PUBLIC RELATIONS

WHY CHOOSE THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON?

Create a specialty within your major:

The School of Communication offers PR majors the option to combine electives to form a specialty area, such as social media, media relations, health or internal/employee public relations.

PR majors interested in:

• Media relations can take courses in media law and introduction to media industries.
• Social media can develop media productions skills and take our principles of social media elective coursework, and even earn a Professional Social Media Certificate.
• The internal side of public relations can take an organizational communication course or study training methods with faculty who are experts in each of these areas.

Experiential opportunities:

You’re also able to gain hands-on experience in our award-winning student television and radio programs, and you can write for our student newspaper. You will obtain skills that set you apart in your career.

Internship program:

You will fulfill either 3 or 6 credit hours while gaining hands-on experience in a real workplace. You can choose to intern in nearly any department at any type of organization where communication and creativity are recognized.

The best way to understand the theories and concepts you are learning in the classroom is to apply them for real. Also, internships will help you build a professional network, valuable for references and job leads.

PUBLIC RELATIONS COURSES

At UA, our core public relations courses create opportunities for students to collaborate in teams, work with clients and design PR campaigns. This hands-on experience helps students learn to work together in a group, communicate with a client, review and evaluate case studies from notable PR campaigns, and create portfolio materials.

We also have an active Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter that gives students increased exposure to the profession, provides extensive educational resources and enables members to make valuable contacts through networking opportunities.

Our faculty members prepare you to become a public relations professional through innovative courses that teach written and verbal communication skills for the successful practice of strategic public relations.

Our public relations students gain practical experience crafting public relations messages through strategies and tactics applied in the context of PR campaigns. Students also master how to foster mutually beneficial relationships between clients and their audiences. Coursework is designed to develop a broad scope of awareness and skills that can help an organization achieve its mission and goals.

Our faculty members are constantly updating course offerings so the classroom experience reflects trends in a profession. Our social media courses allow students to create campaigns for actual clients and to help with portfolio development.

We encourage students to engage in internships and use their developing public relations skills in non-classroom settings. Many School of Communication students intern with public relations agencies, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, sports teams and corporations. Our student interns are typically impressive in professional settings, as evidenced by the large number who are hired after graduation.

PUBLIC RELATIONS CAREER PROSPECTS

Public relations professionals are needed in virtually every industry. The best news is that the demand for more public relations professionals has been growing at an exciting rate, with substantial evidence that the trend will continue.

While some enter the nonprofit sector, we have many graduates who are working in the private sector for sports organizations, health organizations, government agencies, the military, entertainment organizations, educational institutions and private corporations.

WHERE RECENT GRADUATES ARE WORKING

• The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
• Better Business Bureau
• University of Mount Union
• Caesars Entertainment Corp.
• MurphyEpson
• Squirrels LLC