Section D: Information About Professional Affiliations
D-01. Organizations Public Relations Students May Join and Activities Available
Department of Communications faculty have diverse interests and specialties that allow the support of many communications-oriented student organizations and media outlets to prepare students for the world after graduation. As already noted, the Department offers a single undergraduate degree, in Communication. As such, it’s important that COMM students realize that their chosen concentration is just one focal point for a career in the world of communication. This section of the CEPR Application includes the following:
- Communication-Focused Student Organizations
- TitanPR and PRactical ADvantage Communications
- COMM WEEK
- Summary
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Communication-Focused Student Organizations
AdClub
Cal State Fullerton’s Advertising Club (AdClub) is a high impact program that offers a unique opportunity for students to forge a path from classroom to career. The club's mission is to provide students with access to advertising professionals and advertising agencies in order to increase their exposure to industry best practices, better preparing them for a career in the ad industry.
Many of AdClub's alumni go on to top positions in the ad industry and are frequent guests at club events. Former AdClub members are currently employed at prominent advertising agencies including 72andSunny, Conill, Media Arts Lab, TBWA Chiat/Day, BBD&O, David & Goliath, CP&B, Casanova/McCann, Deutsch, Ideology, Campbell Ewald, Daily, Nativo, Canvas, Pitch, Envoy, Ink, RPA, Innocean, Jovenille, and Saatchi & Saatchi.
AdClub’s biweekly events include guest speakers from top advertising agencies who manage prominent brands such as Honda, Farmers Insurance, Pepsi, Boost Mobile, Mazda, Playstation, Arrowhead Water, AT&T, and Apple. At the close of each event, club members are able to network one-on-one with industry experts, which helps to build their professional circle, increasing their chances for internships and jobs.
In addition to the club's guest speaker series, AdClub’s annual Advertising Conference (AdCon) is a daylong event during COMM Week. During AdCon, industry expert speakers share their experiences with students via panels, presentations, workshops, and networking.
Entertainment and Tourism Club
The Entertainment and Tourism Club (ETC) bridges classroom concepts with professional practice. Many PR students who are interested in working in the entertainment world are members of ETC.
ETC holds monthly industry panels with networking sessions, inviting dozens of professionals from a wide variety of entertainment and tourism-adjacent sectors, such as music, sports, event planning, radio, film, television, video gaming, travel, tourism, social media and creative arts.
Each themed panel event consists of three to six professionals hailing from the specific industry under discussion. Nearly half of all recently invited panelists were alumni from California State University, Fullerton, and most of them were Communications graduates. Recently invited guest speakers included employees from the NFL Network, Anaheim Ducks, Disneyland Resort, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Visit Laguna Beach, Warner Bros. Television Animation, Sundance Institute, LA Lakers, Nickelodeon, NBC Telemundo, Southwest Airlines, Disney Channel, E! Networks, DreamWorks, Sony Pictures, Capitol Records and Marvel.
ETC also hosts company tours, television tapings and information sessions with some of the most popular entertainment and tourism companies in the Southern California region. Information sessions typically host a single speaker or company, offering more detailed insight of a potential employer’s operations. Such sessions included representatives from Live Nation and Epic Records. Recently, ETC members took tours of Paramount Pictures and the Anaheim GardenWalk and were on the sets at major production studios for television tapings of “America’s Funniest Videos,” “Conan” and “Mom.”
ETC members have also volunteered at entertainment and tourism-related events, including the Critics’ Choice Awards, Petco Foundation Awards, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night walk.
ETC hosts an end-of-the-year industry mixer in which dozens of professionals, many of whom are alumni, are able to come to campus and network directly with students in a festive, yet productive atmosphere.
ETC members have landed internships and professional positions at companies such as NBC, Live Nation, RCA Records, Creative Artists Agency, CBS, E! News, FOX, Atlantic Records, Walt Disney Television, LA Clippers, The Recording Academy, Hilton Hotels, Rogers and Cowan PMK, Disneyland Resort, Bunim Murray, iHeartMedia, and many more.
Lambda Pi Eta
The National Communication Honor Society (Tau Epsilon chapter) at California State University Fullerton seeks to build a visibly cohesive community of Communications majors, individually and collectively exhibit excellent scholarship, display peer and colleague support, and participate in campus and local service projects.
Members of Lambda Pi Eta - Tau Epsilon are eligible for various benefits that can further their educational or professional careers: Honor Society recognition on resumes, attendance at National Communication Association conferences, participation in career and academic networking events, fellowship with like minded Communications students, community service opportunities, Honor Society cords, certificate, and pin upon graduation, and access to study, research, project, and publication groups. Lambda Pi Eta meets on campus once a month.
Latino Communications Institute
The College of Communications launched the Latino Communications Initiative (now Institute) in 2013 as a way to prepare more students for the many employment and service opportunities in Latino-focused communications media. The Department of Communications is a major contributor to the LCI in that COMM faculty were the first to approve the Certificate program that is the central focus of LCI.
