, many practi-tioners are involved as mentors, classroom speak-

A Call to Action

Without question, a prime hallmark of a profession is education in its

principles. Law, medicine, accounting—all are grounded in formal

education and training, strengthened by continuing research and given

responsible support by individuals, professional societies and enterprises

that have a stake in the practice and its reputation.


85

ers and advisers and are otherwise engaged inthe educational programs of professional societiesto which they belong. But too few are contribut-ing financial support to public relations programsin colleges and universities of their choice.

Too few are aware that budgets for public rela-tions studies generally are inadequate in com-parison to those for other academic disciplines.At the same time, the population of public rela-tions students commonly exceeds that in otherdisciplines, making their faculty numbers inad-equate. Too often, only one qualified public re-lations instructor is responsible for teachingand counseling 60 or more majors. Faculty fre-quently are “borrowed” from other disciplines,who are inexperienced and untrained for publicrelations instruction. There are meager—ifany—resources for public relations educators toattend conferences and professional meetingsto interface with practitioners.

At times, the administrator of the academic unitin which public relations is housed has no under-standing of—or appreciation for—the expandingdimensions of public relations practice and its ed-ucational needs. Administrator perception ofpublic relations is often limited to publicity, pro-motion and even production, rather than tostrategic planning, research and building ethical,trustworthy relationships with constituencies.

At present, philanthropy for public relations ed-ucation is in its infancy. There are too few en-dowed professorships, scholarships,lectureships and other resources. Althoughprogress has been made since theCommission’s 1999 report, students and theireducation are far behind the curve of financial

support from the practice when compared toother disciplines such as journalism, advertis-ing and broadcasting.

Challenges and Opportunities forPractitioners

What are some challenges and opportunities forpractitioners? Among them:

◆ Contributing annually to public relationsstudies at a college or university of choice.

◆ Persuading their employers to establish ascholarship, professorship, chair or resourcecenter for public relations at a college or uni-versity of choice.

◆ Via their will or a trust, making a bequest to a college or university for its public relationsstudies or students.

◆ Engaging public relations educators for re-search projects on behalf of clients.

◆ Sponsoring educator-in-residence programs intheir firms, corporations and organizations.

◆ Supporting paid internships for public rela-tions students.

◆ Giving priority consideration to public rela-tions graduates for entry-level positions.

◆ Working with educators, establish relation-ships with administrators of the units inwhich public relations studies are housed inorder to build understanding of the contem-porary practice and its educational needs.

The Role of Educators

Educators also have an essential and unique rolein building financial support for their programs:

◆ Cultivating public relations alumni to con-tribute financially to their programs or a par-ticular public relations project.

◆ Nurturing relationships with practitioners andtheir firms leading to support for a public re-lations program or project.


… (T)he need for public relations

education is urgent and escalating

rapidly…

A Call to Action

◆ Recognizing those individuals and firms giv-ing financial support and who become exem-plars to encourage others.

◆ Building a cooperative relationship with cam-pus administrators, particularly those in thedevelopment office.

As other established professions can testify, re-sponsible financial support of education mustcome from practitioners and their organiza-tions. Such a partnership between educationand the practice of public relations is necessaryfor its reputation and acceptance as a profes-sion by both the academy and society at large.

Sampling of Major Gifts to Public Relations Education

This sampling of major contributions to collegesand universities for public relations education

by individuals, corporations, firms and founda-tions will, the Commission hopes, inspire simi-lar actions. The Commission hopes thatpractitioners will emulate the philanthropic be-havior of these donors and that educators willreach out to the practice to forge relationshipsthat make such gifts a reality. To the best of theCommission’s knowledge, this is the first timesuch a list has been compiled and published.

The gifts are grouped in categories common to fi-nancial support for higher education. The listingis a sampling and is not intended to be compre-hensive. Each entry contains five pieces of infor-mation in the following order: (1) name of thefund or gift purpose; (2) academic unit and uni-versity to which the gift was made; (3) donor(s);(4) gift amount or fund balance; and (5) year thegift was made or the fund was established.


A Good Place to StartContact development staff at your alma mater

if it has a public relations program. Otherwise,select a program from certified or accreditedunits. A list of programs accredited by ACEJMCcan be found on ACEJMC’s Website

http://www2.ku.edu/~acejmc/

A list of programs certified by PRSA can befound on PRSA’s Website

http://www.prsa.org/_About/overview/certification.asp.

