When Professor Moses T Alexander Greene took over the Public Relations Problem Solving class, he decided to make the course live up to its name. Students who are enrolled in the class have been working as a real PR Firm, handling real-life cases.
Students are working with the Annual African-American Cultural Festival of Raleigh, NC. Professor Greene is a part of the Board of Directors for the 2016 Festival. He assigned his students to come up with the host and talent for the festival after party. Students also got the opportunity to listen in on a phone conference with a booking manager who manages people like Chris Brown, Tank and Chrisette Michele.
Also, students are given real-life image problems each week for which they have to come up with PR strategies for the companies and present those strategies to the class, explaining how they would go about the situation as if they were a real PR Firm. Some case studies students have worked with include Greyhound’s poor customer service, McDonald’s social media crisis, and Starbucks crisis during 9/11.
Students say they are enjoying Dr. Greene’s approach.
“This class has been very interesting all semester,” said Benita Mountain, a senior. “From the case studies to hands on working as a real PR firm, this class is a great tool that I will take with me after I graduate.”
“I am beyond proud of the level of work my COMM 430 scholars have submitted this semester,” said Professor Moses T. Alexander Greene, who teaches the class. “In addition to completing case studies that helped them understand the theoretical aspects of media relations, crisis communication, brand management, and public opinion, the scholars worked weekly to address real-life PR issues and present creative solutions.”
–Adonica Stewart
