The Walter Cronkite School will implement a new capstone program for public-relations students that will allow them to develop real campaigns for real clients starting in the fall 2011 semester.
Fran Matera, director of the Public Relations Lab, said she is currently accepting applications to the program, which will commence in the fall.
The program is an extension of the Public Relations Campaigns class, JMC 417, Matera said, and students will be able to substitute the Public Relations Lab for the Campaign class. The prerequisite to the lab is JMC 415 Writing for Public Relations.
The lab is one of the full-immersion capstone classes that ASU offers to students in order to redirect focus in a way that is more engaging than a lecture, Matera said. The class will be comprised of 15 to 18 students.
Students are able to apply for various positions within the lab, where they will be working in teams to conduct original research and present their campaigns to high profile clients in a formal way.
According to an e-mail sent to Cronkite students, the lab is designed “like a PR agency, with students serving in roles that mirror those in a professional setting and developing campaigns and strategies for real clients.”
Matera is still developing a client list for 2011, but past ASU public-relations clients include Intel, the Phoenix Zoo and AAA of Arizona.
Melissa Labrador, a sophomore in PR, is in favor of the hands-on curriculum the Public Relations Lab provides.
“I think it’s a great course just because you’re basically doing a job,” Labrador said. “For (clients) it’s a win-win situation. It’s free labor from people who are going to be in that industry.”
Students will have the option of taking three, six or nine credit hours where they will be required to spend two, three or four days working in the lab.
“Really, it’s like your job,” Matera said of the course load. The Public Relations Lab “allows you to really devote large chunks of time to the client.”
The nationally recognized public-relations program at the Cronkite School has won several awards for its students’ work in the campaign class.
In 2010, students from the program were awarded with an honorable mention in the Platinum PR Awards, an industry wide competition.
Last year, students were also awarded with the Outstanding PR Campaign Award from the Zenith Awards, a national public-relations competition.
The thorough, in-depth specialized instruction in the lab is intended to accustom students to what working in a real public-relations firm would be like, Matera said.
“If you are prepared and you have those skills before you graduate, it’s an easier transition into the working world,” Matera said.
Rachael McBride, a public-relations sophomore, plans to apply to the Public Relations Lab her senior year.
“I think this will balance out the upper division opportunities offered to PR students,” McBride said. “Before this was offered, all other specializations had fulltime experience offered, and public-relations students seemed to be overlooked. I’m glad they’re finally expanding our options.”
Students who apply are required to prepare an enrollment packet that includes an application form, cover letter, resume and various work samples.
The comprehensive enrollment packet is necessary in discovering which students are the best fit for the class and for the particular clients that students will be working with, Matera said.
“The numbers won’t be huge,” Matera said. “We want to have a tightly focused group of people working with a client. It’s not for everyone.”
Contact the reporter at apsmith5@asu.edu
