Course Syllabus Communications 211, Public Relations Harrisburg Area Community College CRN 36067 Virtual 01 Spring 2015 Virtual Campus Instructor: Laura K. Davis, Professor Email: Use the instructor email in Desire to Learn online class first. If D2L is unavailable, you may email me at lkdavis@hacc.edu. Email Response Policy: I will respond to all emails within 24 hours during the week (Monday-Friday). I plan to check emails over the weekend, but will not guarantee a weekend response. Office Hours: Mondays 10 a.m.-12 p.m., Tuesday & Thursday 10-11 a.m. & other times by appointment. Appointments possible at the Lebanon Campus on the first Wednesday of each month. Campus Phone Numbers: 717-780-1173 Prerequisites: ENGL 101. Catalogue Description: Covers the theories and foundations of public relations, as well as its function within organizations and society, and its impact on publics. This course examines the issues, concepts, and responsibilities of public relation practitioners working in various professional settings. Required Text: Lattimore, Dan. Public Relations The Profession & the Practice. New York, NY. McGraw-Hill, Fourth edition. Learning Outcomes: Upon successful completion of the course the student will be able to: Identify the role of Contemporary Public Relations in an organization and media Explain the major components of a Public Relations Model Differentiate the role of Internal and External Publics Investigate various means to communicate with the media Identify the strategies to publicize an event to various publics Evaluate the appropriate strategies to create a public relations program for an organization Analyze how to communicate effectively with various publics with a vested interest in a public relations program Apply key components to evaluate the effectiveness of a public relations program Evaluate key public relations strategies for a crisis situation Compare and contrast legal and ethical issues relevant to public relations
Attendance Policy (According to AP 661) The College is required by law to make attendance reports to the relevant agencies of students who are funded by veterans' benefits, social security payments, and various other federal, state, or private scholarship programs. Students in programs that are accredited/approved by external agencies must observe these special attendance policies delineated by the external agencies and contained in the printed course syllabus. The instructor may drop a student from a class with the concurrence of the division/campus administrator when unexcused absences exceed 15% of the total class hours that will take place throughout the semester and when the excessive absences preclude the possibility of the student attaining the stated learning outcomes for the course. For this online class, I expect students to sign on and participate in class each week. If you do not participate (complete assignments) for two weeks, you will be dropped. In addition, if you do not sign on and participate by Tuesday, January 27, you will be dropped. According to guidance from the federal Department of Education, an institution must demonstrate that an online student participated in class or was otherwise engaged in an academically-related activity for attendance purposes. Logging into an online class without active participation does not meet their definition of attendance. Examples of academic activities include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. Submitting an assignment 2. Taking an exam 3. Participating in an interactive tutorial or computer-assisted instruction 4. Participating in online discussion about academic matters 5. Initiating contact with the faculty member to ask a question about the academic subject being studied in the course Note: 1. If a situation develops that will make it challenging to do the necessary work to finish the course, please let me know. For example, you are in the hospital and can provide proper documentation, having a baby, and any other situations that you cannot physically participate. We may be able to work through the challenges.
2. It is important that you contact me as soon as possible if you cannot login to Desire 2 Learn and maintain contact until you are able to access the course. I might drop you from the course if I have had no contact with you. 3. I will not allow you to use not being able to access the class due to technically difficulty as an excuse for missing class and not turning work in. If, however, the course cannot be finished, you must officially withdraw or the result will be a failing grade. Make up work In order to make up work in this class you must have experience one of the following situations 1)hospitalization of you or your child and you can provide proper documentation, 2) emergency such as a car accident or death of a family member 3) and any other emergency situations that you cannot physically participate with documentation. Scheduled overtime at work, lack of childcare or lack of internet access are not emergency situations. Make up work will only be allowed after we have discussed the situation and you have met the above criteria. Deadlines generally extend for a week and you will be required to show while you could not participate for the entire week. I will give you the timeframe that you will be allotted to complete the work once we have agreed that you have an excused reason for missing work. Disappearing students, meaning a student who stops attending virtually, will not be withdrawn from the course unless you contact me. It is your responsibility to process the withdrawal paperwork, but if you contact me in writing via email, I can begin the paperwork process. If you do not withdrawal and you stop attending online/completing online work, hence a disappearing student, you will fail the class. The withdrawal deadline is Thursday, APRIL 30 at 1 p.m. I must have the paperwork via email at this time. Your email must clearly state that you wish to withdraw from the course. Email Policy: I will not accept any work by email. All work must be done in the D2L system. All communication must be through D2L email or pager or your Hawkmail accounts. Expectations: There will be assignments due each week. This is not a work at your own pace course. This is a 3-credit course. If you were taking this class in a traditional setting you would be sitting in class for 2.5 hours a week and you would still have work to do at home. Please expect to do about 4-5 hours of work each week for this class. Keep in mind this is an average, some weeks will be more than 4-5 hours and some weeks will be less. In return, you can usually expect me to have things graded within 10 days and respond to questions within 24 business hours.
