Richard:

Interesting post. You might want to direct people at Ball State to the efforts of Robert French at Auburn University. He is leading the way in helping PR students learn more about on-line communications. Another good source that students can get involved in directly is a new Web site called Forward. It is designed to help those new to PR learn about the industry and introduces them to the power of blogs.

Robert French's blog is at: http://www.auburnmedia.com/wordpress/.

Forward Blog is at: http://forward-moving.com/blog/

Best,

Fard

Although I am a UK PR student I can agree with your point regarding PR degrees being primarily focused on print.

We do have the option to cover certain radio, broadcast and new media modules throughout our study, but the main focus is predominantly on newspapers - and magazines to a certain extent.

I also agree that students should blog. There are many reasons why, such as improving their writing skills, networking, sharing ideas, learning from experienced pros, profile building and a whole host of others benefits - far too many to list here.

I guess they don't have to be PR students necessarily either. I'm sure a lot of law students would receive the same rewards too.

I'm more than certain we will begin to see education organisations introduce blogging into certain aspects of the curriculum very soon.

I like your last point on educating business students on the PR profession's role in business communication. At my university, PR students are required to study a business module, but as far as I'm aware, it doesn't happen vice versa.

Right on target again Mr. Edelman. Here are my findings as a PR student. Your vision of a superior PR education can be achieved with fine-tuning of existing programs.

With Web 2.0 savvy students within reach, professors need not be tech gurus.

1) Lack of technology integration -- while a good PR program would be foolish to squeeze out classes in research, news writing, or media relations, there is less of a compromise necessary than curriculum gatekeepers may fear.
Every communications class I have taken could be slightly adapted to include exposure to blogging, podcasting and other Web 2.0 technologies (e.g. news writing students submit their assignments to a class blog and comment on each other's; media relations students must create an enhanced online media kit to supplement a paper one; endless other possibilities). Com. students wouldn't need a separate class in new media techniques (although an elective would be in order) as long as there was continual exposure and opportunities throughout their core classes.

2) Specialization -- My introduction to PR course provided a great sample of the major specialty practices. Beyond that, it is the student's drive that will determine his or her level of specialized knowledge. Would a news-writing course be any less effective if half the stories the student wrote had to report on an industry of their choosing? This is also where having two majors is beneficial.
I have an information technology major in addition to PR and am constantly formulating ways to bridge the two fields. Even though the PR industry is advancing its technology integration, any PR major would be able to find similar opportunities for interdisciplinary learning with a second major. To jumpstart the process, communications departments should have pre-designed opportunities/ideas for double majors to pursue.

It will no doubt take time for PR education to reflect the technology advances in the industry. The first step is for tech-savvy or -phobic professors to dedicate a small amount of class time to explore opportunities for students to participate in the dialogue and interact with the technology. It may be as simple as turning over a little control of the curriculum to the students (users) -- isn't that the spirit of Web 2.0?

Eric Hansen, student
Newhouse, Syracuse University

I agree with your suggestions on improving the PR curriculum. I graduated two years ago and have realized that my PR curriculum wasn't nearly as broad as it could have been.
As a minority going into the PR field, I did realize that I had a lack of connections and contacts. However, there were jobs offered through employment resources provide by the campus career office. Unfortunately, the possibility of employment is limited when you are competing for jobs publicized on a college website attracting applicants with similar qualifications.
I've recently discovered the "blogoshpere" and I am amazed at this powerful "vehicle" of information. Not only have I been enlightened with an abundance of valuable information, I also have encountered many networking opportunities.
If blogging was included in my PR curriculum, I believe that I would have left college with contacts and a job already set up before graduation.
The benefits and possibilities gained by blogging seem endless. Through blogging, I was able to get an online internship; I am also working with an organization doing media relations.
Upon graduating my PR professor told our class to, "Always keep up with current events and new things happening in the media." With that advice I am learning new blogging terminology everyday and keeping informed via the blogoshpere.
I think that every PR undergraduate and graduate needs to be aware of blogging in order to have some type of competitive status in the world of PR today.
I hope that all colleges and universities have or will implement blogging into their PR curriculum.