The LCI seeks to develop and maintain a qualified workforce that is industry ready by offering courses and certificates that will provide CSUF students cultural competency in Latino communication and added value in an increasingly multicultural market and competitive workforce. The LCI regularly brings industry leaders to campus for meetings and networking with students. Additionally, the LCI organizes and carries out on-site visits such as this one:
Six students from the College of Communications' Latino Communications Initiative recently got a first-hand glimpse of a newsroom during a live, breaking story while attending a career orientation event and tour provided by CBS2/KCAL9 and CBS Entertainment in Los Angeles. Students met Steve Mauldin, CBS2/KCAL9 President and General Manager; Scott Diener, Vice President and News Director; and Olivia Campos-Bergeron, Director of Community Relations, as well as took part in an impromptu studio tour at the invitation of Tiffany Smith-Anoa'i, Vice President, Diversity and Communications at CBS Entertainment.
Latino Journalists of Cal State Fullerton
Latino Journalists of CSUF was founded in 2013 as a student chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. The organization’s main goals are to help prepare members as leaders and future professionals by providing networking opportunities, panels with professionals, informational workshops and mentorship programs to help improve the students’ individual skills and to create an environment where like-minded people can come together. The club’s NAHJ affiliation opens members to opportunities to have priority consideration for scholarships, as well as participating in NAHJ regional events. Latino Journalists members have been awarded NAHJ’s highest-level scholarship, in addition to fellowships to NAHJ’s annual national conventions.
The club is open to all Communications students regardless of concentration, and regardless of the “Latino” in Latino Journalists, anyone is welcome to join. Members have included students interested in public relations; advertising; print, broadcast and web journalism; photography; and non-communications fields. The club welcomes students from all walks of life who want to gain self-confidence, contacts and skills that can help them to excel as interns and as new professionals. The students also enjoy fellowship activities such as cultural banquets featuring favorite dishes from members’ national backgrounds and “Sunday Fun Day” movie nights and outings to the beach.
LJ alumni hold well-regarded media positions and keep in touch with current LJ members. Former LJ members are employed at companies including Telemundo, NBC, ABC7, Univision and CNN.
Maxwell Center for International Communications
The Maxwell Center for International Communications offers students opportunities to increase their global awareness and citizenship skills through international study and travel. At present, study abroad is on hiatus due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, when the situation returns to normal, the Maxwell Center hopes to resume its six overseas study abroad programs. Department of Communications students can easily acquire financial support to travel abroad.
Public Relations Student Society of America
The Robert E. Rayfield Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America was founded in 1968. Its mission is “to provide exceptional service to our members by enhancing their education, broadening their professional network and helping launch their careers after graduation.” Programs connect students with professionals through a variety of activities designed to enhance students’ awareness of communication and public relations careers and to provide opportunities to network and build relationships.
CSUF PRSSA typically hosts five to six events each semester that include panel discussions, networking events, tours, and workshops. Prior to restrictions mandated by the COVID-19 crisis, all engagements with professionals were conducted in-person to provide the best networking opportunities for the members. Even after CSUF moved to the virtual learning environment, CSUF PRSSA continued to work to serve its members, as well as members from other CSUF communications organizations and PRSSA chapters across the nation, by hosting a video conference with the communications team from Disneyland Resort who spoke about communications at the resort amidst the COVID-19 shutdown.
Society of Professional Journalists
The CSUF chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists provides leadership opportunities to COMM students interested in exploring journalism as a possible career. Chapter meetings expose students to professional guest speakers and visits to professional newsrooms. In the past two years, students have visited the Long Beach Post and CBS/L.A. newsrooms.
In recent years, guest speakers have included a number of experts who are journalists - but also have experience working with the public relations professionals who interact with news media gatekeepers. Speakers have included: Laura Davis, assistant professor of professional practice, University of Southern California Annenberg School of Journalism and former journalist at Buzzfeed News, the Los Angeles Times, Yahoo and The Associated Press; Lynn Walsh, assistant director, Trusting News Project and former national president of Society of Professional Journalists; Tre'vell Anderson, culture reporter, Los Angeles Times; Sona Patel, audience editor, New York Times; Baxter Holmes, sports reporter, ESPN; Jonathan Volzke, CSUF journalism alumnus, senior communications analyst, city of Lake Forest (California); and Sarah El-Mahmoud, CSUF journalism alumna, contributing writer for CinemaBlend.
Titan Communications
Titan Communications is the home to Cal State Fullerton’s digital media center, which provides students with a living-learning classroom and an opportunity to work and learn about television and radio broadcast management in a professional hands-on environment. It includes a full-scale television studio, control room, audio and editing labs, equipped Mac Pro workstation computers, a voiceover booth, and radio station. Titan Communications also services clients by providing high-quality audio and video productions. Titan Communications provides services for webcasting and multimedia. Some of the award-winning projects produced by Titan Communications range from educational and training to marketing and television shows. The following are some of the programs included under the TitanUniverse umbrella:
Al Día
Al Día is an Emmy award-winning television news program produced entirely in Spanish by Department of Communications students. Al Día is produced and aired weekly during the fall and spring semesters. The program welcomes students from all COMM concentrations.
