Course Syllabus

Gaylord College

JMC 3433, Sec 995: Public Relations Publications

Fall 2018

 

Robert S. Pritchard, APR, Fellow PRSA

Office: Gaylord Hall, Suite 2130

Phone: (405) 325-1793

E-mail: rpritchard@ou.edu

Twitter: @rspritchard

Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 1300-1500 or by appointment.

Hello and welcome to Visually Communicating with Diverse Stakeholders (aka Public Relations Publications) in the Gaylord College at the University of Oklahoma!

Below is the formal syllabus explaining the course details but these tend to get a little jargony at time, which won’t be incredibly helpful if this is your first introduction to the course. The long and short of the course is this: This course is outcomes centric and thus you will learn by doing. While the first part of the course is focused on understanding design techniques and terminology and is a little more content driven, we will be applying this foundational knowledge through different assignments throughout the rest of the semester. The real work is the assignments in which you’ll be creating tangible publication (and portfolio) pieces. You’ll then be putting these works onto your blog where you’ll be expected to reflect on your work and give a narrative for your creative process. In the end, you’ll have a robust online portfolio, which won’t only be a collection of your final work that potential employers can see, but a collection of your thoughts, struggles, and victories throughout this 16-week experience. In essence, you’ll be donning a potentially new hat of “Visual Designer” throughout this exploration. You’ll also be a “Digital Storyteller.” Terms like “digital,” “visual,” or “creative” can seem a little scary to some, but that’s OK right now. Like a good ride at a theme park, a little bit of nervousness makes the ride much more memorable when you're finished. Note that most of you are coming in at the same level: novice. This means you are your biggest allies. I want you to be successful in this course and to do this you will see that I’ve set up ways in which you can lean on and learn from each other’s experience throughout the course.

Course Description

Institutional and industrial publications as an important means of internal and external communications with special emphasis on design, layout and content. Laboratory.

Prerequisites: JMC 1013, 2033, 3413, and 3423

 

Course Objectives

• Think critically, creatively and independently.
• Understand concepts and apply theories in the use and presentation of images and information
• Critically evaluate your own work and that of others for accuracy and fairness, clarity, appropriate style and grammatical correctness
• Apply tools and technologies appropriate for the communications professions in which they work
• Recognize how public relations publications differ from other publications in purpose, publics, funding and design.
• Conduct research, evaluate information and use that knowledge to select appropriate communication channel.
• Design for target stakeholders.
• Distinguish and demonstrate the use of a variety of publication production techniques and options.

Course Outcomes

• Students will launch and maintain a blog as well as comment on the blogs of their peers.
• Students will build a foundational knowledge of the landscape of visual communication technologies.
• Students will design a business card and letterhead for a brand.
• Students will design a direct mail piece for multiple, specific publics.
• Students will design a newsletter for an entity.
• Students will develop a personal portfolio website.

Course Rationale

This course strives to train students to recognize and apply good publication design techniques in a public relations setting. In addition, students will learn the importance of structuring visual communications for the web. The major goal of the course is to give students the ability to translate a concept of visual communication into an actual publication. Other goals include practice with computer graphics, knowledge of publication techniques and options in print and online, publication production skills and a knowledge of how to work with designers, graphic artists, publication specialists, photographers and commercial printers and web developers to convey their messages to target audiences.

Texts

Only one book is required for this course. Other reading and video content will be made available to you as reference material through the semester. For this book, you’ll be doing a blog post per chapter. I would recommend getting the Ebook as it’s only $11, but they also do a paperback version of the text.

Walter, A (2011). Designing for Emotion. A Book Part. ISBN: 9781937557003. Buy here. (Paperback: $21+shipping, Ebook: $11, Paperback & Ebook: $28.80 + shipping)

Grade Mix

Weekly Assignments
14 x 10 points each = 140 points

Design Projects (50% of final grade)