Rich...it was great having you visit our campus and participate in our symposium on p2p communication. I'm glad we got a chance to chat with you about our program and that you had the chance to meet some of our "best and brightest."
Unfortunately, the time constraints didn't give us the chance to provide you the "premium" view of what we're doing here at Ball State. Please allow me the opportunity to fill in some of the gaps in your take-aways:
1. Every student in public relations here is required to take five directed electives on top of general education requirements: Economics, Marketing, Management, Sociology and Anthropology. We feel it's vital that our students have an understanding of business, behavior and global cultural diversity.
2. A vast majority of our PR students carry a double major or one or two minors in other areas, such as a language, marketing, communication studies and the like.
3. Our students get deeply involved in New Media in almost every one of the core pubic relations classes like our converged news class, campaigns, and our writing and visual communications classes.
4. Research, as one of the comments earlier notes, is essential in this business and is emphasized as a critical study area.
5. Students have dozens of opportunities to study abroad and we have been offering an international component in our capstone Campaigns class with Brazil now for four years - an interaction ahead of what other universities are offering.
6. Writing is also emphasized in a huge way; 18 of the 63 hours in the major relate directly to writing.
7. Cardinal Communications is our quinessential experiential learning opportunity. It offers business world experience and is in addition to the required internship...we typically recommend three or four!
We're not as good as we'd like to be, nor as good as we will be. Engaging in this kind of dialogue is certainly part of the solution. Thanks again for visiting and we look forward to our next opportunity to tell you "the rest of the story"

One word: PRblogs.org

It was set-up for the Auburn students, but anyone can get an account there and start blogging.

I believe there are many PR practitioners in the business who were once journalists who were educated in journalism or started as a cadet reporter at their local town paper. The trend in PR education has now shifted to cover communications, journalism and business degrees. Recently I heard someone say that the modern PR graduate is not equipped with the social and political knowledge needed in every day PR and business dealings. Does the modern PR practitioner need to have journalism foundations? I’m interested in knowing your thoughts.

Eric Hansen commented that it will no doubt take time for PR education to reflect the technology advances in the industry. I don’t think Academia is to far away. Only today I was reading Tekka; a new peer reviewed online journal which discusses everything new media. The journal seems to stay away from the management speak however I believe that is where it should stay. As PR strategists we should be smart, talented and resourceful enough to keep abreast of new media technologies and use them.

On the university front, I regularly had assessment which was only completed online. In one case we were to discuss various communication theory topics on a restricted access online forum and we were marked on how many contributions we made and the strength of our discussion. In the end we had a great resource to trigger thoughts for our future writings. I think some Universities are catching on.

Disclaimer: I have recently graduated from a Bachelor of Journalism / Bachelor of Business (Public Relations) at the Queensland University of Technology therefore I wholeheartedly agree with Mr Edelman that business should a foundation of any PR course. I studied economics, statistics, politics, maths and accounting and despite not savoring every moment I continue to use these skills in my new career.

As for blogging: great for networking, great for learning and great for critical thinking and taking PR home with you after 6pm. I’m just in the process of trying to think up a name for mine!

- Luke Schepen
Sydney, Australia.

Richard,

I especially agree with your endorsement of a more substantive immersion of PR into business curriculum. At American University in Washington, D.C. where I am a master's student in public communication, I have been a proponent of a more cross-polination, whereas my PR Management course should be co-taught with a business professor, etc.

I do think academics are beggining to catch up with technology and New Media. This summer, I will be taking an Internet Advocacy course, focusing on building social communities online, and using blogs as a branding technique.

However, there is a long way to go, and I would propose a better utilization of adjunct faculty to be abkle to teach and speak to emerging technologies and trends that full-time faculty might not have used before.

I think it's worth pointing out that blogging PR students are a minority. Hence, the novelty of it all is opening up opportunities for them - myself included.

For now, blogging (for a PR student) is a benefit, but in time it will be a prerequisite. Competition for jobs among graduates is fierce and in time we'll see this competition move to the online world also.

