This document discusses public relations in higher education and K-12 schools. It covers the roles of university presidents, public relations directors, and news bureaus in promoting their institutions. Development and alumni personnel focus on building loyalty and fundraising. Students are a major public relations asset, and pleasing them leads to future alumni support. Schools must also manage relationships with governments, communities, and prospective students through various marketing and communication strategies. Effective public relations is important for addressing issues, crises, and ensuring institutional success.

1. Valerie O’Bar
Comm 2330
11 Nov. 2010

2.  Higher education is a business with many
customers, which are students.
United States: 16 million students are enrolled at
more than 4000 colleges and universities

3.  President: the chief public relations officer of a college
or university.
◦ Sets policy
◦ Responsible for all operations
 Larger Universities
Development and alumni personnel:
◦ Enhance the prestige of financial support
◦ Conduct meetings and seminars
◦ Publish newspapers and magazines
◦ Arrange tours
Primary responsibility is to build alumni loyalty and generate
funding

4.  Public relations director:
◦ Supervises the information news service, publications,
and special events
Employees will do such things as:
◦ Writing
◦ Photography
◦ Graphic design
◦ Broadcasting
◦ Computer networking

5.  The news bureau: the most visible aspect of a university
public relations program.
 Active bureaus produce:
◦ Press releases
◦ Photographs
◦ Special columns and articles for print media
 They also provide assistance and information to:
◦ Reporters
◦ Editors
◦ Broadcasters affiliated with state, regional, and national media

6.  Top development and public relations specialists:
must be part of the management team
 Attending meetings is a must
Faculty and Staff:
o Success of a public relations program starts with pleasing
the internal constituency.
o Involve in decisions
 Faculty serve as major public relations representatives
because of how many people they come in contact with.

7.  Students make up the largest
public relations arm
Quality of teaching: greatest
determinant of their allegiance to the
institution.
o Involving students in decisions that
affect their campus lives is extremely
important as well.
 Pleasing the students leads to future
support.

8.  Loyalty and financial support from alumni and donors is
crucial to ongoing operations at a college or university.
 Fund-raising has increased in recent years
o Total nongovernmental financial support: $31.6 billion in
2002 according to Giving U.S.A.
 Colleges and universities raise money for :
o Recruiting new faculty
o Buying equipment
o Building student residence halls
o Providing scholarships
o Upgrading campus computer networks
o Remodeling classrooms

9.  State and federal government hold the key to funding
 Large institutions hire individuals to monitor the state
legislature, and do such things as:
o Compete with other institutions for money
o Defend proposed increases in budgets
o Protect against cuts
o Establish an institution’s identity in the minds of legislatures
o Respond to lawmakers’ requests for favors

10. Community
 Institutions must maintain a good relationship with the community
in which it is located.
 Faculty and staff members are encouraged to work with civic and other
organizations in order to achieve community visibility
Prospective Students
 Highly competitive recruiting methods
 Some institutions use print and broadcast media on billboards to
advertise to prospective students.
o More colorful brochures and graphics
o Use of the Web
 Mailing lists to reach future students

11.  To attract students to certain institutions, methods might
be used that include:
◦ Offering scholarships or free tuition for four years
◦ Offering a private dorm room
◦ Guaranteeing priority registration

12.  Education has become one of the crucial planks in political
platforms for candidates.
 Some of the issues the education system has dealt with
include:
◦ Integration and busing
◦ Accountability
◦ Book censorship
◦ Sex education
◦ Discipline
◦ Crime and school violence
◦ Drugs

13.  Primary publics of a school system:
 Teachers
 Children
 Parents
 Staff
 The community
Steps in reaching these publics include:
Research
Planning
Action
Evaluation

14.  Students with low test scores and reading levels motivate
schools and communities to get involved and make a
difference.
 Some businesses and organizations provide free
advertising

15.  A crisis communication plan
should be in place to handle:
◦ Natural disasters
◦ Hazardous material spills
◦ Fires
◦ School shootings
◦ Bomb threats
 When public relations teams
are in the spotlight : Ex.
Columbine High School
shootings in Colorado. They
had to do such things as:
 Managing rumor
 Helping the community deal with
the experience and images
 Restore calm and confidence in
the school system and
community

16.  William J. Banach’s “90-7-3 concept of school
communication”
 90% is: who we are and what we do 24 hours a day
o How people think, act, and appear are key factors in marketing
 7% of the marketing effort is: listening
o Trying to find out what people like, want, and don’t want
 3% of marketing is: outbound communication
o Publications, posters, news releases, other visible and tangible items