Course Title: Develop and manage public relations strategies
Part B: Course Detail
Teaching Period: Term2 2016
Course Code: MKTG7883C
Course Title: Develop and manage public relations strategies
School: 650T Vocational Business Education
Campus: City Campus
Program: C5335 - Diploma of Business (Public Relations)
Course Contact: Sally Parrott
Course Contact Phone: +61 3 9925 5175
Course Contact Email: sally.parrott@rmit.edu.au
Name and Contact Details of All Other Relevant Staff
Felicity Burns
felicity.burns@rmit.edu.au
Nominal Hours: 40
Regardless of the mode of delivery, represent a guide to the relative teaching time and student effort required to successfully achieve a particular competency/module. This may include not only scheduled classes or workplace visits but also the amount of effort required to undertake, evaluate and complete all assessment requirements, including any non-classroom activities.
Pre-requisites and Co-requisites
None
Course Description
This course covers the development and maintenance of positive community relations in the resources and infrastructure industries. It includes establishing community relationship strategies, developing and maintaining community relationships, representing the organisation in the community, and maintaining and improving ongoing community relationships. Licensing, legislative, regulatory and certification requirements that apply to this unit can vary between states, territories, and industry sectors.
National Codes, Titles, Elements and Performance Criteria
National Element Code & Title: |
CUVPUB501A Develop and manage public relations strategies |
Element: |
1 Generate organisational identity consistent with organisation's vision |
Performance Criteria: |
1.1 Collect and analyse internal and external information relevant to the development of public relations strategies 1.2 Review the organisation's core activities, business values and current business direction to identify potential images and messages 1.3 Identify and consult with key stakeholders about public relations issues |
Element: |
2 Prepare public relations plan or strategy |
Performance Criteria: |
2.1 Identify target groups for public relations activities 2.2 Identify and select strategies that enhance and promote the organisation's identity to target groups 2.3 Identify and plan for the range of potential situations and reactions to which the organisation may need to respond 2.4 Incorporate legal and ethical considerations into the planning process 2.5 Provide timely opportunities for colleagues to contribute to public relations planning 2.6 Negotiate changes to plans as required 2.7 Submit public relations plans for approval according to organisational policy as required |
Element: |
3 Manage the implementation of the public relations plan . |
Performance Criteria: |
3.1 Define and clearly communicate all aspects of public relations plans to others involved in the public relations activities 3.2 Implement and monitor actions detailed in plans and take action to rectify anything that has the potential to impact negatively on activities 3.3 Produce public relations reports according to organisational policy 3.4 Share public relations information with colleagues to maintain awareness of current direction and priorities of organisation |
Element: |
4 Evaluate and review the public relations plan . |
Performance Criteria: |
4.1 Establish appropriate mechanisms to obtain feedback about public relations activities and strategies 4.2 Evaluate public relations activities using agreed methods and benchmarks 4.3 Make adjustments according to feedback and evaluation 4.4 Communicate and implement agreed changes |
Learning Outcomes
Details of Learning Activities
Supportive activities will involve development of strategies, planning, research and creative tasks. This course covers developing knowledge, skills in project concepts and strategic thinking (based on lecture notes and activities covered during the semester). Preparing, submitting and presenting a public relations publication is recommended for the required project. Individual activity may require development of strategies, creative, media, risk analysis and budgetary recommendations. All team members are to participate in developing the PR Plan.
You will receive ongoing feedback on your progress in the course. You will be informed about how to improve your performance in the competency/course and what you need to do to be deemed competent or to gain a pass in the assessment.