It would be interesting to hear your take on it Richard. Would you favour a graduate applying to your firm who has knowledge of blogs and other social media?

I am not surprised that Ball State focuses its PR efforts on print while either ignoring or downplaying broadcast and the internet. After all the PR industry (with very few exceptions) has been extremly slow at embracing broadcast and the internet and fully appreciating the impact and opportunities these mediums present. Despite Mr Edelman's forward thinking, Ball State is simply reflecting the current state of the PR industry.

Though I agree a well rounded education is important for the future PR practioner, the fundementals of journalism are key. I am always surprised at how little people working in PR know about the mechanics, trends and requirements of broadcast news which at present is the most important and most effective means of conveying editorial information to a mass audience.

Mr. Edelman, thank you for focusing on PR Higher Education. And thank you to Fard and Jeremy for mentioning Auburn University.

Mr. Edelman has communicated with some of our blogging students in the past via email. I thank you for that, sir. The students always bring me those emails with glee. It is as if they received a prize. I am not kidding, either.

As for curricula, by comparison, I'll briefly share our curriculum for PR students. The first two years are spent in general liberal arts studies. Foriegn language is required. All students must take what we call trilogy sections of courses (three classes of each). These areas include journalism (primarily print), marketing/management, broadcast (writing and production), and communication theory. Add to that a selection of required PR courses - campaigns, case studies, writing, research, style & design, and more. Every student must complete an internship, as well.

One of those required courses (Style & Design) has a blogging component built in which exposes the students to wikis, RSS, podcasts and many other aspects of content management systems. They blog at PRblogs.org. The students may experience blogs/CMS in the other course, too. It depends upon who is teaching the class.

Most recently, our students (led by Erin Caldwell) started a site call Forward. The site's mission is "To provide a comprehensive, ever-evolving, online springboard for students and young professionals in PR."

Please allow me to extend an invitation to you, Mr. Edelman, to visit Auburn University anytime you wish. Perhaps the next time you are down south, in Birmingham or Atlanta for instance, we may set a time for you to come to our university. We are only 90 minutes away. It will be a pleasure for the students to meet you. I will enjoy the opportunity, too.

By the way, Nancy Prater will be presenting on Ball State's social media student recruiting site, Real Life, during HigherEd BlogCon. They are using blogs and more in their overall online marketing programs. I am chairing that section of the BlogCon and am very impressed with Nancy's work.

Links:
http://www.bsu.edu/reallife/
http://www.higheredblogcon.com/
http://www.forward-moving.com
http://www.prblogs.org/

I did a short visit on the web site of Valpo: this is definitely still Web.1.0
Searching the word "blog" I got a very short list, nothing substantial. Since I love radio I thought it was great Valpo had a radio station but unfortunately this station does not blog at all. At least I did not see anything but one mention of a "webmaster" and I find that is very often the sign of a no-blog culture. I did not check for the newspaper. Blogging does not seem to be in the picture at least the official one. Considering the abundance of young bloggers I am surprised the tide does not seem to have come into Valpo. Maybe maintaining a blog should be required if you major in communication? It would certainly be an excellent training as it is already for so many.
But the same goes for the professors, the department, etc... their communciation would be so much richer on line if they were blogging.

I have a few thoughts and a request for ideas. On lack of technology integration: Eric Hansen suggested students participate in the dialogue and interact with the technology – via more control over the curriculum. I think those of us who are “digital immigrants” (born before 1983) have much to learn from “digital natives.” I plan to task my PR students this summer to investigate and create ideas for broader use of technology in the curriculum and in practice. Thomas Graham was on our campus last Tuesday for a keynote presentation as part of our annual communication week and said “you gain control of the message when you give up control of the message.” I think more faculty might entertain this idea.

I enjoyed Luke Schepen’s comment about the importance of economics, statistics, and accounting. Our students are required to take each of these as part of the major and they often complain – yet our alumni echo Luke. I would, however, reinforce the idea that in addition to a business focus our curricula need to remain connected to the liberal arts. PR is often about telling compelling stories and I encourage my students to go beyond the required courses in literature, philosophy, anthropology, classics and humanities where they can more deeply explore the “art” of language and its connection to thought.

