Public Relations

Upon successful completion of the Public Relations Certificate of Achievement, the student will demonstrate skills, knowledge, and training necessary for entry-level employment or career advancement with understanding of strategic public relations, including management of relationships between organizations and their stakeholders. Coursework in effective communication will guide theory-based lessons and experiential practice related to the field. Ethical considerations and planning for crisis communication will be explored. Students will work in a manner mirroring industry standards, with emphasis on building understanding of strategic planning processes, including message development and distribution.  

A conservative estimate of 20 completers a year is projected, due to the cross disciplinary nature of the program. COE projects an undersupply of 145 workers without bachelor’s degrees. The annual completers depend on the consistent offerings of an introductory public relations course, as well as potential for cohort building in partnership between discipline faculty.

The goal of thePublic Relations Certificate of Achievement is to prepare students for work ininternal and external communications related to promoting and advocating forclients. The course of study will focus on foundational topics, including therole of the public relations communicator and practice in storytelling, while alsoexploring ethical practice, including crisis communication models. IntegratedMarketing Communication will be exploredand engaged in experiential learning. Focus will be placed on courseworkthat builds successful communication in interpersonal and mass communicationsettings. The certificate prepares students for entering, or retraining for workin, public relations and adjacent communication fields.

Program Learning Outcomes

● Upon successful completion of this program, a student will be able to develop and execute a campaign based on established principles of public relations.

● Upon successful completion of this program, a student will be able to craft messages tailored to organizations for both internal and external communication delivery, with specific focus on proper grammar and punctuation.

● Upon successful completion of this program, a student will be able to recommend delivery methods and implement media based on the target audience.

● Upon successful completion of this program, a student will be able to demonstrate critical thinking and problem solving through written communication, interpersonal, and public speaking skills.

In the San Joaquin Delta College Strategic Plan 2022-2027, three areas are focused on in the strategic goals and objectives: student-centered, innovative and inclusive, and community focused. The development and launch of this certificate touches all of those areas, specifically:

● Student-centered: This certificate is being launched after multiple years of students asking for a public relations class to complement work on Journalism and Communication degrees. Notably, this program looks to reduce equity gaps that may exist in current programs by providing a more specific and streamlined line of study, which discipline faculty hopes reduces time to award. The implementation of this program directly answers Delta College’s goal to “actively elicit student perspectives and increase opportunities for engagement and participation to inform ongoing improvements.”

● Innovative and inclusive: Development of this certificate has been a joint collaboration between discipline faculty in the Journalism and Communication Studies areas, representing a shift in curriculum design and presentation. Understanding that we share students, discipline faculty has worked to craft a plan that doesn’t add tedious units to already prescribed areas of study. This specific strategic goal looks to “improve operational practices to ensure access to an equity-minded, student centered experience.” The work done on this program looks to break down silos in a thoughtful, cohesive way, providing students more options in areas of study, which discipline faculty see as a way to close equity gaps in skills development.

● Community-focused: Delta College exists in a news desert, where access to misinformation is high and there are no other existing training programs to professional train public relations workers in the area, noted in the Fall 2022 memo from the Centers of Excellence (COE). Delta College specifically is working to “enhance employer relationships” with a goal to “increase the number of students employed in the local industry to meet the labor market need” by 2027 (“San Joaquin”). This program allows training of non-news communication positions to meet a shortfall of labor market needs as noted by COE. Moreover, discipline faculty hope that the launch of this program will “increase paid opportunities for students, including on campus and in the community through internships, connections with local industry, and on-the-job training opportunities

that align with student programs of study” which is a noted key strategy for this specific goal area.

A November 2022 memo from the COE notes an “undersupply of 211 trained workers without a bachelor’s degree in the region and an undersupply of 145 workers with bachelor’s degrees in the North Central Valley/Northern Mother subregion” related to public relations.

COE specifically looked at four entry-level occupations:

● Marketing Managers

● Public Relations Managers

● Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists

● Public Relations Specialists