adpr5950 7950 sweetserk 0802

							                       Public Relations Campaigns
                                           ADPR 5950 * Spring 2008
                 Dr. Sweetser
                 Office: 223-C Journalism Building
                 Phone: 542-2409
                 Office hours: Tuesday 12:30–2:30 p.m., Thursday 8-9 a.m. or by appointment (just e-mail or call!)
                 E-mail: sweetser@uga.edu, AOL Instant Messenger handle: ProfSweetser
                 Class: Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 – 10:45 a.m.

                                                                     * prereq: JOUR 3410, ADPR 3850, 3520, 3130/3510, 5910, 5920

The syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the professor may be necessary.



> Welcome to campaigns
You are no longer students – you are PR professionals. Act the part, make Grady proud.



> Client
There are two clients this semester: digital media download awareness and student social media bootcamp. The
professor will assign you to a team and team assignment is not negotiable. During the semester, you will work with your
client to provide professional and ethical public relations counsel and services.


> Objectives
This is a service-learning course intended to bring public relations to life through the application of PR principles,
strategies and techniques to a real-world client. As your capstone skills course, it will provide you with hands-on
experience in which you will apply PR theory and best practices in the campaign you will develop for your client. This
course will also make you aware of and experience conducting research and reporting findings; setting goals and
objectives; designing, implementing and evaluating a public relations program, including support communications; and the
course will provide you with a final classroom opportunity to hone your skills. On completion of the course, you should feel
more confident in professional situations that you will experience in your chosen careers, and you will have produced
professional-quality work to augment your resumes and portfolios.


> Materials
You must have the following (there will be no exceptions!):
    UGA computer account with UGA e-mail access (check it often).
    Use of a printer. All products, unless otherwise noted, are required to be typed and printed.
    Media storage drive (ZIP, floppy, USB) to store project files.
    del.icio.us page of resources: http://del.icio.us/kaye.sweetser/adpr5950
> Students with disabilities
Anyone with a documented disability needing academic adjustments is requested to speak with the Disability Resource
Center and the professor as early in the semester as possible. All discussions will remain confidential. More information
about the University’s policy and procedures can be found at http://www.dissvcs.uga.edu.


> Academic honesty
All academic work must meet the standards contained in "A Culture of Honesty." You are responsible to inform
yourselves about UGA standards before performing any academic work. Those who break the university’s honor code,
are found to be cheating or fraudulently use another’s ideas/work will fail this course. Find out more about academic
honesty at UGA at http://www.uga.edu/ovpi/honesty/acadhon.htm.


> PR Lab
The PR Lab is 239-A Journalism Bldg. Since you are in campaigns, you have access to it but must adhere to guidelines
for lab use. Access can be granted to the lab through ADPR secretary Mrs. LaBlond. You may only use the lab for ADPR
5950 related work, and it must be locked when leaving the lab. No food or drink is allowed in the lab. Ever.



> The campaign project
You will work in teams to create and execute a PR campaign. That said, the grade is determined by work done all
semester and the success of the campaign so you should be prepared to not have any number indicators (grades) until
the end of the semester. Those who wish to know “how s/he is doing,” should come to the professor’s office hours and
speak to her about his/her performance to date.

Campaign teams are comprised of 5-12 members, depending on the scope of the project. The professor assigns teams
(team membership is not negotiable). Teams should periodically submit parts of the campaign materials for
review/recommendations as they are developed. At the end of the semester, the teams are required to present their
campaign proposal to the client, other managers within the organization, board members and other key constituents the
client and/or instructor deems appropriate. Faculty members, administrators and staff from throughout the Grady College
may be invited to attend these presentations.

There are very few formal assignments because the bulk of the class is dedicated to working with one’s team on the
campaign. That said, there is a lot to be done & it is easy to fall behind. Budget time accordingly! There is a lot which has
to be accomplished and certain things take more time than others. Any individual formal assignment will count toward
one’s “professor evaluation” portion of the grade. Campaign book draft material assignments are merely required
opportunities for you to receive feedback on improving the team’s campaign book.

