Graduate students at the School of Journalism and Mass Communications met with a national non-profit organization on Monday to present ideas for a press campaign.
Family Promise, the organization, aims to “improve the lives of families living in poverty.”
Senior Instructor Lisa Sisk taught the class of thirteen students in her summer class, JOUR 725: Integrated Communications Campaigns. These students are studying for degrees in Mass Communications.
“This is a culmination of five months work,” Sisk said. “Each team conducted its own audit.” Dividing the class into four teams provided the different angles at which mass communication can be scrutinized. The teams of internal communications, external communications, media relations and corporate partnerships were synthesized into an hour long presentation.
Much of the presentation focused on the discrepancies between Family Promise as a national organization and its many affiliates. Problems mentioned by the presenting students regarded use of style, font and headings, many of which were out of date or not compliant with what the national organization is seeking.
The Director of affiliate services at Family Promise, Claas Ehlers, received the presentation with questions and feedback throughout.
“Our ethos is adapt locally,” Ehlers said. That ethos reflects the perfect balance Family Promise seeks between allowing local tinges on their affiliates while upholding their values.
Dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications Charles Bierbauer also attended the presentation. He felt satisfied with what he saw from the graduate students.
“This is what you want a course like this to accomplish, to give practical application to what we are teaching the students,” Bierbauer said. “When you can move the theory to the practical side, students recognize the value of what they’re doing.”
Such value is honed in a classroom setting that combines interaction with teachers and organizations. The cross between the university and the professional world allows that theory-to-practice application.
“When you put the idea person here, together with the instructor and the client, then you’ve created something where, over this span of time, students have been able to analyze, think through the process and say ‘oh I think I could do this, this, and this’,” Bierbauer said.
Although the ultimate decisions on this campaign will be made by Family Promise, they have been given quality consultation from these graduate students.
“They don’t have to accept everything that’s in there,” Bierbauer said. “They don’t have to change their logo, their website. But they’ve been given a substantial number of possibilities which they can now select and see which are most applicable to their needs.”
Monday’s presentation was mostly about the “how” of Family Promise going forward. However, at the conclusion of the presentation, Ehlers was quick to remind everyone the real goal in all of this.
“More children who are experiencing homelessness will be helped,” Ehlers said.