California State University, Sacramento
CSUS College of Arts and Letters
Department of Communication Studies
Professional Studies of the Public Relations Concentration
COMS187(1). Issue Management and Case Studies in Public Relations - Seminar
Fall, 2014 [6:00 p.m. – 8:50 p.m., Tuesday]
Mendocino Hall, 1022
Instructor: Timothy Lent Howard
Office: Mendocino Hall 5039
Office Hours: 4:25 p.m. – 5:55 p.m., T and/or by appointment
Phone: (916) 278-6854 Office (No VM) and/or (209) 471-1111 Cellular
E-mail: (Put COMS187 in your subject line on all e-mails).
Website: www.ProfessorPR.com
Mission of the College of Arts and Letters
The programs within the College of Arts and Letters include a diverse array of disciplines, from Art and Music to History and Communication Studies, yet they share a common mission of preparing graduates to become effective citizens and enlightened community members, one which includes a commitment to:
· enhancing students' awareness and aesthetic sensitivity through the study of literary and/or symbolic texts and through an appreciation of the fine and applied arts;
· using literature and the arts in order to promote understanding of a given genre, culture or historical movement; and
· fostering critical thinking and effective oral and written communication skills.
The College includes the Departments of Art, Communication Studies, Design, English, Foreign Languages, History, Humanities and Religious Studies, Music, Philosophy, Theatre and Dance, as well as the Graduate Liberal Arts and Learning Skills programs. The departments and programs within the College of Arts and Letters collectively offer 16 baccalaureate degrees, 20 minors, and 9 master’s degrees and one joint doctorate.
Students in the College of Arts and Letters are expected to develop skills in reasoning, problem solving, finding information, communicating in both oral and written form, and developing a sensitivity to and understanding of creative accomplishment in many cultures, past and present. Students also have access to a variety of opportunities to perfect their skills outside of the classroom, including classroom service connections to the community; internships; participating on a nationally-acclaimed debate team or the State Hornet newspaper staff; producing or performing in plays, concerts, and recitals; and exhibiting their art and design works on and off campus.
Arts and Letters contributes many courses to the University's General Education program. Additionally, of the nine approved single-subject pre-credential preparation programs on campus for students interested in the teaching profession, six are offered in disciplines in the College of Arts and Letters: Art, English, French, German, Spanish, and Music.
Faculty in the College are dedicated to creating a learning environment that is student-centered and that encourages inquiry into the development of concepts and the exploration of ideas. Many of the faculty in the College are nationally known scholars and researchers, offering students opportunities to co-author and co-present papers and projects to a national audience.
The programs within the College are of exceptional merit offering advanced curriculum, excellent facilities, and highly qualified faculty with a commitment to teaching. The following are a few examples:
Mission Statement of the Department of Communication Studies
The faculty of Communication Studies and Journalism is a community of professionals, educated and experienced in a diverse range of specialty areas, and united by a common body of information related to the creation, application, and understanding of messages. The department exists to provide quality instruction that assists students in becoming intellectually aware citizens who are ethical, competent communicators. Further, the department seeks to maintain and develop the body of scholarly knowledge that unites the field.
Course Description
COMS187. Issue Management and Case Studies in Public Relations. Examines the management of issues in the public and private sectors including knowledge and skills in the communication activities and thinking processes that affect an issue's development. Uses case studies of organizations--governmental agencies, businesses, and not-for-profit entities to assess issue development and management by examining the fundamental questions confronting organizations: What should the particular organization do and how should it do it? Examines criteria for selecting among alternative options, and the relation of the organization to its environment. Explores the broader social, legal, and ethical implications of the organization's activities. Prerequisite: COMS 118; completion of 12 units of upper division COMS courses. 3 units.
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to Issue Management and Case Studies in Public Relations. It is designed principally for people who are serious about wanting to become public relations professionals. Its concentration is on equipping aspiring professionals with a foundation for academic and professional success as a competent, or more hopefully, accomplished practitioner. Course cases and assignments focus attention on practical application, critical thinking skills, sound writing techniques and promote academic and professional excellence.
We will continue to grow as professionals and learn to express ourselves effectively through writing, so most of our class time and homework will be devoted to doing that. We’ll talk about techniques and strategies and when to use what form and why and from time to time we’ll bring in practicing experts to share some of their experiences (war stories) and techniques for handling such circumstances. You will be expected to read a lot during this semester to best contribute in class, so come prepared to participate. We’ll do some role playing and run a simulation or two to get a feel for how things actually work, and test our creativity in making otherwise mundane topics interesting and otherwise complex subjects understandable. In our classroom exercises we’ll produce cases, which we will discuss and critique among ourselves, to help us to best understand Issue Management and Case Studies in Public Relations.
Course Objectives
This course has seven learning goals and objectives. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1.) Examine and be familiar with Issue Management and Case Studies in Public Relations and be able to demonstrate and apply these learned skills.
2.) Apply the basic rules of grammar and spelling to ensure your writing is clean, interesting and effective.
3.) Examine and be familiar with current issues and trends in public relations.
4.) To give students hands-on experience by helping them to identify relevant topics associated with everyday decisions a public relations professional encounters.
5.) Communicate in an effective writing manner on issues and developments related to public relations.
6.) Demonstrate skills necessary to function proficiently as public relations professional(s) including leadership, professionalism, time-management, planning, obtaining resources, technology application, and communicating effectively.
7.) Relate Public Relations Society of America values and ethics for both academic and professional integrity.
Required Textbook(s)
A link from PRSA.org, which the instructor will provide during the first part of the semester.