The main test of performance will be the professor’s evaluation of the team’s written document (30%) and the end-of-
semester formal presentation (10%). Clients are required to attend the final presentations and are encouraged to bring
other key constituents (e.g., board members, members of the organization’s management team, key volunteers and other
community officials).

Teamwork plays the key role in this course. Hence, everyone needs to understand that this course is composed of
extensive outside-the-class team effort and energy. You are encouraged to use your own talents, resources and college
facilities as much as possible. Also, you are encouraged to use your individual strengths when contributing to the overall
campaign development. At the end of the semester, each team member evaluates one another; these peer evaluations
make up 30% of the overall final grade.

If a team is fired by the client during the semester for whatever reason, the team automatically receives a “0” on both the
campaign book (30%) and presentation (10%). Why? If you can’t serve your client while still in college, you aren’t ready to
serve clients as a Grady graduate.
> Class procedures
Initially, we will meet together as a class for a few weeks. Then we will break into teams and team sub-groups, which will
report to a team leader, and the professor will meet with leaders and/or sub-groups as needed during scheduled class
time. You can expect to meet with your client and/or interested parties as well as your sub-groups frequently outside of
class time. You should budget at least 4-6 hours per week (or more as required) outside of scheduled class time to
successfully complete this course.

Every time you see the client, you must be professionally dressed at the business casual level or above (i.e., no t-shirts or
denim jeans). Every. Single. Time. Every time you communicate with your client via e-mail you must be professional.

I recommend printed agendas be prepared for any meetings with me and/or the client as appropriate; and that contact
reports be prepared after all meetings with the client and other parties in and outside of class. You are expected to act
professionally at all times, including in any such meetings (e.g., appropriate dress, turn off cell phones, etc.).

Each of you will complete weekly time sheet reports, submit them to the team leader and the team leader is to turn them
into me at our weekly meeting. Note: UGA’s Honor Code applies to your time sheets; any false reporting will result in
failure of the course. Seriously. Summary time reports will be compiled by designated team member(s) bi-weekly from
your individual time sheets, be submitted for my review and then be distributed to the class. These time reports will be
helpful during periodic peer performance reviews.

This class will adhere to democratic principles. Team/sub-group coordinators/leaders are only one voice in class
deliberations. You are to be respectful of one another, fair in distribution of responsibilities, and open in communications
with each other, the client and the professor. The class will operate on an agency model. I will serve as agency “CEO,”
which means that each team/sub-group is responsible for keeping me informed along with the masters students, and my
role is to advise you to facilitate your success. With assistance from the undergraduate students, graduate students are
expected to assume extra responsibilities, such as supervising and reporting results of research activities; supervising
special events and support communications; preparation/production of the final campaign book; the final presentation; and
all other aspects of the campaign and class.

Prior to submitting a deliverable to the client (mid-campaign press release, Web site, any type of copy, etc.) the team is
required to show the material to the professor for her approval (final chop). Failure to do so will result in a deduction in the
overall campaign grade.

> Grade
This is a capstone class, meaning that everything you’ve learned in Grady from writing to research will be incorporated.
All work will be evaluated based on the ability to meet the assignment objectives, clarity, professionalism, technical skill
and quality. The following breakdown explains how the grade is to be computed:

        Graded Item                                               Date                 % Grade
                                                      a
        Campaign/final written campaign book                      April 17             30%
                      a
        Presentation                                              April 17             10%
        Client/professor evaluations                              Ongoing              30%
        Peer evaluations                                          April 24             30%
                                                                                       100%
                                      a
                                          Indicates item is a part of a group project. All group members get the same grade for their collective work.




All grades on assignments, projects and quizzes are based on the following +/- grading scale:
100 – 93.99% = A       86 – 89.99% = B+         76 – 79.99% = C+        66 – 69.99% = D+                              below 59% = F
90 – 92.99% = A-       83 – 85.99% = B          73 – 75.99% = C         63 – 65.99% = D
                       80 – 82.99% = B-         70 – 72.99% = C-        60 – 62.99% = D-
Please note that the professor does not “round up.” If you score 89.99, you earned a “B+”; it takes a full 90 earned points
to earn an “A-” in this course.

