The PR Student Society of America, after 34 years, only has
7,000 members, leaving a vast, untapped market out there since
there are about 11 million students in two and four-year colleges.
PRSA has many materials that students could use including
its large number of PR case histories (Silver Anvil winners),
which make great material for term papers and other uses.
The students could use the how-to articles in Tactics, compete
for PRSSA awards, and network with students/profs.
But the PRSA-linked professors, already annoyed by the move
to decouple the Assembly from APR, feel threatened by the
proposal to allow students from any college to directly join
PRSA as "at-large student members."
They have combined with PRSSA and 21 past presidents of PRSA
to knock the motion from the agenda Nov. 16. They want to
put it in the deep freeze for another year. It must be put
back.
Ex-Presidents,
Profs, Sign Petition
A petition to table the student at-large motion was signed
by the following ex-presidents: John Beardsley, Judith Bogart,
Mary Cusick, Jerry Dalton, Joe Epley, Jack Felton, George
Hammond, Carl Hawver, Barbara Hunter, James Little, Luis Morales,
John Paluszek, Betsy Plank, John Riffel, Rosalee Roberts,
Jay Rockey, Dwayne Summar, Joe Vecchione, Hal Warner, Robert
Wolcott and Frank Wylie.
Among ex-presidents not signing were Kathy Lewton, Sam Waltz,
and Debra Miller.
PR professors signing it included Rick Fischer, James and
Larissa Grunig, Kathleen Kelly, Dan Lattimore, Bonita Neff,
Robert Pritchard, Maria Russell, Melvin Sharpe, Don Stacks,
Elizabeth Toth, Joe Trahan, Judy Turk, and Laurie Wilson.
The PRSA-linked professors want students to go to their colleges
and not others.
Despite all the talk about "ethics" and "professionalism"
that emanates from PRSA, fangs get bared as soon as a hot-button
issue arises. The Marquis of Queensbury rules go out the window.
Particularly galling to the PR profs is that PRSA wants to
take in those studying "journalism, integrated marketing,
mass communications or a related field" as well as PR.
'PRSA has subsidized PRSSA
to the tune of $950K in the past six years. In a display
of ingratitude, students are blocking PRSA from cultivating
new revenues.' |
PR, which was supposed to encompass everything, is now but
one of many players in the field, and a fading one at that.
PR almost does not exist as a separate area of practice in
the business world. The fashion throughout advertising and
PR is for "integrated marketing," the focusing of
many types of communications to get across a desired client
message. Complete control of all forms of communication is
also a goal.
Companies decades ago began replacing "PR" with
"corporate communications" and the changeover is
nearly complete.
Almost no PRSSA members ever join PRSA. PRSA has subsidized
PRSSA to the tune of $950,373 in the past six years. In a
display of ingratitude, the students are blocking PRSA from
cultivating new revenues.
The APR program, also pushed hard by the profs, itself lost
$2 million+ in the past ten years. It's time for PRSA to get
out from under the APR ideologues and the politically active
professors before PRSA is destroyed financially.
Control of h.q. must also be won back from the dominant staff.
Close to half the staff should be PR professionals, like it
was in the 1970s. Doctors, lawyers, accountants and advertising
people have numerous of their own pros on the staffs of their
national associations.
Assembly delegates, instead of sitting like bumps on a log
Nov. 16 while PRSA leaders batter them with six hours of presentations
(including 50 minutes on the "strategic plan"),
should seize control of the meeting at 8:30 a.m. and talk
among themselves like an assembly is supposed to.
Roberts Rules allow this. PRSA leaders in the past have improperly
blocked agenda changes. "A broad outcry of the delegates
must be obeyed," a parliamentarian said. Assembly members
should bring their own lawyer and their own parliamentarian
to the meeting.
Let us hope that the rule of the APRs is over.
Since their takeover of PRSA in 1973, members have watched
financial PR walk out the door to IR;
public affairs to legal; employee PR to human resources; media
relations atrophy; speechwriting disappear, and info tech
go completely to the techies when PR could have played the
dominant role. NIRI now wants to take over integrated IR/PR
depts. at companies. Marketing autocrats invaded PR firms
and reduced PR pros to obedient servants.
If Assembly members knew the true state of PRSA's finances
they would pass the at-large student motion. But, as usual,
PRSA is planning to dump a mass of confusing, outdated financials
on the delegates on the day of the meeting.
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