Course Description:

This program is meant to introduce many of the key aspects of public relations management through the readings of and understanding of public relations principles and case studies.

Course Objectives:

This is a survey management course.  We will take a broad look at public relations: its theory, the profession, its procedures and practice. In addition through the use of case studies and projects assigned, the student will be able to apply management principles to various areas of the public relations profession.

 Students should be able at the end of the course to understand, discuss, and accomplish the following: 

1. Public relations principles and organization
2. Issues Management
3. Public relations Strategic Planning
4. Public relations ethics, professionalism and evaluation
5. legal issues, communications effectiveness, research,
6. Employee, consumer, media, community and financial relations functions and marketing
7. Public affairs, non-profit agencies image building
8. Technology, crisis management and global perspective.

None

The course is divided into four parts: Section #1, Managing Organizational Relationships, Section #2, Managing the Public Relations Process, Section #3 Managing Relationships with Stakeholders, Section #4 Managing Public Relations Practice.

In a couple of days you will be assigned to a group, once I have the roster. Changes in these groups will only be authorized given a change in enrollment. I will provide to you an update as I receive, enrollment information from TBR.
I will post an announcement in our main bulletin board when the groups are established.

Please take a moment and read instructions on getting into your proper group in the Discussion Group area of this syllabus.

The philosophy of group case work is based on by assigning member to certain aspects, you can more easily accomplish the rigorous workload that is required. It also helps you practice team interaction skills to accomplish common objective. By sharing the talents, experience, and learning resources of the team, the students assume greater self-direction and responsibility for their own learning. Sharing responsibilities also allows the dissemination of more information to the team within  a shorter time: a team can cover material than an individual can in the same amount of time.

Although learning teams simulate small team activity in the workplace, they may be less stressful than their corporate counterparts. Because they develop in an educational (rather than work-related) environment, they can provide a "safe" laboratory for experimenting with a variety of behaviors, communication techniques, and roles. There are no bosses and no subordinates in the group; they are all equal as students. With that said, everyone is also responsible There will be one grade for the your groups' work.

My only suggestion to your groups, to facilitate the accomplishment of the project is three roles should be defined immediately by the group.

1. Organizer/s: person or persons responsible for monitoring progress…
timelines, and developing the rough drafts

2. Researcher/s; person or persons compiles all the data, notes, letters,

papers, and secondary research data gathered from all students, and works with the

organizer and finish writer in accomplishment of their tasks.

3. The finish writer/s….the person/s that is responsible for getting the paper completed and submitted, insuring class credit is given to all those participating in the  group project. This person/s must be available to get work out on time, and work well with the organizer and research person/s.

You are responsibly to acquire specific information from the WebCT site.

1. Syllabus...our contract representing areas of importance

2. Communications area...this area has our chat areas, discussion boards and access to email, review each time you visit class

3. Assignments area...this provides you with your assignments and the area for their submission.

4. Discussion area...this will get you to the various discussion boards in our class, review each time you visit the class

5. Tests/Quizzes area...this is the area that has all of your quizzes.

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR HAVING THE APPROPRIATE TEXT BOOK/s  ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS

YOU ARE TO SEND AN EMAIL TO THE ONLINE PROFESSOR WITH CONTACT INFORMATION YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE. IF YOU CHOOSE NOT TO SHARE ANY OTHER INFORMATION, YOUR EMAIL IS TO STATE, JUST THAT YOU HAVE READ THE SYLLABUS AS TO YOUR REQUIREMENTS IN THIS COURSE. THIS IS TO BE DONE WITHIN THE WEBCT SYSTEM AND NOT TO MY PERSONAL EMAIL ACCOUNT.

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain textbook information for this course:
http://rodp.bkstr.com

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain textbook information for this course:
http://rodp.bkstr.com

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm.

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm
Please note, some courses do require additional software. Information about additional software can be obtained from the Virtual Bookstore or your instructor.

Please see the separate page inside the course to find instructor contact information as well as a statement of virtual office hours and other communication information.

Course work will be accomplished every week. Quizzes and assignments  will all be available from the first day of class. The quiz must be completed by 11 pm (central time) on the due date, check each due time to ensure that you post by the correct time. .  They will consist of true/false and multiple-choice questions, which will contain one or more units of study. Quizzes will be limited as to time; 15 minutes per quiz.. The computer will cut you off at the end of the prescribed time period regardless of whether you have completed all questions. Your first quiz  is set up for you to take twice if you desire; this will give you some idea as to timing, and a chance for a better grade.

Handling written assignments and discussion case studies; those assignments, discussion case studies must be submitted per instructions, no credit will be given outside of the proper submission guidelines..

***ONLINE SUCCESS: Your success in this online course will depend on your willingness to read the textual material, successfully complete quizzes, and complete written assignments/discussion papers, as scheduled. Success in taking quizzes and handling written assignments can be enhanced by studying the case problems at the end of the several chapters as well as chapter content. [Note: Written assignments will be graded on the basis of grammar, spelling and punctuation as well as content.  In all cases work is to be cited with references. The use of APA or MLA writing style and formatting  is to be followed.

