Public Relations and Advertising

Introduction

In Delaware State’s Public Relations and Advertising program, students learn by doing. The program is built around hands-on, project-based assignments that simulate real-world PR situations. It culminates in an off-campus internship that yields professional contacts, builds student resumes, and provides the job-ready skills that employers look for in new hires.

Students develop superior writing skills and learn to write for a range of media, including print, broadcast, and the Internet. They also learn layout and design, while working with state-of-the-art digital graphics technology. Above all, they cultivate a sense of how to communicate strategically — how to motivate an audience, influence public opinion, and change behaviors.

Professional Prep

Our public relations graduates have a successful track record of employment. In addition to landing jobs with advertising firms and public relations agencies, Delaware State grads have found work as in-house publicists and writers for corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. Others have gone into the radio, television, and newspaper industries.

The Public Relations and Advertising program cultivates a broad range of industry-specific skills, including

• public relations writing
• branding and campaigns
• public opinion research
• organizational communications
• news writing and editing
• layout and design

Delaware State has a campus chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), where students can network with working professionals. The campus chapter also sponsors resume writing and interviewing workshops.

Faculty

Delaware State’s Mass Communications instructors teach from experience. All have spent years in the communications industry and are able to convey both the theoretical and practical concepts that students need to build their careers. In public relations, the faculty includes David Skocik, author of Practical Public Relations for the Small Business and an active official in the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). The mass communications faculty also includes documentary filmmakers, online journalists, and veterans of the newspaper, television, and radio industries.

Research and Experience

Students gain extensive public relations and advertising experience during their two field work experiences. The first of these, an on-campus practicum, takes place during the junior year, and another (an off-campus internship) consumes the entire second semester of the senior year. These first-hand experiences play an invaluable role in helping students land their first job and transition into the workplace.

Some undergraduates from the department have participated in the McNair Program, winning research stipends and presenting their findings at national conferences. All mass communications students have the opportunity to present original research on campus every spring during Honors Day.