Tech ON
Tech ON is a student-produced television program focused on the latest news and developments in technology.
The Report
A weekly news-and-political discussion show, The Report hosts students engaging in roundtable discussions of social and political events locally and around the world. All students with an interest in media and politics are welcome to get involved.
Titan Radio
Titan Radio, “the sound of CSUF,” is the campus radio station. It hosts more than 70 student and faculty on-air DJs each semester. Frequent calls are made for anyone interested in learning the radio business to get involved as a volunteer. Along with its 24/7 broadcast programming, Titan Radio also hosts in-person events and is active on social media.
Titan Sports
Any COMM student with an interest in sports is invited to participate in Titan Sports. There are opportunities to write copy for the Titan Sports website, as well as opportunities to participate in TV coverage of CSUF sporting events.
Tusk Magazine
The Department of Communications national award-winning magazine welcomes public relations students who are interested in feature reporting, writing, and page design. Tusk is a lifestyle magazine with an extensive online and social media presence.
Cal State Fullerton’s Advertising Club (AdClub) is a high impact program that offers a unique opportunity for students to forge a path from classroom to career. The club's mission is to provide students with access to advertising professionals and advertising agencies in order to increase their exposure to industry best practices, better preparing them for a career in the ad industry.
Many of AdClub's alumni go on to top positions in the ad industry and are frequent guests at club events. Former AdClub members are currently employed at prominent advertising agencies including 72andSunny, Conill, Media Arts Lab, TBWA Chiat/Day, BBD&O, David & Goliath, CP&B, Casanova/McCann, Deutsch, Ideology, Campbell Ewald, Daily, Nativo, Canvas, Pitch, Envoy, Ink, RPA, Innocean, Jovenille, and Saatchi & Saatchi.
AdClub’s biweekly events include guest speakers from top advertising agencies who manage prominent brands such as Honda, Farmers Insurance, Pepsi, Boost Mobile, Mazda, Playstation, Arrowhead Water, AT&T, and Apple. At the close of each event, club members are able to network one-on-one with industry experts, which helps to build their professional circle, increasing their chances for internships and jobs.
In addition to the club's guest speaker series, AdClub’s annual Advertising Conference (AdCon) is a daylong event during COMM Week. During AdCon, industry expert speakers share their experiences with students via panels, presentations, workshops, and networking.
Entertainment and Tourism Club
The Entertainment and Tourism Club (ETC) bridges classroom concepts with professional practice. Many PR students who are interested in working in the entertainment world are members of ETC.
ETC holds monthly industry panels with networking sessions, inviting dozens of professionals from a wide variety of entertainment and tourism-adjacent sectors, such as music, sports, event planning, radio, film, television, video gaming, travel, tourism, social media and creative arts.
Each themed panel event consists of three to six professionals hailing from the specific industry under discussion. Nearly half of all recently invited panelists were alumni from California State University, Fullerton, and most of them were Communications graduates. Recently invited guest speakers included employees from the NFL Network, Anaheim Ducks, Disneyland Resort, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Visit Laguna Beach, Warner Bros. Television Animation, Sundance Institute, LA Lakers, Nickelodeon, NBC Telemundo, Southwest Airlines, Disney Channel, E! Networks, DreamWorks, Sony Pictures, Capitol Records and Marvel.
ETC also hosts company tours, television tapings and information sessions with some of the most popular entertainment and tourism companies in the Southern California region. Information sessions typically host a single speaker or company, offering more detailed insight of a potential employer’s operations. Such sessions included representatives from Live Nation and Epic Records. Recently, ETC members took tours of Paramount Pictures and the Anaheim GardenWalk and were on the sets at major production studios for television tapings of “America’s Funniest Videos,” “Conan” and “Mom.”
ETC members have also volunteered at entertainment and tourism-related events, including the Critics’ Choice Awards, Petco Foundation Awards, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night walk.
ETC hosts an end-of-the-year industry mixer in which dozens of professionals, many of whom are alumni, are able to come to campus and network directly with students in a festive, yet productive atmosphere.
ETC members have landed internships and professional positions at companies such as NBC, Live Nation, RCA Records, Creative Artists Agency, CBS, E! News, FOX, Atlantic Records, Walt Disney Television, LA Clippers, The Recording Academy, Hilton Hotels, Rogers and Cowan PMK, Disneyland Resort, Bunim Murray, iHeartMedia, and many more.
Lambda Pi Eta
The National Communication Honor Society (Tau Epsilon chapter) at California State University Fullerton seeks to build a visibly cohesive community of Communications majors, individually and collectively exhibit excellent scholarship, display peer and colleague support, and participate in campus and local service projects.