A third option is to identify a program that spon-sors one of the more than 270 chapters of thePublic Relations Student Society of America(PRSSA).

Go to www.prssa.org. On the menu under“About Us” at the top of the page, click on“PRSSA Chapters.” You will get a U.S. map to

select a state and get a list of colleges and uni-versities in that state with a public relations pro-gram. Clicking on a college or university, you willfind the name of the PRSSA chapter faculty ad-visor with his or her e-mail address and a mail-ing address for the program. A link to thecollege or university’s Web site also is provided.Either e-mail the faculty advisor or search under“Academic Programs” on the college’s or univer-sity’s Web site for the name of the person whoheads the public relations program—preferably,a senior faculty member who teaches public re-lations and has a title such as coordinator.Contact the head of the program and tell him orher you are interested in making a gift. If possi-ble, ask for an on-campus meeting.

You’ll be glad you took the first step!

Endowed Chairs

■ Harold Burson Chair in Public RelationsDepartment of Mass Communication, Advertising and

Public Relations, College of Communication, BostonUniversity

Burson-Marsteller, its clients, employees and formerparent company, Young & Rubicam

$1.2 millionEstablished 2003

■ Endowed Chair in Public RelationsSchool of Journalism and Communication, University

of OregonAnonymousNow $2.1 millionEstablished 1998

■ Ellis N. Brandt Chair in Public Relations– Includes the Brandt Lectureship and Brandt Research

Assistantship; established 2005Department of Advertising, Public Relations and

Retailing, College of Communication Arts andSciences, Michigan State University

Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation (founded by the fam-ily of the former chairman of the Dow Chemical Co.)

Now $2 millionEstablished 1989 as a professorship

Endowed Professorships

■ Widmeyer Communications Professorship in Public RelationsPerley Isaac Reed School of Journalism, West Virginia

UniversityWidmeyer Communications; Scott Widmeyer,

Chairman & CEO (1974 journalism alumnus)$45,000Established 2005

■ Hubert J. Bourgeois Endowed Professorship in Communications/PublicRelationsDepartment of Communication, University of Louisiana

at LafayetteVesta Bourgeois (deceased)Now $152,000Established 1981

■ Sloan Professorship in Public RelationsE. W. Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio UniversityJerry L. Sloan and the Ford Motor CompanyNow $365,000Established 1997

Endowed Lectureships

■ James C. Bowling Executive-In-Residence Lecture SeriesSchool of Journalism and Telecommunications,

University of KentuckyJoseph M. Cullman, III, retired chairman of the board

at Philip Morris, and alumni of the schoolNow $250,000Established 2000

■ Allen H. Center Distinguished Lectureship in Corporate Public RelationsSchool of Communication, San Diego State UniversityNancy Center, Allen H. Center, APR, Fellow PRSA (de-

ceased), and the Motorola Foundation$150,000 face valueEstate gift 1991; Lectureship started 2000

■ Vernon C. Schranz Distinguished Lectureship in Public RelationsDepartment of Journalism, College of Communication,

Information, and Media, Ball State UniversityBall Corporation, family and friends of Mr. Schranz

(deceased), Indianapolis public relations firms andpast lecturers

Now $70,000Established 1979; Endowed 1998

■ Albert Walker Distinguished Lecture in Public RelationsDepartment of Communication, Northern Illinois

UniversityAlumni and friends of Dr. Walker (retired)$20,000Established 2004

Endowed Research Centers

■ Plank Center for Leadership in Public RelationsIncludes John W. Felton Endowed Scholarship and

John A. Koten Endowed Lectureship; established2006

College of Communication and Information Sciences,University of Alabama

Betsy Plank, APR, Fellow PRSA$325,000Established 2005

■ Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public CommunicationCollege of Communications, Penn State UniversityEllen and Lawrence G. Foster, APR, Fellow PRSA (1948

journalism alumnus)$300,000Established 2004Robert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust$300,000, 2005Robert Wood Johnson Foundation$750,000, 2006


A Call to Action

Named Facilities

■ C. Richard Yarborough Public Relations Laboratory(Used by students in the Public Relations Campaigns

capstone course, the lab emulates facilities of a smallpublic relations firm and includes a 12-seat confer-ence room with presentation equipment, plus aworkroom with computers, printers, a scanner andtelephones.)