 As assignments and quizzes will be available from the first day of class, no assignments or quizzes  will be considered for late submission, unless there are verifiable circumstances out of your control. 

With respect to group work, one grade will be given for the group submission, all deductions will be assessed equally across the group.

ALL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS, EXERCISES, CASE STUDIES MUST BE SUBMITTED IN A DOC. EXTENSION
DOCUMENT. No RTF, WPS, or other extension will be graded. Those submissions not capable of being opened will receive
a "0" grade, the re-submission if approved, will be considered late, resulting in a 10% up to a 10 point reduction in grade.

ALL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS, EXERCISES, CASE STUDIES MUST BE SUBMITTED IN the appropriate Board
area, and ON TIME. With respect to individual assignments they must be posted in the assignments area following the guidelines provided in this area and by the DUE DATE.  Those papers not submitted in the proper areas will be graded as a "0" until posted in the correct area, LATE PAPERS, if they are posted with in 5 days of the initial due date, they will be have a grade reduction of 10% or up to 10 points. If posted after the 5 days they will not be considered for grading and receive a "0" score.

ALL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS, EXERCISES, CASE STUDIES MUST cite their references in APA or MLA format. With
respect to referencing material from within the power points, or interviews that are found in our class, note chapter,
person being interviewed (if appropriate) subject title, and slide number. For items taken from our text, use appropriate citation guidelines. In all cases references must be verifiable, no exceptions. Those items found not being referenced, or not using the proper format will result in a grade reduction of 20% up to 20 points.

All PAPERS WILL HAVE A MINIMUM WORD REQUIREMENT. each answer to each question must be a minimum of 500 words; not meeting the minimum requirements will result in a grade reduction of 20% up to 20 points.  This word requirement will only include the body of text, representing the gradable material of the paper, no references, page numbers, etc. will be counted.

All PAPERS SUBMITTED WILL BE CONSIDERED FINAL., as each student has unlimited access to the class to ask
questions, there will be no re-submission of papers to increase the initial grade given. You are required to ask via email,
set up an appointment in the chat room, or call me with your questions as to the proper completion of the assignment. It is your responsibility to ensure clarification of instructions. NO RE-DO'S OF WORK. In the case that a portion of the assignment is submitted on time and the remainder is submitted after the due date, a minimum of 10 points will be deducted from the second submission, given that it is submitted prior to the 5 day maximum allowance, from the initial due date. A GRADE OF "0" FOR THIS SECTION IS SUBMITTED AFTER THE 5 DAYS....

ALL PAPERS SUBMITTED MUST BE REFLECT CRITICAL THINKING AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE MATERIAL, that is to say, examples found within or outside of class along with elaboration is required to achieve an "A" grade. As an example I provide the following: How significant was the first space shuttle mission? The answer, very, may be correct, but it will not be awarded an "A". The use of our virtual library is recommended in accomplishing this requirement.
 

No work will be accepted after 5 days of the initial due date. No work will be accepted after
the final day of class.

RESEARCH PAPER  LEAD DISCUSSION CASE PROBLEMS/ASSIGN QUIZZES PARTICIPATION TOTAL	400 points (subject must be approved by the end of week two.)  300 points  400 points    200 points  150 points     1450 points
A = B =    C =   D =    F =	1300-1450 1150-1299 1015-1149 870-1014 Below 870

Class Participation:

Students must participate in all interactive aspects of the course.  Students must use discussion threads and e-mail to communicate with the instructor and other students. Students are expected to communicate with the instructor as a learning resource, students must check the course bulletin board frequently for announcements, and students must actively participate in threaded discussion events.

Check your Course Calendar for the dues dates for assignments and dates for all examinations. Specific policies will be explained by your instructor.

Cheating and other forms of academic misconduct, including plagiarism, are prohibited. The instructor has the authority to assign a zero for the exercise or examination or to assign an F in the course in the case of academic misconduct.
Students should use the WebCT mail rather than a personal email address. Emails should not be sent to the instructor under another person's name. Please include a subject line when e-mailing the instructor or other class members. Please ask permission before sending e-mails with large attachments.
Students are expected to learn to navigate in WebCT, keep abreast of course announcements, and complete all assignments by the due dates. If, for any reason, a student has a question about an assignment or realizes that an assignment cannot be completed on time, the instructor should be notified immediately. If technical problems arise, they must be dealt with immediately.
The discussion board and chat room are for class purposes only. Please remember to be courteous to other users at all times. They will be monitored. Make sure that you remember that even though you may not mean to be rude or cruel sometimes e-mails and postings can be misunderstood. Please be respectful and mindful of the instructor and your fellow students. Course netiquette should be observed in all communications.
 

• Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor
• Citation Styles Online http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite6.html

Library

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading must be included in all courses. 

Students With Disabilities

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.

Syllabus Changes

The instructor reserves the right to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

Technical Support

If you are having problems logging into your course, timing out of your course, using your course web site tools, or other technical problems, please contact the AskRODP Help Desk by calling

1-866-550-7637 (toll free)

or go to the AskRODP website at:

http://help.rodp.org