Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts
Department of Communication, Media, and Culture
JOUR 433 Teal Nation Communications—Student Run Firm
Fall 2018 Edwards 168 (Tu/Th 8:00-9:15)
Jeffrey A. Ranta Ph.D. Office: Brittain Hall 322
843 349-6662/803 600-3091
Office Hours: M-Th 11:00 – 1:30, F by appointment
Course Description
JOUR 433 Teal Nation Communications (CCU Agency). (3) (Prereq: JOUR 304, JOUR 309 or 311 and JOUR 312 or 319) This course is the anchor for a student-run, full service agency providing integrated communications solutions for real clients. It is useful for students interested in entering the Communication fields, including agencies, internal and external corporate communications, government, and policy communications. Teal Nation Communications is student-led and client-driven, allowing students to both lead and be a part of a team, servicing the communication needs of various for-profit and not-for-profit clients.Course is repeatable up to 6 credit hours.
Course Instructional Objectives:
The primary objectives of this course are:
1. Providing students opportunities to learn account management skills by doing real work for real clients in a real-life environment as part of an account team.
2. Explaining the principles of strategic and tactical planning, the client/agency team concept, adopting a results-driven orientation and using established campaign evaluation techniques to monitor performance as they are applied in a real-world, client-centric agency environment.
3. Demonstrate best practices for primary and secondary applied client research, strategic communications planning, and execution of communications tactics.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to achieve the following:
1. Accurately detail and demonstrate specific client initiatives performed as part of the agency team.
2. Explain the principles of strategic and tactical planning, the client/agency team concept, adopting a results-driven orientation and using established campaign evaluation techniques to monitor performance as they are applied in a real-world, client-centric agency environment.
3. Demonstrate knowledge and implementation of best practices for primary and secondary applied client research, strategic communications planning, execution of communications tactics, team building, account management task delegation and client relationship maintenance.
As an Experiential Learning Course, you should also be able to demonstrate the following:
1. EL SLO 1.1. Students will demonstrate the knowledge and skills obtained through participation in experiential learning activities that are relevant/pertinent to their academic programs and/or career goals.
2. EL SLO 2.1. Students will demonstrate a high level of comprehension and skill in connecting theory with practice which is correlated to their level of participation in experiential learning activities.
3. EL SLO 2.2. Students will compare and contrast their expected learning to their actual learning derived from experiential learning activities.
4. EL SLO 2.3. Students will reflect on the impact that experiential learning activities have had on their relationship to the world in which they live.
Required Texts:
· AP Stylebook (latest edition)
· Client-specific materials/readings as assigned and supplied as needed.
Academic Integrity and Responsibility:
Coastal Carolina University has clearly articulated its policies governing academic integrity and students are encouraged to carefully review the policy on the Honor Code in the Carolina Community. Any deviation from these expectations will result in academic penalties as well as disciplinary action. The area of greatest potential risk for inadvertent academic dishonesty is plagiarism. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, paraphrasing or direct quotation of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgement.
Attendance Policy:
Students are expected to attend each scheduled class meeting, be on time, and be prepared for each class session. Students may miss up to two class meetings without penalty. The third and each subsequent unexcused absence will result in five percent being deducted from your final grade. Class absences and tardiness will also affect the class participation portion of your final grade. Assignments cannot be made up except for excused absences. Examples of excused absences include illness (with a doctor’s excuse), death in the immediate family, meeting with a client off site or a required attendance at another university function.
Missing 25 percent of classes (even if the absences are excused) will result in course failure.
Expectations for Classroom Behavior:
Students will arrive on time and focus on the work at hand during the class period. Laptops and tablets will be allowed for class exercises only – no personal Web surfing, unless approved by the instructor. Mobile phones should be silenced and remain in purses, pockets and backpacks throughout class unless approved. For more information about the CCU code of conduct, please see https://www.coastal.edu/media/2015ccuwebsite/contentassets/documents/deanofstudents/17-18CSCforWeb.pdf
Students with Disabilities:
As a higher education institution, Coastal Carolina University wants to see each student become successful and be given equal opportunity to achieve his/ her fullest potential. Keeping this in mind, any student who needs further assistance due to a disability- physical, learning or psychological- will be provided with the means necessary to achieve his/ her goals. For further information, please contact Accessibility and Disability Services at 843-349-2341.