Teaching Schedule
This course is co-delivered and co-assessed with Manage the Publication Process MKTG6048C.
|
Week Commencing |
Topic |
Assessment /Comment |
1 |
4/7/16 |
Course Induction
|
|
2 |
11/7/16 |
Introduction - What are public relations strategies? What are PR protocols? Understand the public relations aspect of managing processes in industry. Assignment 1 provided. Research process - activities for preparing a research portfolio
|
|
3 |
18/7/16 |
Potential PR issues/ PR strategies
|
|
4 |
25/7/16 |
PR Strategies Strategic direction to solve potential situations (risks) *Overview of Assessment 2 and working in groups |
|
5 |
1/8/16 |
The key aspects of a public relations plan |
|
|
6 |
8/8/16 |
Target groups
|
Assessment 1 Due |
|
7 |
15/8/16 |
Mapping Objectives |
|
8 |
22/8/16 |
*Feedback on Assessment 1
|
|
|
29 Aug – 2 Sept |
Mid-semester break |
|
9 |
5/9/16 |
Publication process - publishing Drafting the PR publication
|
|
10 |
12/9/16 |
Design Workshop 1 - PR publication |
Assessment 2 Due |
11 |
19/9/16 |
Design Workshop 2 - PR publication |
|
12 |
26/9/16 |
Design Workshop 3 - PR publication |
|
13 |
3/10/16 |
Preparing for a Presentation/ Editing Publication |
Assessment 3 - Publication Due |
|
14 |
10/10/16 |
|
Presentation due for peer review and assessment |
|
15 |
17/10/16 |
Presentations |
Presentation due for peer review and assessment |
|
16
|
24/10/16 |
No classes – Resubmissions and feedback only |
|
Learning Resources
Prescribed Texts
References
Other Resources
Overview of Assessment
Assessment may incorporate a variety of methods including technical requirements documentation, homework, assignments, group and/or individual projects, in class exercises, written and practical assessments, problem solving exercises, presentations, direct observation of actual and simulated work practice, presentation of a portfolio of evidence which may comprise documents, and/or photographs and/or video and audio files, review of products produced through work-based or course activities.
Students are advised that they are likely to be asked to personally demonstrate their assessment work to their teacher to ensure that the relevant competency standards are being met. Students will be provided with feedback throughout the course to check their progress.
Assessment Tasks
This course is co-delivered and co-assessed with Manage the Publication Process MKTG6048C.
Assessment Task 1 – Research Portfolio and PR Strategy (30%), 1000 words - Individual (due Week 6)
Requirements:
You are required to select a not for profit organisation and provide a new company strategy to address a potential PR issue in a rationale format, supported by a research portfolio. The rationale and research portfolio will need to be collated, titled and saved as one PDF file.
During the research portfolio stage, you will need to address the following factors:
- Internal and external information on the organisation (situation analysis)
- Potential PR issue
- The organisation’s core activities, business values, relationship to the public, service and business direction
- Key stakeholders
*A guideline for key areas to be researched and included in the portfolio will be provided on Blackboard.
Assessment Task 2 – Public Relations Plan (40%), 2000 words - Small groups of 3 - due Week 10
Requirements:
Working in small groups (no more than 3), all group members are to draw on their research portfolios and their developed strategy from Task 1—and implement a new PR plan. The PR plan is the strategic direction of the company that is presented in a brief format. The PR plan highlights: PR activities to undertake, key objectives to meet, proposed time schedules, and the most appropriate media vehicles to use to communicate the message. As the plan is developed in the pre-campaign stages, this assessment piece will be used in Assessment Task 3 for creating a new publication document (for a new PR campaign).
In this task, you are required to identify the most effective PR activities to use, segment the target audience, provide a solution to address any potential situations that could occur and develop a realistic plan within budget and the expected timeframes. The plan needs to be presented in a report format using the brief template provided.
*A brief template of the key aspects to address will be provided on Blackboard.
Assessment Task 3 – Publication and Verbal Presentation (30%) - Individual (flyer due Week 13, presentations due in Week 14)
Requirements:
Building on Task 1 and Task 2, you are required to create a DL flyer that represents the new PR strategy and the organisation’s core values, campaign objectives and corporate responsibilities (in accordance with the organisation’s style and key attributes). Upon completion of the flyer, you are to present your work to the class for peer feedback.
