For college students, gaining real-world work experience is difficult while simultaneously juggling coursework, jobs and social lives.
The Division of Communication and Theatre offers students a solution: PR Practicum.
This course provides undergraduates with the ability to gain real-life experiences, completing projects in their field of study for nonprofit clients in the Marion community, while still receiving course credit.
Each semester, the students are assigned a nonprofit client. Students begin by assessing the client’s needs or problems, conducting background research on the organization and creating a project proposal to address them. Then, they use the remainder of the semester to create the desired deliverables to be used by the company.
Through assessing the need, creating a project proposal, completing deliverables and presenting their final work to their client at the end of the semester, students can apply their knowledge from their previous courses in their area of expertise.
Final projects cover a wide range of deliverables: advertisements, promotional videos, marketing plans, board profiles, social media content, blog posts, website content development, advertisements and more.
Each project has different requirements depending on the needs of the organization.
“The PR Practicum gives students a tremendous opportunity to gain real-world experience. They learn how to work with a client, identify needs and strategies, and manage a project from start to finish,” said Professor Susan Sigworth, PR Practicum course instructor.
“In addition, it’s a great way for students to build their portfolios and help local nonprofits.”
Mariah Woeste, a previous PR Practicum student, said her experience working in a local nonprofit was beneficial for her studies in more than one way. Woeste changed her major from nursing to strategic communications and journalism second semester of her freshman year, in part, because of the impact of PR Practicum, one of the first courses she completed in the division.
“I have been able to apply what I learned during Practicum to courses that I am currently enrolled in, such as Journalism Lab,” said Woeste. “PR Practicum confirmed that this was the career for me.”
Many other individuals have similar stories to Woeste’s about the influence of PR Practicum.
Emma Lamb, a previous PR Practicum student, said that Practicum has given her great insight as to what it’s like to work with a real client. Lamb said, “It was so insightful to learn how to use different communication styles for different individuals, learning each client’s ‘love language’ and preferred contact method.”
Community clients also have had positive experiences with PR Practicum and enjoy the fresh perspective students bring to their organization. Cancer Services of Grant County’s Executive Director Jennifer Lane-Reifler was one of the selected nonprofit clients that students have worked for in the past.
“Practicum students bring extra energy and passion to my facility. They bring fresh ideas and eyes from the outside to help us see what we are doing right and sometimes can do better. I look forward to each new PR Practicum experience,” Lane-Reifler said.
Kellie Engelman had a similar experience as Lane-Reifler regarding PR Practicum. She’s the Community Coordinator for the Affordable Housing and Community Development Corporation (AHC) in Grant County.
The IWU student assigned to Engelman aided her with various projects, including creating a social media content calendar and updating the webpage.
“AHC has incorporated the social media scheduling system designed by the students. This has improved efficiency with social media management,” said Engelman. “We also updated our webpage for Individual Development Accounts based on the restructured information from the PR students.
The effects of PR Practicum often go beyond the class itself. For Engelman and the AHC team, the IWU student worker established a professional relationship with AHC, completing projects for the company in multiple classes beyond PR Practicum.
Many PR students have maintained connections with their clients, recording this experience on their resumes. Through this opportunity, students increase their professional portfolios and build relationships with professionals, preparing them for future employment.