Assignment Grading Scale:
A / 92 to 100 / Excellent undergraduate work
B+ / 87 to 91 / Significantly exceeds standards for undergraduate work
B / 82 to 86 / Exceeds standards for undergraduate work
C+ / 77 to 81 / Slightly above average undergraduate work
C / 72 to 76 / Average undergraduate work
D+ / 67 to 71 / Unsatisfactory undergraduate work
D / 62 to 66 / Significantly unsatisfactory undergraduate work
F / 61 or below / Fails to meet undergraduate work standards
Final Grade Determination Formula:
Class and homework assignments: 75%
Presentations: 15%
Class participation: 10%
Course Components:
This class is largely self-directed and is described in two parts.
Part One: Weekly instruction will include time spent educating students on the fundamentals of agency life and the knowledge required to be successful in their role as an agency team member. Topics will include: pre-press, graphics, press release writing, media relations, client relations, team building, etc..
Part Two: Producing a professional caliber body of work that will consist of any or all of the following public relations or ad campaign components for actual clients:
Research (primary and secondary)
Strategic Objectives and Tactics (quantifiable and research driven)
Creative development and/or message development
Media planning/Media relations research
Tactic generation to include any or all of the following categories: web sites, social media, graphic designs, copywriting, pre-press, audio/video scripting, audio/video production.
Implementation of those Objectives and Tactics or a detailed explanation of how it would be implemented (to include projected costs, manpower timeline)
Evaluation (to determine if campaign met the aforementioned objectives and tactics)
Recommendations
Students will work either in small groups as part of a team, assuming the role of a member of an account team or they also have the option, with instructor approval, to work an entire campaign on their own.
In addition, each student is required to:
· Be a member of CCU’s PRSSA chapter or equivalent Professional Organization with a student chapter/rate (upon approval of instructor).
· Prepare and deliver at least one OR MORE 10-minute lessons to the class on some aspect of agency work to be assigned by the instructor; i.e. outdoor advertising, press release writing, pre-press and others.
Finished Products:
Upon course completion each student will produce a portfolio of work accomplished during the semester and it will be presented at a semester-end event.
Exceptional, well-executed client materials are entered into professional award contests.
Table of Expected Topics:
As client needs develop throughout the semester, these priorities may be adjusted to better serve the client(s).
Week / Content/Suggested Presentation TopicsWeek 1 / Agency recruitment, client introduction
Week 2 / Finish client presentations to students
Week 3 / Client Updates/Agency Structure
Week 4 / Client Updates/Research and the Anatomy of a Campaign
Week 5 / Client Updates/Media Relations and Press Release Writing
Week 6 / Client Updates/Media Buying and Media Placement
Week 7 / Client Updates/Web Publishing and Web Site Design
Week 8 / Client Updates/Print ads for Newspaper and Magazine
Week 9 / Client Updates/Pre-press
Week 10 / Client Updates/Blogging and Social Media
Week 11 / Client Updates/Event Planning and Internal Relations
Week 12 / Client Updates/Fundraising and Investor Relations
Week 13 / Client Updates/Campaign Evaluation Metrics
Week 14 / Client Updates/Writing for Broadcast
Client Roster: Client rosters for CCU AGENCY vary according to client from one semester to the other. The goal is for every student to be assigned to a client team and for the client team to serve a variety of clients, in much the same way a real agency would behave. Every effort will be made to assign each student some sort of team role as well as a leadership role within a selection of clients.
Final Exam Experience: The final exam for this course will consist of a review of work done during the semester with a short (~10 minutes) briefing to staff and, if possible, client(s) consisting of the work accomplished during the duration of the course. The final experience is scheduled, TBD.