Department of Advertising & Public Relations, HenryW. Grady College of Journalism and MassCommunication, University of Georgia

Friends of Dick Yarborough and the Georgia Chapter ofPRSA

$100,000Dedicated 1995

■ Duffey Public Relations Writing Laboratory(Originally dedicated to teaching public relations writ-

ing skills, the lab consisted of 17 computer stationsand state-of-the-art instructional equipment. Publicrelations writing is now taught in all computer labs.)

Department of Advertising & Public Relations, HenryW. Grady College of Journalism and MassCommunication, University of Georgia

Lee Duffey, Jr., and Jenny Deal Duffey (1980 public re-lations alumni)

$50,000Dedicated 2000

■ William F. Doescher Campaigns Lab for Advertising and Public Relations(Simulates an agency environment where students can

meet with clients, develop strategic campaigns basedon research and create deliverables.)

Public Relations Department, S. I. Newhouse School ofPublic Communications, Syracuse University

William F. Doescher (1962 public relations master’salumnus) and D&B (Dun & Bradstreet) Corp.

$50,0001996

Endowed Faculty Professional Development Funds

■ C. Del Galloway Professional Advancement Fund in Public RelationsDepartment of Public Relations, College of Journalism

and Communications, University of FloridaC. Del Galloway, APR, Fellow PRSA (1981 & 1983 pub-

lic relations alumnus)$25,000Established 2006

■ Sandra and Stuart Newman Professional Advancement Fund in PublicRelationsDepartment of Public Relations, College of Journalism

and Communications, University of FloridaSandra and Stuart G. Newman (1946 journalism alum-

nus)Now more than $33,000Established 2000

Endowed Scholarships: Undergraduate & Graduate

■ Ann Barkelew/Fleishman-Hillard ScholarshipSchool of Journalism & Mass Communication,

University of MinnesotaFleishman-Hillard and Chairman/CEO John Graham,

APR, Fellow PRSA$25,000Established 2001

■ Thomas Bartikoski Memorial Scholarship in Public RelationsSchool of Journalism & Mass Communication,

University of MinnesotaFamily and friends of Wendy Horn and the late Mr.

Bartikoski (1972 journalism alumnus)$25,000Established 2000

■ Ofield Dukes Undergraduate Scholarship in Public RelationsJohn H. Johnson School of Communication, Howard

UniversityKathy Hughes; other friends of Mr. Dukes; and Phillip

Morris Companies, Inc.Now $31,000Established 2002

■ Henry C. Rogers Endowed Scholarship (for public relations master’s students)Annenberg School for Communication, University of

Southern CaliforniaMarcia Ross and Ron Rogers, children of Mr. Rogers

(deceased)$100,000Established 2006


…(R)esponsible financial

support of education must come

from practitioners and their

organizations.

■ Paul Allen Bennett Graduate Scholarship in Public RelationsDepartment of Journalism, College of Communication,

Information and Media, Ball State UniversityClaire Bennett and the Indianapolis Public Relations

SocietyNow $60,000Established 1990

Endowed Funds for Other Student Assistance

■ Rich Long/Dow Chemical Scholarship(Assists a student completing an internship in New

York City or Washington, DC)Department of Communications, College of Fine Arts

and Communications, Brigham Young UniversityDow Chemical Company and family and friends of

Prof. Long (deceased)Now more than $20,000Established late 1980s

■ PRSSA Leadership Award(Funds PRSSA dues for two student chapter officers

and national conferenceregistration for a developing student chapter leader)Department of Communications, College of Fine Arts

and Communications, Brigham Young UniversityDr. Laurie J. Wilson, APR, Fellow PRSANow $9,000Established 1995

■ James E. Grunig and Larissa A. Grunig Graduate Research Fund(Helps defray costs of research for Ph.D. candidates’

dissertations)Department of Communication, College of Arts &

Humanities, University of Maryland, College ParkDr. Elizabeth L. Toth and friends and former students

of Drs. GrunigNow $2,000Established 2005

Other Gift Purposes

■ Weber Shandwick/USC Annenberg International Public Relations Fellows Program (Provides scholarships to eight to 15 public relations

master’s students per year to offset costs of complet-ing summer internships at Weber Shandwick officesin London, Hong Kong and Cape Town, South Africa)