Online Etiquette: I expect all students to treat each other with the utmost respect while in the online classroom. I reserve the right to remove any post I deem disrespectful. Academic Dishonesty: Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Academic dishonesty includes plagiarizing or falsifying a written assignment or speech. Any student found to have committed such an act will receive a 0 for the assignment. Please see AP 594. Learning Disabilities: When presented with official documentation verifying a learning challenge, the instructor will grant request for modifications of materials that will assist students with comprehension and understanding. Documentation must be provided within the first three weeks of class. It is the student s responsibility to coordinate with the instructor and the Office of Disability Services to implement any modifications. EEOC POLICY 005: It is the policy of Harrisburg Area Community College, in full accordance with the law, not to discriminate in employment, student admissions, and student services on the basis of race, color, religion, age, political affiliation or belief, gender, national origin, ancestry, disability, place of birth, General Education Development Certification (GED), marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, genetic history/information, or any legally protected classification. HACC recognizes its responsibility to promote the principles of equal opportunity for employment, student admissions, and student services taking active steps to recruit minorities and women. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act ( PHRAct ) prohibits discrimination against prospective and current students because of race, color, sex, religious creed, ancestry, national origin, handicap or disability, record of a handicap or disability, perceived handicap or disability, relationship or association with an individual with a handicap or disability, use of a guide or support animal, and/or handling or training of support or guide animals. The Pennsylvania Fair Educational Opportunities Act ( PFEOAct ) prohibits discrimination against prospective and current students because of race, religion, color, ancestry, national origin, sex, handicap or disability, record of a handicap or disability, perceived handicap or disability, and a relationship or association with an individual with a handicap or disability. Information about these laws may be obtained by visiting the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission website at www.phrc.state.pa.us. If an accommodation is needed, please contact the disability coordinator for your campus: HACC Virtual Learning Deb Bybee Coordinator of Disability Services HACC, Central Pennsylvania s Community College 735 Cumberland Street Lebanon, PA 17042 dabybee@hacc.edu 717-270-6333
Course Structure 1. Assignments are due on SUNDAYS at 11:59 p.m. This includes all written assignments and quizzes. 2. Discussions are due by SUNDAYS at 11:59 p.m. All discussion responses must include a 2-3 paragraph response and a 2-3 paragraph response to a peer. 3. All course content posts MONDAYS at 8 a.m. Weekly modules run MONDAY from 8 a.m. to SUNDAY at 11:59 p.m. 4. No late assignments of any kind are accepted. 5. Discussion postings must be 2-3 paragraphs for the first posting and an additional 2-3 paragraphs (a paragraph contains 3-4 sentences) in your peer response. Discussion grades are follows: 20 points showed critical thinking, met length criteria, responded fully to the question, responded to a peer 15 points expand your post and extend your content, responded to a peer, and 10 points did not respond to a peer, 5 points---limited effort made and no peer response, and 0 points no post Assignments 1. I do not accept late assignments. All assignments are due in the D2L dropbox by the date and time noted. The dropbox will close on the due date and inaccessible from that point on. 2. I do not accept late quizzes. Students will be given six days to complete a quiz. It is difficult to prove an excused absence for six days. 3. Assignments will be due each week in this course. Assignments are due on SUNDAYS at 11:59 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Discussions/Mini Case Studies There will be 8 discussion posting throughout the semester. They will be available for six days. See the discussion guidelines above. Discussions will be based on mini cases from various chapters. Discussions are worth 20 points each for a total of 160 points. Quizzes There will be 4 quizzes throughout the semester. Dates are noted on the course schedule. Quizzes will be multiple choice and true false with a possible short essay question. Quizzes are as follows: Quiz 1 Chapters 1-4 Quiz 2 Chapters 5-8 Quiz 3 Chapters 9-13 Quiz 4 Chapters 14-16 Quizzes are based on the text book readings and a review sheet will be given prior to each quiz that includes terms and concepts. Students will be given between 30 and 45 minutes to complete the quiz depending on the material at hand. Quizzes are worth 25 points each for a total of 100 points.
