In this day and age where technology is evolving quicker than we are, is it possible for university public relations degrees to keep up with the constant day-by-day changes the industry faces? Custard intern Dan Lifton tells us how his university invited him and his classmates to redesign their course themselves in a bid to keep pace with ‘new world’ PR and digital innovation.
Southampton Solent University took the first steps towards modernising its Public Relations and Communication degree in March 2011. Implementing a plan to include more assignments based around the ever-evolving use of social media, a strategy was proposed and approved for the start of the next academic year.
For first year students starting in September 2011, the newly structured degree would be available to them. However, for first years going into second year and for second years going into third year, the decision about whether to opt for the changed syllabus rested solely with the cohort.
At the time, I was a member of the first year going nearing entry to my second year. We were told by our course leader that we all had to agree to either take on the new modernised degree or continue with what was seen as the outdated degree.
The new degree plan was explained to us thoroughly. It included creating a social media campaign from a live client brief and pitching it to a company, creating a research plan to encourage more women into management roles in the banking industry, a thorough website audit, creating an online professional portfolio and a research project of our choice. We were given a week to think over what had been said and come to a decision as a group.
The following week, we were all gathered together to make the vote. I felt that this could shape my PR career as the use of social media and skills from other units implemented into the course would give us an advantage over other students on similar degrees that may be deemed as outdated.
We all knew there were a few members of the group who were uncertain whether to take on the new degree as they felt it was an untried unit and we’d end up being the guinea pig year, potentially impacting our end-of-year results. However, when it came to the vital decision that could have a massive bearing on our PR career and us leaving university workplace ready, we were all relieved when everybody agreed to take on the new degree plan.
Even with the degree being thoroughly enjoyable a year down the line and with many new skills learnt, such as performing social media campaigns, I cannot help but think that a traditional side of PR has been pushed to the side and neglected. When I say traditional, I am referring to the basics such as the press release.
I am unsure what every university PR degree is like but the degree at Southampton Solent does not focus predominately on press releases, article writing and copywriting. As I learnt in my first week of work experience here at Custard Communications, these are basic and essential PR tools that enable us as PR professionals to convey opinion, tell stories and represent our clients and their messages effectively. Furthermore, they are basic skills that should be taught over the three years at university so that these skills are second nature to the student once he or she has graduated.
I hope for the industry’s sake that these skills are not eventually disregarded in all university PR degrees as it would be detrimental to students who may not be ready for this aspect of the workplace when they graduate.