Members of Lambda Pi Eta - Tau Epsilon are eligible for various benefits that can further their educational or professional careers: Honor Society recognition on resumes, attendance at National Communication Association conferences, participation in career and academic networking events, fellowship with like minded Communications students, community service opportunities, Honor Society cords, certificate, and pin upon graduation, and access to study, research, project, and publication groups. Lambda Pi Eta meets on campus once a month.
Latino Communications Institute
The College of Communications launched the Latino Communications Initiative (now Institute) in 2013 as a way to prepare more students for the many employment and service opportunities in Latino-focused communications media. The Department of Communications is a major contributor to the LCI in that COMM faculty were the first to approve the Certificate program that is the central focus of LCI.
The LCI seeks to develop and maintain a qualified workforce that is industry ready by offering courses and certificates that will provide CSUF students cultural competency in Latino communication and added value in an increasingly multicultural market and competitive workforce. The LCI regularly brings industry leaders to campus for meetings and networking with students. Additionally, the LCI organizes and carries out on-site visits such as this one:
Six students from the College of Communications' Latino Communications Initiative recently got a first-hand glimpse of a newsroom during a live, breaking story while attending a career orientation event and tour provided by CBS2/KCAL9 and CBS Entertainment in Los Angeles. Students met Steve Mauldin, CBS2/KCAL9 President and General Manager; Scott Diener, Vice President and News Director; and Olivia Campos-Bergeron, Director of Community Relations, as well as took part in an impromptu studio tour at the invitation of Tiffany Smith-Anoa'i, Vice President, Diversity and Communications at CBS Entertainment.
Latino Journalists of Cal State Fullerton
Latino Journalists of CSUF was founded in 2013 as a student chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. The organization’s main goals are to help prepare members as leaders and future professionals by providing networking opportunities, panels with professionals, informational workshops and mentorship programs to help improve the students’ individual skills and to create an environment where like-minded people can come together. The club’s NAHJ affiliation opens members to opportunities to have priority consideration for scholarships, as well as participating in NAHJ regional events. Latino Journalists members have been awarded NAHJ’s highest-level scholarship, in addition to fellowships to NAHJ’s annual national conventions.
The club is open to all Communications students regardless of concentration, and regardless of the “Latino” in Latino Journalists, anyone is welcome to join. Members have included students interested in public relations; advertising; print, broadcast and web journalism; photography; and non-communications fields. The club welcomes students from all walks of life who want to gain self-confidence, contacts and skills that can help them to excel as interns and as new professionals. The students also enjoy fellowship activities such as cultural banquets featuring favorite dishes from members’ national backgrounds and “Sunday Fun Day” movie nights and outings to the beach.
LJ alumni hold well-regarded media positions and keep in touch with current LJ members. Former LJ members are employed at companies including Telemundo, NBC, ABC7, Univision and CNN.
Maxwell Center for International Communications
The Maxwell Center for International Communications offers students opportunities to increase their global awareness and citizenship skills through international study and travel. At present, study abroad is on hiatus due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, when the situation returns to normal, the Maxwell Center hopes to resume its six overseas study abroad programs. Department of Communications students can easily acquire financial support to travel abroad.
Public Relations Student Society of America
The Robert E. Rayfield Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America was founded in 1968. Its mission is “to provide exceptional service to our members by enhancing their education, broadening their professional network and helping launch their careers after graduation.” Programs connect students with professionals through a variety of activities designed to enhance students’ awareness of communication and public relations careers and to provide opportunities to network and build relationships.
CSUF PRSSA typically hosts five to six events each semester that include panel discussions, networking events, tours, and workshops. Prior to restrictions mandated by the COVID-19 crisis, all engagements with professionals were conducted in-person to provide the best networking opportunities for the members. Even after CSUF moved to the virtual learning environment, CSUF PRSSA continued to work to serve its members, as well as members from other CSUF communications organizations and PRSSA chapters across the nation, by hosting a video conference with the communications team from Disneyland Resort who spoke about communications at the resort amidst the COVID-19 shutdown.
Society of Professional Journalists
The CSUF chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists provides leadership opportunities to COMM students interested in exploring journalism as a possible career. Chapter meetings expose students to professional guest speakers and visits to professional newsrooms. In the past two years, students have visited the Long Beach Post and CBS/L.A. newsrooms.
In recent years, guest speakers have included a number of experts who are journalists - but also have experience working with the public relations professionals who interact with news media gatekeepers. Speakers have included: Laura Davis, assistant professor of professional practice, University of Southern California Annenberg School of Journalism and former journalist at Buzzfeed News, the Los Angeles Times, Yahoo and The Associated Press; Lynn Walsh, assistant director, Trusting News Project and former national president of Society of Professional Journalists; Tre'vell Anderson, culture reporter, Los Angeles Times; Sona Patel, audience editor, New York Times; Baxter Holmes, sports reporter, ESPN; Jonathan Volzke, CSUF journalism alumnus, senior communications analyst, city of Lake Forest (California); and Sarah El-Mahmoud, CSUF journalism alumna, contributing writer for CinemaBlend.
