Grad school decision time: master’s degree in communication or MBA or IMC?

Many current and former students, plus some working professionals, ask me about grad school. Should I? If so, in what? Where?
Many seek a master’s degree as a competitive advantage. A graduate degree helps differentiate you in the marketplace, adding a level of skill and experience through higher education. Nowadays, in a competitive communication/PR/IMC job market, added [...]

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Legal and ethical issues when employers check applicants’ social networking sites

Employers are looking at the Facebook, MySpace, and blogs of prospective employees, even internship applicants, in order to make hiring decisions. Is this legal? Ethical?
There is not a lot of case law yet regarding social media. Many situations simply have not been tested in court, so there is little in the way of guidance at present. [...]

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Measurable objectives precede meaningful evaluation

I have been judging IABC Gold Quill awards all day today. I am a big fan of IABC’s Gold Quill program, especially the requirement for an excellent work plan as part of an entry. The work plan shows the strategic planning and management that is the underpinning of an entry. This makes the awards program [...]

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Question for PR students: To blog, or not to blog?

What is the true point of blogging for PR students?
One of my students and one of my colleagues have both recently asked this thought-provoking question. 
My colleague Stacy Spaulding, a journalism professor, says one of her students uses his blog to develop his professional identity. She says this is going to be a real asset when he goes looking for a [...]

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A timely and enriching message from Russia

Today was a special day here at Towson’s Mass Comm department. Our PRSSA and AAF student chapters hosted a reception for a contingent of Russian PR students who are studying with us for a couple of weeks. The students are from St. Petersberg Electrotechnical University, an institution with which Towson has had a long and successful working relationship.
Three of the [...]

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Top ten reasons why PR students say they don’t blog

10. I read David Murray’s blog Shades of Gray, got scared, and changed my major to Kinesiology.
9. I think blogging is a fad and will go away.
8. I kan’t type wurth a krap.
7. WordPress is too expensive.
6. I’m a effin dumb ass,  so why prove it to the world by blogging?
5. My mother might read it.
4. [...]

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Why are PR students not blogging?

My fellow blogger and Facebook Friend Meg Roberts, a senior PR student at the University of South Florida, is currently blogging about why college students are not blogging. She cites four reasons why they aren’t, but makes the point that they should be.
I have been wondering the same thing about my students at Towson University. [...]

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Spring semester: some early observations

We are in the second week of spring semester now. My four classes filled early, and there were long waiting lists for each one. I hate to have to turn students away, but class size is important. I did let in a number of students in order from my waiting lists sign-ups, so my classes are somewhat [...]

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