This article describes a realistic online crisis unit, in which students practice: (1) responding to fast-paced information on multiple social media channels; (2) coordinating and making team decisions; and (3) creating effective responses. These skills are required for entry-level positions such as digital specialists and community managers,…

In 2011 and 2012, two Australian university vice chancellors flagged spending cuts at their institutions to overcome financial problems. In both cases, union and staff opposition led to public protests, intense media scrutiny, delays and retreats. This article compares the two cases to see what lessons may be drawn for university leaders faced…

Public relations educators are frequently challenged by students' flawed perceptions of public relations. Two contrasting case studies are presented in this paper to illustrate how socially-oriented paradigms may be applied to a real-client project to deliver a transformative learning experience. A discourse-analytic approach is applied…

This study evaluates whether or not community college libraries have in place the characteristics necessary to develop digital branch libraries to meet the expanding and changing needs of their publics. Using Hon and Grunig's (1999) relationship building criteria as a framework, 98 community college library websites were analyzed to determine…

This study examined student success, failure, withdrawal, and satisfaction in online public relations courses based on instructor-student interaction, student-student interaction, and instructor presence. Student passing rates, D/F rates, withdrawal rates, and evaluations of instruction were compiled from fifty-one online PR courses run over the…

This case study describes funding, capital management, and public relations of the University of Houston and its implications for Chinese universities.

Shrinking financial support from governments and forecast declines in the college-going population have combined to exert tremendous pressure on institutions of higher learning. Branding as a strategy has become more popular as a way of differentiating an institution from its competition, but the complexity of higher education makes branding an…

This paper explores social media marketing strategies applied by Canadian universities as a tool for institutional branding, recruitment and engagement of home and international students. The target sample involves the total population of Canadian university-status institutions ("N" = 106). Qualitative data were collected from two major…

The purpose of this exercise is to get students to relay and connect with the impact of ethics on public relations research. Students will begin to realize and analyze how their personal ethics influence their professional ethics choices. This is conceptualized through the completion of the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI)…

With rising vocational expectations of higher education, universities are increasingly promoting themselves as preparing students for future professional lives. This makes it timely to ask what makes professionalism meaningful to students. In addressing this question, we first identify aspects of professionalism that might represent appropriate…

Tensions that result from varying expectations of service learners and clients/community partners are as common as the pedagogical practice of service learning in public relations courses. The matchmaking process between instructors and clients can influence expectations; however, the literature includes little guidance about the process of client…

Given the increasing need for the retention of satisfied and successful students, the purpose of this study was to explore the factors that influence the perceived quality of relationships formed between students and their academic departments. Based on the extensive review of interdisciplinary literature, the study proposed three…

In this study, the impact of subjective norms on mass communication students' intentions to adopt new media production technologies was explored. The results indicated that subjective norms play an instrumental role in explaining behavioral intentions to adopt new media technologies. Moreover, the data indicated that public relations students…

This study is based on a survey of public relations students and examines their attitudes, expectations, and motivations for participating in curriculum-infused service-learning projects. Results indicate that prior participation does not influence attitudes or expectations, but motivation to participate in the project was significantly associated…

The literature describes various approaches that community colleges use to achieve institutional effectiveness; however there is no information about how Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) go about this process. The purpose of this article is to review some principles and processes of accountability and to describe the strategic review and…