Felicia Blow, chair of the Universal Accreditation Board, has announced the results of six years of the new computer-based, multiple-choice exam — 863 new APRs including 713 from the PR Society, 43 from the Florida PR Association, 25 from the Southern PR Federation, and 37 from the National School PR Association.
An average of 119 new PRS APRs yearly were created in the six years, which were completed June 30. The new test cost PRS $250,000 and took four years.
Felicia Blow |
Blow, public affairs director of Cox Communications, Chesapeake, Va., said she was encouraged by the fact that the number of candidates participating in the Readiness Review increased in the second quarter from 72 last year to 83 this year. Candidates passing the exam fell 28% to 41 in the quarter from 57 in the 2008 quarter.
Said Blow: "We are pleased that utilization of the process is increasing from previous years. And we are confident that the candidates will be better prepared in the coming months with the enhanced resources and new processes being rolled out by the various participating organizations."
One program, being conducted by the New York and New Jersey chapters of PRS, is a four-day, $585 APR "Boot Camp" which involves three days of intensive study at PRS h.q. and then the 3.5-hour test at the Prometric Testing Center, 1 Penn Plaza. Today is the final day for registering for the camp.
Arthur Yann, VP-PR of PRS, has been asked what the total registration is.
The previous PR Society test, which required an afternoon of writing, created more than 300 APRs yearly from 1986 to 1992 when there were about 14,000 members (vs. 22,000 now).
In 1996, when there were 17,004 members; 352 became APR.
No APRs were won during the six years by members of the Agricultural Relations Council or the Religion Communicators Council. No one applied from the ARC and one took the test from RCC but failed.
Two from the Texas PR Assn. passed the test while three failed. Other UAB members are PR Assn. of Puerto Rico (one pass, three fails); Maine PR Council (eight passes, three fails), and National School PR Assn. (37 passes, 11 fails).
APRs are won after going through the Readiness Review in which materials the candidate says he or she worked on are examined, an interview is conducted and the candidate takes a 3.5-hour computer test at a Prometric Testing Center.
The previous test, which was used until June 30, 2003, involved a morning of answering written questions about the history and practice of PR and an afternoon of solving PR problems.
Among the assignments was preparing a PR campaign to address a PR problem or marketing opportunity.
The exams were then graded by an outside service at an annual cost of about $100,000.
Canadian APR Requires Writing
The Canadian PR Society, which also has an accreditation program, subjects candidates to an oral test and then a three-hour written test involving several types of essays including description of a full-fledged PR program.
Candidates must have at least five years in PR positions and are required to have several "seconders" who can supply character and professional references.
An extensive description of the CPRA accreditation process is on the group’s website but it is accessible only by members.
Soaring costs of the previous APR program at PRS had resulted in creation of the multiple-choice exam. Almost all of the funding of the UAB is supplied by PRS.
In the years from 1986 to 2002, PRS lost $2,926,080 on the APR program.
Costliest year was 2000 when the total cost reached $591,541 and the net cost was $441,467 or $1,794 for each of the 246 new PRS APRs that were created.
In 1986, 338 new APRs were created at a net cost of $89,115 or $263 per APR.
PRS staffer Kathy Mulvihill works on APR. Her salary and fringes were $88,337 in 2008. APR salaries and fringes in 2000 were $123,978; "professional fees," $207,147; travel, $30,212, and "overhead," $140,363. PRS removed "overhead" allocations for 13 categories of spending as of 2006.
APR’s cost in 2008 totaled $164,322. Income was $199,483. |