Public Relations

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About Public Relations

The Department of Public Relations offers a 120-hour degree program leading to a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations. Widely recognized as one of the fastest growing career fields worldwide, public relations has become the most popular program in the College of Mass Communications. The curriculum develops students’ critical thinking, written communication and oral communication skills.

Coursework emphasizes the history of the field, legal and ethical challenges, globalization and diversity, the role of traditional and emerging media in public relations practice, persuasive communication, relationship management and strategic planning.

Graduates will be prepared for technical and managerial roles in public relations firms, corporate communication and media relations. Special topics courses enhance students’ understanding of the public relations function as it relates to nonprofit organizations, sport communication, government relations and other practice areas.


Resources

For more information about the public relations program, please contact the department chair, Dr. Trent Seltzer:

For more information regarding advising in public relations, please contact the academic advisor for public relations, Ashley Diaz:

For more information regarding internships, please contact the career center director, Aleesa Ross:

For information about TechPR, the student public relations association, contact the president, Ms. Caroline Trujillo:


In The News

1/20/2012

  • Dr. Autumn Shafer and Dr. Weiwu Zhang were selected to participate in TTU's Transdisciplinary Research Academy, which enhances the research missions of Texas Tech University and tackles issues of global concerns by cultivating interfacing interactions across traditional disciplinary boundaries.

1/11/2012

  • Congratulations to the Visionary Communications account team (Ann Andrews, Nicole Egan, Ashley Mcbride, Lisa Peisen, and Angie Sims). Their team won the account in Dr. Shafer's PR Campaigns class. Their client was National Safe Place.

05/10/11

  • Congratulations to the Fresh PR account team (Helen Oettinger, Allison Kozlowski, Lyndee Martin, Amy Speer, Macy West, and Jordan Wright). Their team won the account in Dr. Seltzer’s PR Campaigns class. Their client was the United States Air Force Academy Endowment.
  • Congratulations to the CaPRock Communications (Brittni Henderson, Marissa Balch, Audrey Batista, Siera Hart, Tristin Walker) and Priceless PR (Mattie Steger, Kalee Connally, Kelsey Davidson, Sydney Drake, Kelli Hanna, Bennett Jensen) account teams from Dr. Gardner's PR Campaigns classes. These teams were recognized as having the top campaigns by the Lubbock Lions Club, their client for the semester.

05/02/11

  • PR Campaigns group wins Texas Public Relations Association award!

    One of the PR Campaigns teams from the fall semester, Priority PR, has received a Best of Texas Award from the Texas Public Relations Association. The team developed the "forever hope, forever safe, forever home" campaign to increase the volunteer base for CASA of the South Plains. Their research-based strategic plan was chosen as a winner in the Best of Texas Student Category for a program or campaign. The student team will be honored with other Best of Texas winners at the May 20 TPRA awards reception in Dallas.

    The members of Priority PR are Deagan Ice, Ashley Quirino, Kayla Thomas and Luke Williams.

Our Faculty

Videos

Recent Publications
  • Seltzer, T., Gardner, L., Callison, C., & Bichard, S. (in press). PR in the ER: Managing internal organization-public relationships in a hospital emergency department. Public Relations Review.
  • Seltzer, T., & Zhang, W. (2011). Debating healthcare reform: How political parties' issue-specific communication influences citizens' perceptions of organization-public relationships. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly.
  • Zhang, W., & Gearhart, S. (in press). CHAPTER Political behavior in social network sites. In Z. Yan (ed.), Encyclopedia of Cyber Behavior. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
  • Johnson, T.J., Bichard, S.L., & Zhang, W. (in press). Revived and refreshed: Selective exposure to blogs and political Websites for political information. In F. Comunello (ed.), Networked sociability and individualism: Technology for personal and professional relationships. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
  • Wigley, S., & Zhang, W. (in press). A study of PR practitioners' use of social media in crisis planning. Public Relations Journal.