Grades are based on the final product and the your ability to meet the requirements set by the professor. Each product is
graded against the same criteria and your ability to show mastery of the objective. Average work receives an average
grade (“C”). Please note that this professor does not inflate/weight grades. All graded materials must meet specific
standards for professionalism and quality. Effort does not equal an “A.” Only those who show mastery of the graded
material will earn such a grade for that item. No one is given grades; one earns the grade based on the quality of the
product output. Do not assume that you will get 100% on client/professor evaluation grade. If your work is above average,
you should get a “B.”

You should retain all graded materials; the professor will not keep a copy. Anyone wishing to dispute a grade must have
the graded material when pleading the case. Grades are never negotiated, only errors will be corrected (one cannot “beg”
for a better grade), and the participation/contribution grade the professor assigns is final. Grades will not be discussed via
e-mail or the telephone. If you have a question about a grade and would like to discuss it, then you must meet with the
professor in person before the last day of class. There are no exceptions to this policy, which is designed to protect the
your privacy. If you believe there is a mistake with a grade then you have the right to dispute a grade within 1 week of the
assignment/test/project being returned; after one week all grades are final (remember, only errors are corrected).

As this is a top school in public relations, the ability to communicate in a professional and courteous manner via e-mail is
important. You are expected to display your top-level Grady PR communication skills each time you send an e-mail to the
professor or client. Those who fail to use a professional greeting, sign one’s full name or use proper AP Style in an e-mail
will have 1 point deducted from the final (overall grade) for the course for each infraction. Ask the professor for examples
of proper and improper e-mail communication so as to not make this mistake. This is especially important for client e-mail.

> Course evaluation
Because Grady College cares about the student assessment of the quality of education, you will have the opportunity to
respond to a course evaluation form concerning ADPR 5950 this term. A class volunteer will be asked to administer the
forms, collect, seal and deliver them to the Dean's office for tallying and transcription. Anonymity is assured. The results –
the tallying of items and typing of comments -- are prepared by the Dean's office and not by department staff. The results
will NOT be communicated to the professor until AFTER grades are submitted for the current term. The results are used
to guide course design and delivery in future classes. Both the professor and the department head have the opportunity to
read and discuss the results of your course evaluations. Student responses are used in the evaluation of the professor,
the course and the program. Your opinions, suggestions and insights are important to me and to the Department of
Advertising and Public Relations in the Grady College. You are always invited and encouraged to visit the professor
during her office hours or by appointment to discuss the class in general or progress specifically.
> Tentative Schedule
Extra items may be administered at any time. This schedule is subject to change at professor’s discretion.

               Day         Topic                            Notes
               Jan 8       Campaigns Intro                  Data sheet due by Jan. 9 at 5 p.m. (under door)
                Jan 10     Prepare for Client Meeting        Have read through all background
               Jan 15       Meet the Client
               Jan 17      Team Work                         Begin research & planning
               Jan 22      Team Meeting
               Jan 24      In-class Brainstorm
               Jan 29      Team Work
               Jan 31      Team Work
               Feb 5       Team Meeting                     Preliminary research due
               Feb 7       Research Review in Class
               Feb 12      Team Work
               Feb 14      Team Work
               Feb 19      Team Work                        Draft sit analysis, goals & obj due
               Feb 21      Team Work                        FYI - Midpoint of semester!
               Feb 26      Team Work
               Feb 28      Team Work
               Mar 4       Team Work
               Mar 6       Team Meeting
               Mar 11      Spring Break                     Be careful!
               Mar 13      Spring Break                     Be careful!
               Mar 18      Team Meeting
               Mar 20      Team Work
               Mar 25      Team Work
               Mar 27      Team Work
               Apr 1       Team Work
               Apr 3       Team Meeting                     Draft campaign book due at meeting
               Apr 8       Presentation Tips
               Apr 10      Team Work
               Apr 15      Presentation Practice

               Apr 17      Client Presentations             3 copies of campaign book due (printed, bound)
               Apr 22      Peer Evaluations (no class)
               Apr 24      Peer Evaluations (no class)      Peer evaluations due (stuff under office door)


Mark your calendar:
    March 1 – 2: social media bootcamp weekend
    TBA: university event
    April 29 (UGA reading day) meeting at Dr. Sweetser’s house at 5 p.m.