PRL8003 Strategic Communication Planning

Contents

• Staffing
• Requisites
• Synopsis
• Objectives
• Topics
• Texts
• Student workload
• Assessment details
• Important assessment information
• Assessment notes
• Other requirements
• Production date
• PDF version

STAFFING

REQUISITES

SYNOPSIS

Strategic communication planning is a function of senior public relations practitioners and is critical in bringing all of the factors of reputation management together. This course provides advanced professional preparation for students who are at a high level in the field or are contemplating working at executive level in public relations. The course reviews public relations theory and how it relates to campaign planning, and takes the student through each step of developing a strategic communication plan for an organisation, including the communication audit and other methods of research, adaptation of the research into a strategy, implementation of the strategy and evaluation.

OBJECTIVES

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Review and evaluate key public relations and related theories (Assessment 1)
2. Describe, explain and apply strategic communication planning processes (Assessment 1)
3. Review and evaluate strengths and weaknesses of key contemporary public relations practices in the context of their applicability to various problems (Assessments 1 and 2)
4. Evaluate research methods and prepare and facilitate communication research projects (Assessments 2 and 3)
5. Practise strategic public relations by developing and implementing a strategic communication plan (Assessments 2 and 3)
6. Advise boards of directors and company executives on strategic communication planning (Assessment 3)
7. Facilitate and promote an understanding at an executive level of the value of pro-active corporate communication (Assessments 2 and 3)

TOPICS

TEXT and MATERIALS required to be PURCHASED or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials are available for purchase from USQ BOOKSHOP (unless otherwise stated). Orders may be placed via secure internet, free fax 1800642453, phone 07 46312742 (within Australia), or mail. Overseas students should fax +61 7 46311743, or phone +61 7 46312742. For costs, further details, and internet ordering, use the 'Textbook Search' facility at http://bookshop.usq.edu.au click 'Semester', then enter your 'Course Code' (no spaces).

Smith, RD 2005, Strategic planning for public relations, 2nd edn, Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates, Mahwah, New Jersey.

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

IMPORTANT ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

1. Attendance requirements:
   It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities (such as lectures, tutorials, laboratories and practical work) scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration. For this course, normal attendance consists of weekly one hour lectures and weekly two hour tutorials.
2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
   To complete the items of assessment satisfactorily, students must obtain at least 50% of the marks available.
3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
   If students submit assignments after the due date without prior approval, then a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the assignment will apply for each of the first FIVE working days late, after which a zero mark will be given..
4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
   To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must attempt all of the summative assessment items, and achieve at least 50% of the available weighted marks for the summative assessment items.
5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
   The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the weighted aggregate of the marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
6. Examination information:
   There is no examination in this course
7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
   Given the details under (6) above, there are no deferred exams for this course. However, if any deferred/makeup work is granted, it would have to be submitted by a date set by the examiner.
8. University Regulations:
   Students should read USQ Regulations 5.1 Definitions, 5.6. Assessment, and 5.10 Academic Misconduct for further information and to avoid actions which might contravene University Regulations. These regulations can be found at the URL http://www.usq.edu.au/corporateservices/calendar/part5.htm or in the current USQ Handbook.

ASSESSMENT NOTES

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

1. This public relations course maintains a high standard of spelling, grammar, syntax and style. Faults in any of these could render a project or proposal unacceptable.

This version produced 24 Jun 2008.