Business Card and Letterhead Project – 35 points

Direct Mailer – 35 points

Social Media – 35 points

Newsletter –35 points

Summary of Learning – 35 points

Total - 140

TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE: 500

Grading Scale

A: 450 – 500 points

B: 400 – 449 points

C: 350 – 399 points

D: 300 – 349 points

F: 0 – 200 points

Grading Criteria

• 90 – 100 percent = A: Outstanding. This grade is for work of clearly professional caliber (publishable).  The writing is clear and well organized and only minor editing is required.  The critique is clear and leaves no significant questions unanswered.  The work is turned in by or before deadline, needing no changes to submit to clients or editors.  These designs get results, win awards and feature creative concepts executed with comprehensive research, interesting presentation, nearly flawless writing and a clear and obvious understanding of both design and target publics.
• 89 – 80 percent = B: Good. This grade is for work that could be raised to professional standards without radical editing or redesign.  Writing is grammatically correct but may lack the sparkle and fine organization of “A” work.  The critique answers the main questions but may miss the proper emphasis or not go into enough depth in answering the research questions.  Work is in by deadline with little or no prompting and needs minor revisions such as reorganizing, rewriting, reformatting or providing more and better explanation of design rationale.  “B” work doesn’t necessarily have anything wrong, but it could be better, often with a stronger design or topic, a more artistic presentation, better information or improved writing.  “B” work demonstrates a basic understanding of publication design and target publics.
• 79 – 70 percent = C: Adequate. Work needs significant revision in at least one major area.  Does not measure up to professional quality but could be salvaged with considerable redesign/rewriting.  Writing has rough spots, and grammar and style errors are present in significant amounts.  Critiques may be incomplete, or timid, or factually flawed.  Work is incomplete by deadline and needs major revisions before submitting to a client or editor.  These designs have weak ideas, concepts or presentation problems.  They draw attention because they don’t do the job.
• 69 – 60 percent = D: Unacceptable performance. Work clearly unacceptable even in a classroom setting.  The design is grossly simple and confused and the writing is rife with errors and ungrammatical.  The critique is flawed and may contain major factual errors and/or omissions or may show little concept of the target public or basic design principles.  Work is late; deadline missed.
• 59 percent and below = F: Failing. Work not completed in a professional, timely manner.  Totally blows off assignment.  Such performance is usually caused by personal or time management problems that extend beyond a lack of skills or understanding of the research, design or production process.

Grading Clarification: If a grade falls between two letter grades by a decimal point of 0.5 or above, the instructor may round up to the next single digit. Decimal points below 0.5 will be dropped and will NOT be rounded up to the next single digit.

Assumptions:

• All projects start with the assumption the work is “good” which earns a grade of “B.” (See “good” definition above).
• You may design a project with no errors that earns a “B.”
• Clever and strong designs, exceptional storytelling, effective use of design principles and elements and a clear stated understanding of these elements in your critiques will help boost a project to the “A” category.
• Unsound design judgment, grammar/spelling errors, incomplete or inaccurate identification of your target public, failure to follow proper style and incomplete critiques will lower your grade.

Assessment by testing

Quizzes and exams are easy to recognize and are intended to evaluate your knowledge of the reading and material covered in this course. What may not be as clear is the examination of your knowledge of this material in your analysis of each hands-on project. At the heart of each of these hands-on assignments is the need for you to completely understand your target stakeholders. You also need to completely understand the application of various design theories. Half of every project grade is based on your analysis of your project; why you did what you did. This requires thoughtful application of the readings and theories.

A final note on grading: Please know that all grades are submitted and posted on Canvas. You will have access to your grades throughout the semester. You should closely monitor your performance and confront problems or deficiencies during the semester. The time to deal with potential problems is during the semester, not when final grades are posted. I am pleased to discuss your grades for assignments and tests in this class, but will only do so within ONE WEEK from the date the assignment/test is posted. I will not discuss your grade or any possibility of appeal outside of this time frame.  Please DO NOT EMAIL me or “catch me in the hall” regarding your grade.  All discussions must be in person and you will need to schedule an appointment to meet with me during my regular office hours. That said, I do intend to be fully accessible to you as I intend for you to be successful in this course,.

Toolbox

• Blog – As mentioned earlier, one of your assignments will be building and maintaining a personal blog with a platform called WordPress. This will require you to get a web domain and server space. There’s more information about how to technically set this up in Week 1.
• Course Website – If you are reading this, you’re on the course website! Hooray. Here is where you’ll find the majority of course content. Each week has a corresponding module which will tell you what you are expected to do that week. That may include watching videos, reading material, working on a project, a Google Hangout, etc.
• Course Hub – These are where you’ll be able to see all the different blog posts from all your peers. This will be helpful in seeing what everyone else is up to. You’ll be asked periodically throughout the semester to comment on various posts from other students.
• Software – This course heavily relies on two specific programs for most of the design work you will be doing: Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign. These apps (plus tons of other nice products from Adobe) are available for $19.99/month for the year as a product called Creative Cloud All Aps (special back-to-school price; please click here for details). An alternative is to just sign up for InDesign and Photoshop on a monthly plan for the semester ($20.99/month per app). My suggestion is to sign up for the Creative Cloud All Apps for the y"ear. While that is not cheap, it’s small price to pay to have resume line items such as “Experience with Adobe Creative Suite." You'll also find you will be using these programs in other classes you'll take in Gaylord., That said, I understand that may be out of reach for some. For those close to campus, one option is to utilize the computers in the Gaylord computer labs as they have fully up-to-date versions of both these programs (Note: If you are going to use the computer lab, remember that the computer wipes your files every time you log out. Make sure you always carry a flash drive and/or external hard drive with you!). For others who don’t have the luxury of visiting campus and still don’t want to splurge on Adobe Photoshop, graphic design concepts are completely transferable to other (sometimes free) applications. There are even some great options now that are web or tablet based. I’ve created a page for free alternatives to both of these programs. You can use these, but please proceed with caution knowing that my knowledge is significantly limited as to what these programs offer.

Professor’s Overview

This is designed to be a rigorous experience and you will be held to the highest professional and academic standards.  I do not apologize for the fact that this will be a challenging course in our program because Public Relations Publications is one of the central courses for your chosen profession.  If you are unprepared, unable or unwilling to meet these expectations and the intensity of the course is too much for you, you may wish to reconsider your career choice.  Public relations demands your very best, all the time.  It is a profession where completing intense, challenging and critically important work to exacting standards is an every day occurrence. 

