University News Last updated 16 June 2009
A group of Public Relations students made a big impression on PR professionals when they presented research papers at a recent conference held at Birmingham City University.
As part of their studies for BA Media and Communication, the students took part in the event, which was called ‘Public Relations: Current Issues and Future Directions' and took place on the University's City North campus.
Immediate past president of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, Lis Lewis-Jones gave the keynote speech at the day-long event which attracted 70 delegates including 40 PR practitioners from public and private sector organisations across the Midlands.
The students presented their conference papers as part of their assessment for the CIPR-approved study programme. Topics included crisis PR, the relationship between PR and journalists, web-based PR campaigns and the use of blogs and Twitter, international PR via the Eurovision song contest, and whether public relations as a career appeals more to women than men.
Still on the second year of their three-year course, the students will be posting their papers onto a conference website and will be marked by tutors as part of their theory assessment.
Public Relations Degree Leader, Pete Wilby describes the event as a ‘groundbreaking approach to assessing students' grasp of theory'.
He said: "This was a departure from the usual practice of asking them to write essays and hopefully a more realistic exercise for their professional development. PR graduates are likely to take part in conferences in their future careers so this was excellent preparation.
"The students were understandably nervous when they learned that several PR practitioners and senior managers would be attending the event. However, they performed magnificently on the day and gained a lot of self-confidence from their ability to research and discuss some quite complex issues with seasoned PR professionals.
"The feedback from employers has been fantastic and we have already received quite a few offers for work experience and mentoring support for the students.
"As a form of assessment, the students told me that they found it more interesting and rewarding than writing essays. However they will still have to sit a traditional exam at the end of the semester!"
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