Titan Communications
Titan Communications is the home to Cal State Fullerton’s digital media center, which provides students with a living-learning classroom and an opportunity to work and learn about television and radio broadcast management in a professional hands-on environment. It includes a full-scale television studio, control room, audio and editing labs, equipped Mac Pro workstation computers, a voiceover booth, and radio station. Titan Communications also services clients by providing high-quality audio and video productions. Titan Communications provides services for webcasting and multimedia. Some of the award-winning projects produced by Titan Communications range from educational and training to marketing and television shows. The following are some of the programs included under the TitanUniverse umbrella:
Al Día
Al Día is an Emmy award-winning television news program produced entirely in Spanish by Department of Communications students. Al Día is produced and aired weekly during the fall and spring semesters. The program welcomes students from all COMM concentrations.
Tech ON
Tech ON is a student-produced television program focused on the latest news and developments in technology.
The Report
A weekly news-and-political discussion show, The Report hosts students engaging in roundtable discussions of social and political events locally and around the world. All students with an interest in media and politics are welcome to get involved.
Titan Radio
Titan Radio, “the sound of CSUF,” is the campus radio station. It hosts more than 70 student and faculty on-air DJs each semester. Frequent calls are made for anyone interested in learning the radio business to get involved as a volunteer. Along with its 24/7 broadcast programming, Titan Radio also hosts in-person events and is active on social media.
Titan Sports
Any COMM student with an interest in sports is invited to participate in Titan Sports. There are opportunities to write copy for the Titan Sports website, as well as opportunities to participate in TV coverage of CSUF sporting events.
Tusk Magazine
The Department of Communications national award-winning magazine welcomes public relations students who are interested in feature reporting, writing, and page design. Tusk is a lifestyle magazine with an extensive online and social media presence.
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TitanPR and PRactical ADvantage Communications
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Cal State Fullerton is one of the few universities in the country that offers not one, but two public relations agency experiences for students. Beginning in their freshman year and continuing until their senior year, COMM/public relations students have opportunities to engage in agency-framed projects with real world clients through TitanPR and PRactical ADvantage Communications.
TitanPR is the volunteer-based agency sponsored by the Robert Rayfield Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America. Founded in 2009, the chapter provides services on a pro bono basis to businesses and nonprofits in the Fullerton area. Any student with an interest in public relations is welcome to take part.
PRactical ADvantage Communications (COMM 474) is the capstone agency experience available to COMM majors in advertising, entertainment and tourism, and public relations concentrations. To enroll in the agency course, students must meet prerequisites and have at least junior standing. PRAD is housed in exclusive, dedicated space and works with its supporting business clients on a donation-fee basis. It also works with nonprofits on a pro bono basis. More than 900 students have completed the PRAD experience since the agency's founding in 2011. PRAD is one of the largest student-run agencies in the world by number of students graduated. Its founding faculty member, Dr. Doug Swanson, APR, wrote the book on student-run agencies.
Even in their first semester at CSUF, students can volunteer with TitanPR to use the experience to augment what they’re learning in the classroom. Then, when ready for the capstone, students can enroll in COMM 474. The course allows enrollment for a second semester, so some students have opted to be involved with PRAD for an entire academic year. Very few undergraduate programs can boast of allowing undergraduates to get student-run agency experience throughout their entire academic career.
TitanPR is the volunteer-based agency sponsored by the Robert Rayfield Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America. Founded in 2009, the chapter provides services on a pro bono basis to businesses and nonprofits in the Fullerton area. Any student with an interest in public relations is welcome to take part.
PRactical ADvantage Communications (COMM 474) is the capstone agency experience available to COMM majors in advertising, entertainment and tourism, and public relations concentrations. To enroll in the agency course, students must meet prerequisites and have at least junior standing. PRAD is housed in exclusive, dedicated space and works with its supporting business clients on a donation-fee basis. It also works with nonprofits on a pro bono basis. More than 900 students have completed the PRAD experience since the agency's founding in 2011. PRAD is one of the largest student-run agencies in the world by number of students graduated. Its founding faculty member, Dr. Doug Swanson, APR, wrote the book on student-run agencies.
Even in their first semester at CSUF, students can volunteer with TitanPR to use the experience to augment what they’re learning in the classroom. Then, when ready for the capstone, students can enroll in COMM 474. The course allows enrollment for a second semester, so some students have opted to be involved with PRAD for an entire academic year. Very few undergraduate programs can boast of allowing undergraduates to get student-run agency experience throughout their entire academic career.
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COMM WEEK
Communications Week (COMM WEEK) is a weeklong conference planned and produced by students in the COMM 497 Event Planning and Management course, to showcase a variety of communications-related professions. Many COMM WEEK guest experts are CSUF alumni currently employed in the field who attend to discuss recent events, trends, and challenges in their respective careers and industries. More than 2,000 students and community members attend sessions covering the range of professions within the Department of Communications’ concentrations of Public Relations, Advertising, Journalism, and Entertainment and Tourism Communications. In 2019, Comm Week hosted more than 80 professional speakers. In 2020, the event was moved to a virtual presentation space due to the Coronavirus pandemic, receiving positive press coverage in the Orange County Register for its resilience as an important educational conference.