Annenberg School for Communication, University ofSouthern California

Weber ShandwickAnnual Grant: $20,000 per year; $100,000 committed to

date2002 to present

■ The Rayburn Fund for Excellence in Public Relations(Will provide stipends to cover expenses of distin-

guished visiting lecturers)College of Communication, Florida State UniversityColleagues, former students, and friends of Dr. Jay

Rayburn, APR, Fellow PRSAEndowment campaign in progress: $120,000 to dateAnnounced 2006

This first-ever sampling of philanthropy for public relationseducation was made possible by initial research sponsoredby the Champions for PRSSA. Comments or questions shouldbe directed to Commission member Dr. Kathleen S. Kelly [email protected]


A Call to Action

“Today, there are too few

‘angels’ supporting public

relations education, but just

a few can lead the way.”

– Betsy Plank, APR, Fellow PRSA50-year Public Relations Executive and Donor

Dean A. Kruckeberg, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSAUniversity of Northern IowaCo-Chair of the CommissionNational Communication Association (NCA)

John L. Paluszek, APR, Fellow PRSAKetchumCo-Chair of the CommissionPublic Relations Society America (PRSA)

Carl Botan, Ph.D.George Mason UniversityInternational Communication Association (ICA)

Clarke L. Caywood, Ph.D.Northwestern UniversityPRSA

Kathy Cripps, APRCouncil of Public Relations FirmsCouncil of Public Relations Firms (CPRF)

Kathleen Fearn-Banks, Ph.D.University of WashingtonPRSA

Kathy R. Fitzpatrick, J.D., APRDePaul UniversityPRSA

Rochelle Ford, Ph.D., APRHoward UniversityPRSA

Terence (Terry) Flynn, Ph.D., APRMcMaster UniversityCanadian Public Relations Society (CPRS)

Steve Iseman, Ph.D.Ohio Northern UniversityPRSA

Kathleen S. Kelly, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSAUniversity of FloridaPRSA

Dan L. Lattimore, Ph.D., APRUniversity of MemphisPRSA

Marc LittleBrooksLittle CommunicationsBlack Public Relations Society (BPRS)

Jeff MartinQuorum Communications Inc.CPRS

Francis C. McDonald, APRHampton UniversityPRSA

Mark P. McElreath, Ph.D., APR, ABCTowson UniversityInternational Association of Business Communicators

(IABC)

Dan Pyle Millar, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSAMillar Communication StrategiesNCA

Debra A. Miller, Ed.D. APR, Fellow PRSAD. Miller CommunicationsPRSA

Bonita Dostal Neff, Ph.D.Valparaiso UniversityAssociation for Women in Communications (AWC)

Douglas Ann Newsom, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSATexas Christian UniversityPRSA

The Members of the 2006 Commission on Public Relations Education and the professional societies they have represented:


91

Frank E. Ovaitt, Jr., APRInstitute for Public RelationsInstitute for Public Relations

Isobel Parke, APR, Fellow PRSAJackson Jackson & WagnerPRSA

Betsy Plank, APR, Fellow PRSABetsy Plank Public RelationsPRSA

Cheryl I. Procter-Rogers, APR, Fellow PRSAA Step Ahead Public RelationsPRSA

Stephen P. Quigley, APRBoston UniversityPRSA

Maria P. Russell, APR, Fellow PRSASyracuse University PRSA

Melvin L. Sharpe, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSABall State UniversityInternational Public Relations Association (IPRA)

Don W. Stacks, Ph.D.University of MiamiPRSA

Elizabeth Lance Toth, Ph.D., APRUniversity of Maryland, College ParkICA

Joseph V. Trahan, III, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSATrahan & AssociatesPRSA

Katerina Tsetsura, Ph.D.University of OklahomaPRSA

Judy VanSlyke Turk, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSAVirginia Commonwealth UniversityAssociation for Education in Journalism and Mass

Communication (AEJMC)

Jean Valin, APR, Fellow CPRSService CanadaGlobal Alliance for Public Relations and

Communication Management

Laurie J. Wilson, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSABrigham Young UniversityPRSA

Donald K. Wright, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSABoston UniversityIPRA

Jeneen GarciaCommission Staff LiaisonPRSA


Members of the 2006 Commission on Public Relations Education

www.commpred.org

The Report of the Commission on Public Relations Education

November 2006

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