Schools
Public Relations Students Experiment in the Real World
The Roger Williams University Public Relations Campaigns class taught by Dr. Aimee Shelton presented their final campaigns at the Mary Tefft White Cultural Center on Monday, May 9th.
Many students graduate from college without any real life experience, but that is not the case for Roger Williams University Public Relations students. Throughout the semester students in Dr. Amiee Shelton’s Public Relations Campaigns class scattered across Rhode Island gathering information.
Students were split into four groups as they researched different topics and worked on implementing them within the campus and the Rhode Island community. They presented a culmination of their efforts at the Mary Tefft White Cultural Center on Monday, May 9.
Public Relations Campaigns is a special topics course, which emphasizes areas not generally offered by the University. The course touches upon different areas of public relations, including entertainment, sports, and new technologies.
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“It’s great because they’re students and they’re implementing these campaigns,” said Mary Concannon, Junior Public Relations major. “They’re making an impact.”
Students were given a list of possible ideas that they could use. In the end, the four topics chosen were the Roger Williams University Academic Integrity Pledge, East Coast Greenway, Was that me last night?, and Anchor in RI.
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“We had to take their idea and implement it,” said Sarah Beron, PR Campaigns student. “It was hard because we didn’t have a budget.”
Social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare were used to help spread awareness of the campaigns. Groups also organized different events to help get the community involved. The East Coast Greenway group organized an event in Providence on Mother’s Day. There were activities for families to enjoy together as well as live music.
All of the projects received great coverage and interest but Anchor in RI stood out among them. Anchor in RI was linked with the “Opportunity in RI” bill that is currently going through legislation. This bill offers tax credits on loans for students who graduated from an RI school and choose to stay and work in RI.
“This campaign hits close to home for me because I’m from Rhode Island,” said Beron, member of Anchor in RI.
All their hard work paid off as each groups presentation came to an end. They proved to the other students and to the professor that they could make it in this business.
“It did make me want to be more involved in the PR industry,” said Beron.