Case Study Assignments Students will select two case studies from an assortment of options. For each study, they will be required to complete research and follow the case study submission format prescribed by the instructor. Each study is worth 50 points for a total of 100 points. Blog Assignment Students will maintain a blog over a three-week period. The blog will be for a fictional organization with details provided by the instructor. This assignment is worth 50 points and should be added to the student s e portfolio. Press Release Assignment Students will write a press release for a fictional organization on an upcoming event. Information will be provided by the instructor. The press release will follow guidelines from the instructor and appendix B of the text. This assignment is worth 50 points and should be added to the student s e-portfolio. Participation Students will be given 5 points a week for accessing online content and completing online assignments including discussions, quizzes and written assignments. No points will be rewarded if work is not submitted that week. This is worth 80 points. Evaluation Intro Discussion Discussion (8 @ 20 pts) Quizzes (4@ 25 pts) Case Studies (2 @ 50 pts) Blog Assign. Press Release Participation (16 @ 5 pts) 10 points 160 points 100 points 100 points 50 points 50 points 80 points 550 points 550-492 A, 491-437 B, 436-382 C, 381-327 D, 326 and below F
Course Schedule Professor Laura Davis Communications 211 Public Relations Spring 2015 CRN 36067 V 01 Dates Content Assignments/Due Week 1 UNIT 1 Defining PR Introduction Discussion 1/1-1/25 Chapter 1 Read Chapter 1 Week 2 1/26-2/1 Introduction to PR Chapter 2 History of PR Minicase/Discussion 1 Read Chapter 2 Week 2 2/2-2/8 Week 4 2/9-2/15 Week 5 2/16-2/22 Week 6 2/23-3/1 Chapter 3 PR Theory Read Chapter 3 Chapter 4 PR Ethics Minicase/Discussion 2 Read Chapter 4 Assign Case Study #1 UNIT 2 THE PR PROCESS Chapter 5 PR Research Chapters 6 & 7 The PR Planning Process Read Chapter 5 Quiz chapters 1-4 Minicase/Discussion 3 Week 7 3/2-3/8 Spring Break 3/9-3/15 Week 8 3/16-3/22 Week 9 3/23-3/29 Week 10 3/30-4/5 Week 11 4/6-4/12 Chapter 8 Evaluating PR Effectiveness UNIT 3 PR Publics Chapter 9 Social Media Chapters 10 & 11 Employee & Community Relations Chapters 12 & 13 Consumer & Investor Relations UNIT 4 Working in PR Chapter 14 Government Cast Study #1 Read Chapter 8 Quiz 2 Ch. 5-8 Minicase/Discussion 4 Read Chapter 9 Assign Blog Read Chapters 10 & 11 Minicase/Discussion 5 Blog Assignment DUE Minicase/Discussion 6 Case Study #2 Assigned Read Chapters 12 & 13 Read Chapter 14 Quiz 3 Chapters 9-13 Minicase/Discussion 7
Week 12 4/13-4/19 Week 13 4/20-4/26 Week 14 4/27-5/3 Finals Week May 6-12 Relations/Public Affairs Chapter 15 Non Profit PR & The Press Release Chapter 16 Corporate PR No new content Case Study #2 Due Read Chapter 15 & Appendix 2 Press Release Assigned Minicase/Discussion 8 Read Chapter 16 Press Release DUE Quiz 4 12-16