Students Control In-Class PR Agency

Abstract

from the energy and excitement of novices." As a bonus, students got the practical experience they didn't have a chance to get in the only other public relations course the school offers and an opportunity to meet weekly with practitioners they might later approach about jobs.Students appreciate their opportunity to help administer and control group public relations projects at California State University, Fullerton. Through this involvement, they help to demonstrate that a student PR agency, working with real clients on and off campus, can be productive and successful.The course is the PR sequence's "coming out" course, designed to bridge the gap between the classroom and professional life. Students in the course demonstrate their mastery of previous studies through entry level professional work in case study analysis, writing and presenting manuscript speeches, interviewing and writing profiles on PR professionals. New territory is covered in class on mastering the fundamentals of public relations management and problem solving using Management by Objectives techniques. ' Group projectThe driving force of the course, the group project, accounts for 30 percent of the total grade. It is the unifying and culminating event of the course, one that Rayfield is an associate professor and Pincus an assistant professor in the