Finally, we are working on a course on “media strategy” which would cover planning for use of traditional print and broadcasting media but also newer/alternative channels including blogs, pod and webcasting. I welcome ideas on content and structure of such a course designed to expand our understanding of effective media use for developing and maintaining relationships with publics.

Steve Levitt, Chair Communication Dept., University of Texas at San Antonio

Mr. Edelman, I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of the state of PR education day, and I greatly respect your opinion as one of our industry's leaders.

I believe academia needs to place additional emphasis on supplementing PR curricula with a range of marketing and traditional business courses to more effectively prepare PR students for the wide variety of complex issues they will encounter in the business world. Indeed, core PR skills are paramount in these programs, but students should also possess deep marketing knowledge and familiarity with accounting, finance, organizational management, and manufacturing issues so they can properly counsel internal and external clients.

I'm surprised to find out that blogging is a minority among PR students (I've been doing it for well over 5 years, and maintain 3 separate blogs now) - but I do agree with you that PR education programs need more emphasis in not only broadcast and online outreach, but also development of PR related materials (e.g. Web and publication designing skills, perhaps basics of shooting photos/videos and recording audio.) True, these can be easily outsourced, but for those who want to freelance or start in a small organization, these skills are invaluable in their cost-savings.

Another part of education I think PR program can do more on is learning how to staff and budget various campaigns. While I do know there are great variations within the industry, too often student projects involve budgets pull out of thin air with unrealistic figures.

Richard

While I agree with many of your points about what is needed to prepare PR folks, academically, I would like to boil it down a bit more - what's need first and foremost is a liberal arts education based on emmersion in various specific subjects (humanities, sciences, what have you) as well as strong, strong emphasis on developing writing skills.

My concern about "PR" majors is that too much emphasis is placed on practical skills that yes, are important, but relatively easy to learn in internships and entry-level jobs. And that this "technical skills" emphasis comes at the expense of developing, and learning how to channel, intellectual curiosity as well as the ability to analyze substantive issues and articulate a distinct POV.

Richard,

Of all of the elements that make a good public relations professional, I think more emphasis needs to be placed on critical thinking, reasoning, understanding the inter-connectedness of things. Try creating a syllabus for that! The brightest bulbs I've seen in this business are the ones who pause, examine and suggest a better route to the end goal. They see what most don't see.

I suppose you can teach this at the university level through business, law and philosophy courses, but I think it really starts (or needs to start) at a very young age.

Thanks for reading.

Dan Weidman
Edelman Alum. (1995-1998)

I find it interesting that everyone is pushing blogging, when such a high number of PR students graduate with sub standard writing skills. How can they blog if they can’t write effectively?

I fully agree that PR students need to learn about all communication mediums and technology, but we come across too many students that aren’t qualified for PR because they can’t write.

Academia is also out of touch with the real world. Many PR students don’t seem to have a clue about business and how PR really works because their professors have never worked in corporate America.

I also agree that students should blog. There are many reasons why.To improving their writing skills, networking, sharing ideas, learning from experienced pros, profile building and a whole host of others benefits . The benefits and possibilities gained by blogging seem endless. I also have encountered many networking opportunities. I think that every PR undergraduate and graduate needs to be aware of blogging in order to have some type of competitive status in the world of PR today.
I?ve been doing a lot of researches lately and put them into that site.If you are intersting:http://www.coursework4you.co.uk/sprtmrk1.htm
Best luck to you.

Richard,

I couldn't agree more.

Having just completed a Masters in Strategic PR in Sydney, the only thing I sorely lament is that there wasn't a strong enough focus on business, how business leaders think, and how we can best combine the needs of businesses with the desires of the new public. PR courses need, as with the profession, to move away from a top-down approach and, in order to facilitate this, PR's need to understand themselves how a business works in order to communicate this.

However, with so many of us agreeing, it's good to see us all heading in the right direction.

Cameron Beresford
Sydney