In this task, you are required to align the publication with the new PR plan and address the key elements in the publication stages such as:
• Meets publication deadline
• Publication aligns with organisation’s objectives
• It is within budgetary requirements (aligned with Assignment 2)
• It is consistent with company values, mission and house style
• Communicates effectively and reaches the intended target audience
• Central message is clear and consistent with other publications
*Adobe InDesign technical workshops will run in class from Weeks’ 10 to 12 and example formats will be handed out and uploaded to Blackboard.
Length: DL Flyer (250 words), Presentation (5 minutes)
Other Assessment Requirements:
It is a requirement as a student studying at RMIT, that you have an appropriate computer or device for study. Therefore, students are expected to have a fully functional and connected computer or device to the RMIT Blackboard by the start of Week 1. It is expected that all students bring with them their laptop to all sessions throughout the semester as you will be doing project work in each class and need to show evidence of this.
Assessment Feedback:
Feedback on the assessments will be provided as per University policy. Where resubmissions are required, it is the responsibility of the students to check the due date listed in the feedback sheet and resubmit within that timeframe. If the resubmission does not occur within the required date and time, a “not yet competent” will be awarded and a fail for the unit will be recorded. It is the individual’s responsibility to monitor Blackboard to be aware that the feedback has been posted.
Grading:
• Interim grades will appear in Blackboard grade centre for all assessment. Explanation of the interim grades are as following:
“CAG” for Competent – for a result between 5.0 and 10.0
“NYC” for Not Yet Competent for any result between 0 and 4.9 (one resubmission granted)
“DNS” for Did not Sit/Submit and no approved extension
For all group work, extensions will not be granted except under exceptional circumstances. Where an individual student has a known condition that may impact the performance of the individual student or that of the group and its ability to submit the work on time, it is recommended that the student contact the Disability Liaison Unit to apply for the appropriate assistance. Due to the intensity of this unit of study, it is recommended this is attended to within the first week of the semester in order to assist team members and the individual with any reasonable adjustments required. Where a student group receives an NYC, they are required to attend to the resubmission and upload the corrected work by the date listed in the feedback for a maximum pass for all team members.
Submission Requirements:
Format:
Work is to be saved in a Word doc or .pdf and uploaded to the assessment tab in your course Blackboard shell by the required date. Work sent by email will not be marked. Work submitted after the deadline and without the Cover Sheet form from Blackboard below will not be accepted or marked.
Assessment deadline extensions:
Ensure that you submit assessments on or before the due date. If you think you might not make the due date due to circumstances beyond your control, you must apply for an application of extension time BEFORE the due date.
You can apply for an extension of seven or fewer days from the original due date for submission of assignments, projects, or essays. You must lodge it no later than one working day before the original submission due date. See link below for eligibility criteria and forms.
If your performance in the assessment is affected by unexpected circumstances, you should consider applying for Special Consideration. Information on the process and application forms for extension time and special consideration can be found at: http://rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=ls0ydfokry9rz
Always retain a copy of your assessment tasks (hard copy and soft copy).
When you submit work for assessment at RMIT University you need to use a cover sheet that includes a declaration and statement of authorship. You must complete, sign and submit a cover sheet with all work you submit for assessment, whether individual or group work. Cover sheets for submission of work is available from the Assessment Folder in your Blackboard course shell.
Resubmissions:
It is the student’s responsibility to check their results and complete resubmissions by deadline set (usually within 2 weeks of receiving feedback/results). Students are entitled to one re-submission per assessment. All resubmissions will be marked to competent or non-competent only, no grades will be given. All resubmissions must be received before 5pm Friday Week 16.
Assessment Matrix
The assessment matrix will be supplied in the RMIT Blackboard course guide.
Other Information
This course is co-delivered and co-assessed with Manage the Publication Process MKTG6048C
Course Overview: Access Course Overview