Recommended Textbook(s)
The Associated Press Stylebook, (In print and or application)
Public relations practitioners are eager media seekers, so each of you are strongly encouraged to become avid media consumers to keep apprised of current events and issue trends. Suggested publications include, but are not limited to: The Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle, The LA Times, The Sacramento Bee, Orange County Register, and BusinessWeek. For convenience, it may be prudent to subscribe to at least one of the above news publications.
Our principal resources will be supplemental readings and/or input from outside speakers will be melded in to enrich and expand on the understanding of Issue Management and Case Studies in Public Relations.
Course Content
While we learn by writing about Issue Management and Case Studies in Public Relations, we also will be learning through reading…a lot. There will be various reading assignments, as well, directed to selections from books and from current journals, newspapers, magazines, and web pieces. The outside reading is intended to stimulate critical thinking and discussion as it will relate to Issue Management and Case Studies in Public Relations. Students are expected to actively participate in class by completing assigned readings and contributing productively with all activities and discussions. Diagnostic quizzes and exams will be utilized to ensure student understanding and development.
Knowledge of current events is crucial to the PR professional. No client or corporation will pay a practitioner big bucks if he or she does not know how the client will be affected by world, national and local events. If a client is Exxon Mobil or BP, for example, you would have to know how environmental legislation, public sentiment about high gas prices, the situation in the Middle East, the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, saber rattling toward Syria and Iran, renewable energy sources, interest rates and other current events affect your client in order to plan effective strategies to meet your client’s ever-changing needs.
The art of practicing public relations is a living instrument. As such, get into the habit of staying abreast of current events.
This class will spend much of its time engaged in discussion and writing analysis. The Instructor will do some lecturing, but much of class time will be devoted to talking about Public Relations Issue Management and Case Studies within the frameworks found in the class textbook(s) and introduced in lecture and supplemental readings. COMS187 is designed to use an “in the trenches,” case-method approach to introduce and engage students with “real life” scenarios of professional practices and challenges. We will use the cases presented in the textbook(s) and a wide assortment of cases drawn from other sources – including cases you may write and introduce to the class – to spark our thinking.
Specifically, the combination of print and electronic media that gather and distribute news and information, generally referred to as “The Media,” is one of the most potent forces in American society.
“The Media” inform, educate, entertain and, to a large extent, form the basis of what most people know about matters of consequence outside their personal experience or knowledge. As important, it conditions their thinking about these matters. “The Media” make and break reputations, anoint heroes, expose bad guys, and “protect the public interest” against greed, corruption, and threats to health and safety.
Managing the interface with this force is one of the most important and challenging responsibilities of public relations professionals…mandatory for publicly held enterprises and essential for all other organizations that depend on public understanding, trust and support.
The objective of the media relations component of this course is to introduce students to the principles of successfully managing this interface and to the techniques employed by experienced professionals in the pursuit thereof as an important step in preparing for careers in public relations or in management positions in organizations that depend on public understanding, trust and support.
This course also will cover basic fundamentals to establish a solid foundation for you to use in achieving your goals when dealing with media professionals – the correct mindset, how to prepare, telling the “good news,” what not to say, how to remember important points and express them clearly and memorably, how to always be in control – everything you need to be poised and confident.
The ethical content of this course is not intended to be prescriptive nor to be viewed in isolation. Instead, it is intended to stimulate thinking and discussion in the area of ethics as it relates to public relations’ and media practitioners.
The Game
In this course we’re going to be playing “The Game.”
We’re going to:
1.) Examine some of the classic cases that have helped define and demonstrate what public relations is and how it should be conducted,
2.) Study what the players did,
3.) Examine why they did what they did,
4.) And evaluate what resulted there from.
We’re going to look over their shoulders, critique the cases, and offer our own ideas on how the situation was, or should have been, handled – based on the principles and techniques we’ve studied. You will be expected to research a theory, define it, explain its relevance to the case being discussed, and fold it into your analysis.
Don’t be lulled by the “game” imagery. In a sense, when we play with ideas in public relations, it is a game – a highly challenging intellectual and creative game. And you should have fun playing it. But it is a deadly serious game, as well. The stakes are often quite high. There are winners and losers. An advanced level of professionalism and personal abilities is required to play it successfully. And dilettantes don’t last very long.
As the course unfolds, you’re going to become real-time players yourselves. You’re going to develop and run a public relations program simulation, you’re going to analyze and solve real public relations problems in real-time, and you’re going to research and critique a current major public relations case, among other things.
Specifically:
1.) You will do a major case study.
A.) You will fully research one major, original, PR case as a group, chosen by your instructor, to be formally presented in class. This will be a major case study, fully researched and written. You will present a copy of the fully developed case to me to be kept on file. Additionally, you’ll prepare an abstract (150 words) to be distributed to all members of the class at the time of your presentation. Professional presentation is expected. Do not forget to include a Theory!
B.) Your subject will be selected from high-profile pr cases.
C.) Do a professional job on the research. This is something you will keep in your career files.
D.) Complete a case study of the handling of the public relations, using a variety of resources.
E.) Present orally, using creativity and a variety of visuals.
F.) The Major Case Study will count for 20% of your semester grade.
2.) You will work a series of assigned cases and issues & problems.
A.) The various issues contain problems with questions to address. You’ll be required to produce solutions to various problems as assigned. You will lead the class with discussion. This will be conducted as a group task to practice your presentation skills before the class. Challenges may be presented to make student’s think and to be resourceful without any resources.
B.) The cases and issues & problems written solutions and presentations will account for 20% of your grade. Use the “In The News” outline below to structure your analysis of the issues & problems: