The integration of generative artificial intelligence (genAI) into public relations and communication education presents new challenges and ethical considerations for educators. This paper presents a series of activities to explore implications of genAI adoption in public relations and communication professions, focusing on the need to equip…

Public relations and strategic communication are offered in communication departments with a field of study largely geared toward professional communicators. The majors place a heavy emphasis on internships, which seem to be more competitive than ever. A class project can jumpstart students' preparation for entry-level positions in the industry by…

While societies struggle with the implications of text-based generative artificial intelligence (TGENAI), businesses are embracing the technology. Using framing, this original activity unit prepares business communication students for professional TGENAI use. Activities emphasize the need for an effective cognitive frame, as well as introduce…

Courses: Campaigns, Account Planning, Public Relations (PR), and any other strategic communication course where groups are assigned. Objectives: The purpose of this single-class escape-room activity is to increase students' ability to work in time-demanding group settings while utilizing unconventional methods to reinforce material covered in…

Courses: Public Relations, Organizational/Crisis Communication, Social Media in Organizations. Objective: The goal for this activity is for students to simulate an organizational response to an environmental/health crisis impacting their business operations. By working through various components of a crisis event, students apply theoretical…

Audience analysis is essential for creating successful messages across communication fields. The audience persona is an effective tool for understanding the characteristics and needs of a target audience. Through this unit activity, students experience the process of persona development, build skills in data collection and analysis, and gain…

Course: This assignment is a unit activity designed for use in a skills-focused undergraduate public relations, organizational communication, or crisis communication course. Objective: The goal of this activity is to increase students' understanding and ability to apply message design concepts in an unfamiliar context. Students will work…

Faculty who are interested in activism and social justice often struggle with how to integrate principles of community activism into courses that have been traditionally designed to prepare students for careers in the corporate world. Most public relations textbooks now dedicate a section or chapter to corporate social responsibility due to its…

Courses: This unit activity is intended for public relations (PR), crisis communication, or journalism courses. Objectives: The purpose is to equip future PR professionals with critical thinking skills and experience to manage crises. Students demonstrate mastery in two ways: by crafting clear crisis response messages and materials in a narrow…

We interviewed racially/ethnically diverse, early career public relations practitioners. By asking participants to reflect on their collegiate social and educational development, we unearth contributing factors to these individuals' success both in college and in their professions to date. Respondents desired much more in-school training and…

Courses: Strategic Campaigns, Advertising/Public Relations Campaigns. Objectives: The purpose of this semester-long project is student application of research-based strategic communication strategies and techniques used in executing a professional strategic communication campaign for a client.

Courses: Undergraduate or graduate organizational/crisis communication or public relations courses. Objective: The goal for this single class activity is for students to apply discourse of renewal to an organizational crisis fueled through social media.

Course: This assignment is a unit activity designed for use in a skills-focused undergraduate public relations, organizational communication, or crisis communication course. Objective: The goal of this activity is to increase students' understanding of and ability to apply discourse of renewal in a crisis scenario. Students will work…

This article describes an activity in which students will understand, analyze, and apply the principles learned in the RACE process (research, action, communication, and evaluation). Students should have the ability to identify the four-step public relations planning process and ultimately create a public relations plan. This two-week activity is…

The purpose of this exercise is to get students to relay and connect with the impact of ethics on public relations research. Students will begin to realize and analyze how their personal ethics influence their professional ethics choices. This is conceptualized through the completion of the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI)…