Choose your case carefully. Avoid publishing a post that relies mostly on your personal opinions. Back up your analysis with facts. You should be able to collect enough information on the case through your own research to analyze how an organization or individual used research, planning, communication, and evaluation in the public relations process. Of course, we may not have access to the information we need to judge all aspects of internal management like research, planning or evaluation but do the best that you can with this assignment – and have fun with it!
Also, use the tools in Blogger to add textual elements and design features that facilitate understanding. For instance, if you refer to an item on the Web, insert an active hypertext link that lets us click and jump directly to the item. Also, use design elements and images (as well as tools like spell check) to enhance the appearance of your post.
I’ll lead by example and present a case that I found last week.
Issue: Alcohol abuse on college and university campuses.
Background: On Sept. 12, The New York Times featured a story about efforts by the University of Wisconsin at Madison (UW-M) to crack down on alcohol abuse. Click here to read more information about UW-M’s policy on alcohol abuse.
-- UW-M’s chancellor called alcohol abuse the school’s top health and safety issue.
-- UW-M security officials administer Breathalyzer tests to students who appear to be drunk on campus and administrators call parents of students who are taken to detoxification.
-- 44 students were taken to detox, 2004-5; 112 were taken to detox, 2006-7. Repeat offenders have fallen sharply and nearly none of these students have dropped out.
Discussion: According to Guth and Marsh (2005), the strategic public relations process involves research, planning, communicating, and evaluating. UW-M’s handling of this case illustrates many of these steps.
Research. A review of UW-M’s Web site (click here) revealed many documents that contained research data about the effects of alcohol abuse and statistical trends on and off campus. For instance, one document, “Prevention – Historical Overview,” provided information about the issue, publics affected by alcohol, remedial measures, etc.
Planning. I couldn’t find much information about how UW-M planned its public relations effort to deal with this issue – not unusual since this type of information might be considered proprietary. However, it looks like the current policy to manage alcohol abuse has been in planning for years. I found one press release (click here) dating back to 2004 that talked about a campus study of this issue.
Also, it is apparent from UW-M’s Web site and coverage of the school’s policy that the school did an effective job of articulating strategic messages and desired outcomes. I found many examples of these messages in The New York Times article and in news releases on the school’s Web site. These messages include the university’s efforts to change drinking policy, work with affected communities, create awareness of consequences, sponsor alternatives to drinking, and showing leadership (see Aug. 29, 2001 news release).
Communication. I found lots of examples of communication tactics and media. Tactics included press releases, like the one I mentioned above. The university’s Web site also contained useful information, including a great site for news releases with search tools that made research easy. It was evident that news media outlets like The New York Times picked up on such releases. UW-M also used various channels of communication and tactics to reach campus audiences, too, and members of the surrounding community. For instance, I found evidence that deans were talking directly to students about this issue.
Evaluation. I couldn’t find any evidence that showed how UW-M measured its public relations program related to this issue. However, it was clear from the data released to news media that the university is measuring and reporting quantifiable progress in curbing alcohol abuse. The drop in detox incidents between 2004 and 2007 looked pretty impressive.
Recommendations: Later in this course, we will make specific recommendations in a point paper that reports our analysis of the River Communications case. You can offer recommendations in these blog discussions, too; or you can use this space to offer a short summary of your blog post.
I would like to conclude by saying that UW-M appears to be achieving success in promoting awareness of its efforts to curb alcohol abuse on campus – at least in terms of national news coverage. However, I would need to research this case further to assess how well UW-M has used other tactics and channels of communication and how it has evaluated its communication efforts.
I’ll also add my opinion – for the sake of discussion – that I think this is an important issue for college, university, and public relations officials to engage in. Many young alcohol abusers are not aware of the dangerous consequences associated with this problem – and others just don’t care enough, until the problem takes a life … or lives. I’m no teetotaller, but I do drink responsibly and I think this is one of those social responsibilities that organizations and public relations officials must accept in order to safeguard our students and other citizens.
I look forward to reading your posts … and seeing your comments about my post.
Mark
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