Professionals who have presented at COMM WEEK include Tim Arango (New York Times), Gabriela Armenta (Hill+Knowlton), Diana Bahena (Knott’s Berry Farm), Asleigh Correa (Spectrum News), Edward James Olmos (Tony, Emmy and Academy Award-nominated actor), Andrea Gonzalez (Univision), Robert Guaderrama (FOX News), Andrew George (Atlantic Records), Uwe Gustchow (Omnicom), Alan Huerta (ESPN Los Angeles), Tery Lopez (Writers Guild of America West), Jessica Lucero (Fox Sports West), Lindsay Nakayama (RPA), Karishma Patel (Walt Disney Co.), Gabriela Patino (Paramount Pictures), Trevor Rabone (LA Kings), Sheryl Posadas (E! International/NBC), Yarel Ramos (Univision), Eric Resendiz (ABC 7 News), MacKenzie Reynolds (Capitol Records) and Craig Wright (Lionsgate).
COMM WEEK was launched in 1978 and has brought several hundred speakers to campus over its 42-year span. All COMM WEEK sessions are free and open to the public.
Professionals who have presented at COMM WEEK include Tim Arango (New York Times), Gabriela Armenta (Hill+Knowlton), Diana Bahena (Knott’s Berry Farm), Asleigh Correa (Spectrum News), Edward James Olmos (Tony, Emmy and Academy Award-nominated actor), Andrea Gonzalez (Univision), Robert Guaderrama (FOX News), Andrew George (Atlantic Records), Uwe Gustchow (Omnicom), Alan Huerta (ESPN Los Angeles), Tery Lopez (Writers Guild of America West), Jessica Lucero (Fox Sports West), Lindsay Nakayama (RPA), Karishma Patel (Walt Disney Co.), Gabriela Patino (Paramount Pictures), Trevor Rabone (LA Kings), Sheryl Posadas (E! International/NBC), Yarel Ramos (Univision), Eric Resendiz (ABC 7 News), MacKenzie Reynolds (Capitol Records) and Craig Wright (Lionsgate).
COMM WEEK was launched in 1978 and has brought several hundred speakers to campus over its 42-year span. All COMM WEEK sessions are free and open to the public.
Summary
It is the faculty’s goal to see that public relations students are extremely well prepared to work in the PR industry, and, at the same time, have strong familiarity with the professional norms and expectations in journalism, advertising, entertainment and tourism, and other aligned fields. The wide range of student organizations offered by the College of Communications and Department of Communications allows this learning to take place. COMM students never lack opportunities to engage with professionals!
D-02. Opportunities for Public Relations Students to Interact with Practicing
Professionals – Including Types of Activities
The Department of Communications strongly encourages networking between students and professionals so that students can acquire industry insights from leaders in public relations and related fields. COMM’s location within the second largest media market in the U.S. allows easy access to Communications professionals from every discipline. Another benefit of this proximity is that a significant portion of alumni remain in the region, which means faculty often invite COMM grads to participate in classroom activities, curriculum enhancement, club events, conferences, panels, site tours, and so forth. All these efforts expose our students to diverse perspectives and help them build social capital.
There are several places in this CEPR Application where examples of these networking opportunities are presented and discussed:
There are several places in this CEPR Application where examples of these networking opportunities are presented and discussed:
- Section B: Information About the Program, Section B-02., focusing on the Department of Communications assessment program, also includes extensive attention to high-impact practice co-curricular engagement across all COMM courses.
- Section C: Information About the Resources of the Program, Section C-02. addresses, in part, the broadcast studios, student-run agency and other technology-based resources. Professionals from the community are frequent guests in our classrooms, studios, student-run agency, and student organization meetings to help students learn the concepts and skills needed to enter and succeed in the professional world.
- Section D: Information About Professional Affiliations, Section D-01. details some of the myriad of opportunities COMM students have to interact with practicing professionals through student organizations and through COMM WEEK.
- Section E: Information About the Curriculum, Section E-03. presents a sampling of the enriching extracurricular opportunities available throughout the curriculum and especially in the public relations courses. The section also identifies some recent guest experts who have visited COMM classes.
It should also be noted that local chapters of the Public Relations Society of America and the International Association of Business Communicators are extremely student-friendly. Both OC/PRSA and IABC/OC hold a variety of different networking and professional development events during the year. Students are often allowed to attend at no charge.
Unquestionably, numerous opportunities exist for PR students to interact with professionals – both within PR and related disciplines. Rather than re-state what is already offered elsewhere in the CEPR Application, this section instead seeks guidance from the members of the review team in two areas - student awareness and engagement, and student reporting of co-curricular engagement.
