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Public Relations Cases is Being Held T-H This Term From 12:30 to 1:50 p.m.
Professor: John N. Weis · Office: Phelps 113-D
This course is designed to provide Public Relations students with exposure to a wide range of case studies for evaluation and discussion. The course encourages open discussion of real-world applications of PR concepts and principles, critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making processes in a workshop/seminar format. Groups will examine cases related to classroom lecture and discussion topics each week, report their conclusions and participate in general discussion. Text: Public relations practices, Center and Jackson; Prentice Hall. Grades will be determined based on the following relative value of class activities:
The Case Study Paper/Presentation: You will be working in assigned groups as you discuss cases from the text on an on-going basis and present your group findings and conclusions to the class. You will also be working in the same group on the major project for this quarter--development of a comprehensive written analysis of a case study from among the list below. Groups will not duplicate topics. This is to be complemented by an oral report regarding your selected case study. Your group’s paper must be written in American Psychological Association (APA) style. It must be a minimum of 15 pages and include a minimum of 10 cited references--using the annotated bibliography format--no more than three from the internet. It must include the APA elements of: title page, abstract, introduction, discussion and analysis, references and an appendix if needed. There is a guide to APA style and format elsewhere on this web site. There is also a page dealing with case studies on this site you should examine. You should pay particular attention to the discussion and analysis section and integrate concepts and principles discussed during the course curriculum into this written paper. The oral presentation of the project should complement the written report. Please do NOT read your written report. We’ll be talking more about empowerment and how it can relate to activities within your group. Feel free to use university resources available to you to make your presentation informative and entertaining for your audience as well as interesting and educational for your group. I’ll make sure you have five minutes to set up for your final oral presentation. Plan on 12-15 minutes for the presentation itself. Yes, each member of your group does, in fact, have to participate in this oral presentation phase. Cases for your consideration (NO duplicates, so reserve your group's early!):
(Top row, left to right) Tylenol rebounds through PR offensive; Bhopal: a crisis for Union Carbide; Exxon Valdez, environmental and PR damage; Palin popularity prompts media response. How would you have handled any of these situations? What do sound public relations principles teach us about these cases and what can we learn from them? Other General Guidelines: The written project/presentation assignment for this course, and each of the on-going case analyses, will be undertaken in groups. Grades will be awarded to each group, but consistent with the instructor’s strong beliefs in the concepts of group member empowerment and attendant accountability, the members of each group will be directly involved in the distribution of points within that group. This process will be explained in detail in class. This is designed to encourage group problem-solving and decision-making, cooperative work in teams, as well as personal and group responsibility and accountability in the "workplace." Individual knowledge/performance will be evaluated in a midterm exam/project. Since this is a case studies course with discussions involving groups and the class as a whole, it is imperative that you attend class and participate. That important aspect of the course is reflected in how your grade is determined by peer evaluation process I'll explain in class. The weekly case study discussions are just that, oral discussions. They are not written assignments. We will, generally, use Tuesdays for reporting on each group's case for that week, remarks on the next week's topic and assignment of new cases for the following week. Thursdays will, generally, be set aside for lab time for groups to discuss and analyze the weekly cases. Any written assignments are to be typed, double-spaced and error-free. Points will be deducted for typos, grammatical errors, incorrect spelling and deviations from APA style. Style is just as important as content. And, again, ALL members of each group must participate in the presentation component of the major class project.
Additional Caveat: This syllabus is intended to be an outline of the tentative class schedule and assignments only. It may be changed to meet the specific needs of this particular class and its members. Students are responsible for monitoring these changes by attending class on a consistent basis. Students involved in cheating will immediately fail the course and the professor will recommend further action directly to the chair of the Mass Communication Department and/or Dean of CLA.
Tentative Schedule
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