Amid the rigor and high standards, however, I also hope that you will enjoy the experience, take pride in the fact that you were up to the task and that your best efforts paid dividends. And don't ever hesitate to ask for assistance or explanation of the course material. It is my personal desire to see every student excel in this course.

Laboratory Hours

Methods of Course Evaluation

Selected questions will be used to evaluate this course and its instructor.  Feedback from the evaluation will be used to improve the teaching effectiveness of the instructor and the course content.

Assignment Policy

All assignments are due when noted even if a student is absent from class or running late.  In public relations practice, an assignment or project that is not turned in on deadline becomes useless, regardless of the reason.  If you anticipate missing a deadline for any reason, it is your responsibility to make arrangements to turn that assignment into me on or before that class date.  Allowances will be made for only the most dire circumstances (the computer lab not being open, not being able to print 10 minutes before class, computer crashing when you didn’t save a backup, oversleeping, traffic, trouble parking, etc., are NOT considered dire circumstances).  My decision on accepting late work is final. 

University Policy on Diversity/Harassment

All members of this class will be treated with respect.  Freedom of expression requires tolerance of opinions that may be offensive to some, however, conduct which constitutes sexual, racial, ethnic, religious or orientation harassment is prohibited.  “Diversity is one of the strengths of our society as well as one of the hallmarks of a great university.  The University of Oklahoma supports diversity and therefore is committed to maintaining employment and educational settings which are multicultural, multiethnic and multiracial.  Respecting cultural differences and promoting dignity among all members of the University community are responsibilities each of us must share.”  (OU Faculty Handbook, 2005). Violations of this policy will be considered in violation of the Student Code and subject to the remedies and corrective actions provided by the Code.

Cultural Diversity

Whenever possible during the process of this course, students should explore elements of cultural and ethnic diversity within the parameters of classroom and field assignments. A greater understanding of the cultural differences in our society will enhance the learning experience and help students develop work that is of greater value to the worldwide audience.

Respect for People and Their Individual Dignity

• We live in a society in which questions of difference and diversity play an increasingly central role in debates over cultural values, public policy and the shape of our daily lives.  This is a course that will focus on communication, influencing public acceptance of organizations and the role public relations plays in building community and acceptance.
• Public relations possesses the power to influence people’s perceptions about themselves and others. In this class, we will explore how sensitive and inclusive planning and execution of strategic communication can reflect and represent the views of diverse groups in our culture with respect to age, ability, gender, race and ethnicity, religion and philosophy.
• We will explore issues you may have never confronted before in your communities. A university campus has the unique ability to present new and different things. Some students may have ideas and beliefs that differ from those held in your communities and families. Everyone will be encouraged to participate and everyone will be respected. Please listen attentively when anyone is speaking in class.

Communication via email

All email communication with me must be professional, using a professional address (don’t email me from knucklehead@yahoo.com). Please use the following subject line: JMC3433 – [short reason for writing].  Treat the body of your email as you would a memo. Please be concise, professional and respectful.  A grammatically correct, organized, short e-mail is a simple and effective way to demonstrate your professionalism and respect.  I reserve the right to NOT respond to e-mails that do not meet these criteria.

Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism: All work submitted for this course must be your work.  All sources used for information must be properly cited.  Students should adhere to the A Student’s Guide to Academic Integrity as defined by the office of the Senior Vice President and Provost at http://www.ou.edu/provost/pronew/content/integritymenu.html.

“Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, fabrication and fraud. Cheating is “the use of unauthorized materials, methods, or information in any academic exercise, including improper collaboration.” Plagiarism is “the representation of the words and ideas of another as one's own.” Examples include: excluding others or claiming the work of others as one’s own; presentation of the same material as original in more than one publication; inclusion of individuals as authors who have not made a definite contribution to the work published, and submission of multi-authored publications without the concurrence of all authors.” Fabrication includes “the falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise.” Fraud includes “the falsification, forgery, or misrepresentation of academic work, including the resubmission of work performed in one class for credit in another class” (OU Faculty Handbook, 2005).

Any student found guilty of cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, fraud or other forms of academic dishonesty will be subjected to a failing grade in the course and disciplinary action in accordance with University regulations.  Signing a non-participating student’s name to an assignment is considered academic dishonesty.

Grievance Procedure

Occasionally, students are unsatisfied with some dimension of the course.  In such cases, students should schedule a meeting, first, with me.  If we cannot reach a satisfactory resolution, we’ll schedule a joint meeting with the Associate Dean.

Special needs

Students who need special accommodations or have special needs are invited to share these concerns or requests with me as soon as possible.  Requests for reasonable accommodation should be addressed to the Disability Resource Center, Goddard Health Center, 620 Elm Avenue, Suite 166, (405) 325-3852, TDD (405) 325-4173, Fax (405) 325-4491 or ods@ou.edu.