Student Awareness and Engagement
As already noted, 60% of the students in the Department of Communications come to the University as transfer students. Most of these transfer students have completed their General Education requirement and can finish their B.A. in just two years - meaning the Department often has only four semesters to engage these students. It has proven to be difficult to present all the information students need about curricular and extracurricular offerings. Students are anxious to get their degrees completed, and it can be difficult to present sufficient information about COMM offerings without reaching the point of ‘information overload.’
As an example, over the ten years PRactical ADvantage Communications has been in operation, agency students have relentlessly engaged in promotion throughout the campus community, within COMM organizations, and via social media. Still, it is not uncommon for a final semester senior to appear at the agency supervisor’s office saying, “I never knew we had this agency, how do I join?!” Likewise, faculty commonly find PRactical ADvantage students have no knowledge of TitanPR, and TitanPR students have no knowledge of PRactical ADvantage.
Similarly, many COMM faculty have reported making casual mentions in class of AdClub, ETC, or PRSSA - to which one or more junior or senior-level students report, “I didn’t know anything about those groups!” Each year, when COMM Week happens, many students are surprised to know about the existence of the annual event despite relentless communication and promotion of it.
Bottom line: Faculty work diligently to communicate with every COMM student about the opportunities. But despite everyone's best efforts, it's difficult to break through the cacophony of campus communication to reach students with critical information that would help them be more prepared for the post-commencement workplace.
At the same time, not all of the challenge results from information overload on campus. Most CSUF students are commuters. Many students live miles away from campus, and commute 30-, 40-, or more than 50 miles round-trip to get to Fullerton. Students typically work one or two jobs and often have family obligations. It is difficult to get as much student involvement in clubs and organizations as faculty would like, simply because many students don’t have the time or the energy to participate.
Student organizations are urged to schedule meetings in the evenings to avoid conflicts with scheduled classes (for example, PRSSA meets Wednesdays at 7 p.m.). But many students work in the evening, or need to be home to care for their children or elderly parents. Likewise, many students are in a financial situation where it is difficult for them to afford the annual dues to join a student organization.
Not long ago, a COMM major in her senior year came to visit a faculty member, to apologize that she would have to drop out of school. A first-generation student, she explained that her father was a gardener and her mother was a motel maid. The family shared one car. Her father became ill and needed to be hospitalized. The car payment couldn’t be made, and the car was repossessed. The family was in danger of being evicted from their apartment, so the student needed to get a full-time job to help pay the rent.
Situations like this are heartbreaking for the faculty. And even though the University has a variety of resources available to help the most needy students (including the recently-opened Food Pantry and Basic Needs Service) there’s only so much that the faculty can do. A recent study found one in ten students in the CSU System has experienced homelessness, and there are anecdotal reports of CSUF students living in their cars.
When a student has to drop out to get a job and help the family pay rent, it’s likely the student has not also been able to buy textbooks for classes and may be surviving on the leftover proceeds from a student loan. It's not realistic to begin a conversation about professional networking. That student is struggling with basic needs, and cannot even imagine a light at the end of the tunnel.
The Department of Communications faculty welcome input from the site visit team on this essential issue of making sure all students have the maximum level of professional interaction - even though many students are often not aware of it, or due to economic stress or life demands are unable to even consider networking at an optimum level.
As an example, over the ten years PRactical ADvantage Communications has been in operation, agency students have relentlessly engaged in promotion throughout the campus community, within COMM organizations, and via social media. Still, it is not uncommon for a final semester senior to appear at the agency supervisor’s office saying, “I never knew we had this agency, how do I join?!” Likewise, faculty commonly find PRactical ADvantage students have no knowledge of TitanPR, and TitanPR students have no knowledge of PRactical ADvantage.
Similarly, many COMM faculty have reported making casual mentions in class of AdClub, ETC, or PRSSA - to which one or more junior or senior-level students report, “I didn’t know anything about those groups!” Each year, when COMM Week happens, many students are surprised to know about the existence of the annual event despite relentless communication and promotion of it.
Bottom line: Faculty work diligently to communicate with every COMM student about the opportunities. But despite everyone's best efforts, it's difficult to break through the cacophony of campus communication to reach students with critical information that would help them be more prepared for the post-commencement workplace.
At the same time, not all of the challenge results from information overload on campus. Most CSUF students are commuters. Many students live miles away from campus, and commute 30-, 40-, or more than 50 miles round-trip to get to Fullerton. Students typically work one or two jobs and often have family obligations. It is difficult to get as much student involvement in clubs and organizations as faculty would like, simply because many students don’t have the time or the energy to participate.
Student organizations are urged to schedule meetings in the evenings to avoid conflicts with scheduled classes (for example, PRSSA meets Wednesdays at 7 p.m.). But many students work in the evening, or need to be home to care for their children or elderly parents. Likewise, many students are in a financial situation where it is difficult for them to afford the annual dues to join a student organization.
Not long ago, a COMM major in her senior year came to visit a faculty member, to apologize that she would have to drop out of school. A first-generation student, she explained that her father was a gardener and her mother was a motel maid. The family shared one car. Her father became ill and needed to be hospitalized. The car payment couldn’t be made, and the car was repossessed. The family was in danger of being evicted from their apartment, so the student needed to get a full-time job to help pay the rent.
Situations like this are heartbreaking for the faculty. And even though the University has a variety of resources available to help the most needy students (including the recently-opened Food Pantry and Basic Needs Service) there’s only so much that the faculty can do. A recent study found one in ten students in the CSU System has experienced homelessness, and there are anecdotal reports of CSUF students living in their cars.
When a student has to drop out to get a job and help the family pay rent, it’s likely the student has not also been able to buy textbooks for classes and may be surviving on the leftover proceeds from a student loan. It's not realistic to begin a conversation about professional networking. That student is struggling with basic needs, and cannot even imagine a light at the end of the tunnel.
The Department of Communications faculty welcome input from the site visit team on this essential issue of making sure all students have the maximum level of professional interaction - even though many students are often not aware of it, or due to economic stress or life demands are unable to even consider networking at an optimum level.
Student Reporting of Co-Curricular Engagement
Even when students are available and do participate in networking and co-curricular activity, it can be difficult for the Department to track this engagement. The Assistant Dean of the College of Communications, Dr. Rob Flores, has been a great help in this regard as he oversees the Communications Inter-Club Council. But still, reporting by the clubs and organizations is an ongoing challenge.
Organizational leadership changes annually; students tend to not be good record-keepers about what has happened in their organizations during the academic year. Their sense of history can only extend to what’s happening in the current semester. Organizational websites often are infrequently updated. Social media postings focus more on socialization than on professional preparation.
The faculty who oversee student organizations are busy people and have no desire to micromanage organizational communication; faculty want to allow student leadership to have autonomy. But that autonomy often results in a lapse in communication with the Department about what’s happening in the organizations.This can leave a big gap in our assessment of student engagement.
Unfortunately, the Department has not been able to establish strong year-to-year consistency in reporting of student organization activities.
Input from the site visit team is welcomed on how improvements could be made in communication with the student organizations.
Organizational leadership changes annually; students tend to not be good record-keepers about what has happened in their organizations during the academic year. Their sense of history can only extend to what’s happening in the current semester. Organizational websites often are infrequently updated. Social media postings focus more on socialization than on professional preparation.
The faculty who oversee student organizations are busy people and have no desire to micromanage organizational communication; faculty want to allow student leadership to have autonomy. But that autonomy often results in a lapse in communication with the Department about what’s happening in the organizations.This can leave a big gap in our assessment of student engagement.
Unfortunately, the Department has not been able to establish strong year-to-year consistency in reporting of student organization activities.
Input from the site visit team is welcomed on how improvements could be made in communication with the student organizations.
D-03. Professional Contacts – List of at Least Ten With E-mail Addresses
and Phone Numbers
|
Ingrid Otero Smart, President/CEO
Casanova // McCann, Costa Mesa, CA ingrid.smart@casanova.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingrid-otero-smart-5809a94/ (714) 918-8200 *Member of the PRactical ADvantage Communications Agency Advisory Board John Echeveste, Partner Valencia, Perez & Echeveste, South Pasadena, CA john@vpepr.com (626) 403-3200 Dana Kovach, Founder & CEO Kovach Marketing, Newport Beach, CA dana@kovachmarketing.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-lee-kovach-0b205b8/ (949) 757-2870 Cerise Valenzuela Metzger, Director of Public Relations Chapman University, Orange, CA cmetzger@chapman.edu https://www.linkedin.com/in/cerisevm/ (714) 289-3143 (office) (657) 390-6760 (cell) Elena Bosch, APR, PR & Marketing Strategist Think Together, Santa Ana, CA elenakaybosch@gmail.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenabosch/ (714) 683-7867 Dan Nasitka, Vice President Rocket Launch Marketing and PR, Orange, CA https://www.linkedin.com/in/danonthree/ (714) 694-7190 |
Jeanne Tran-Martin, Executive Director
Cal State Student Association, Long Beach, CA (562) 951-4134 jtmartin@calstate.edu Jessica Neuman, Media Manager and Senior Account Executive Westbound Communications, Aliso Viejo, CA jneuman@westboundcommunications.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaneuman/ (714) 663-8188 Bill Kolberg, Partner & Managing Director Porter Novelli, Los Angeles CA bill.kolberg@porternovelli.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-kolberg-63756014/ (310) 444-7009 Rachel Smith Abasi, Senior Global Brand Manager EPICOR, Irvine, CA racsmith@epicor.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelsmithabasi/ (714) 337-5068 Charissa Gonzales, Senior Communications Adviser The Good PR Group, Huntington Beach, CA charissa@goodprgroup.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/charissatgonzales/ (855) 338-1987 Jason R. Motsick, Executive Director of Human Resources City of Santa Ana, CA jmotsick@santa-ana.org https://www.santa-ana.org/hr (714) 647-5372 Cynthia K. Chandler, APR, Director of Communications Parker Aerospace, Irvine, CA https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthiaragland/?locale=es_ES (714) 743-2550 |