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Public Relations
chapter formed at UNCP
By Elizabeth
Butler
UNCP is restarting
its chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA).
 "I
wanted to join PRSSA, but you can't join unless your school has a chapter,"
new chapter President McKenzie Cook said. "We didn't have a chapter
here, and I thought 'Why not? How hard could it be?'"
So Cook, an undergraduate,
took the initiative and started a UNCP chapter. Public Relations or
PR is one of three concentration offered by UNCP's Mass
Communications Department.
PRSSA began with
nine chapters in 1968 and has grown to more than 20,000 members and
124 chapters UNCP is chapter number 125. There are eight university
chapters in North Carolina, and Cook feels that PRSSA is beneficial.
"It's just
a really neat organization," Cook said. "I really think this
is going to help our PR students and the Mass Communication Department."
By joining PRSSA,
members can then get involved with the public relations needs at their
campus and involved in national programs. Members get hands-on experience
needed for career development, fine tune leadership skills and receive
educational and networking opportunities.
 George
Harrison, a public relations professor at UNCP and faculty advisor for
the new chapter, pointed out that networking, job referrals, tips on
writing, professional development, scholarships and grants and travel
are just some of the highlights for joining PRSSA.
Cook has goals for
the new PRSSA chapter.
"My personal
goals are for PRSSA at UNCP to work with other clubs and organizations
and to promote a unity between all the clubs as well as enhance our
ever-growing Mass Communications Department," Cook said. "We
have so much going on in the department for other concentrations, and
I wanted to be able to do that for the public relations students."
Cook feels that
students need to learn about public relations outside the classroom.
"This is going
to give the students what they don't learn in class, the hands-on stuff,"
Cook said.
Harrison is thrilled
about PRSSA.
"I feel very
excited and pleased that students are expressing an interest in rejuvenating
the chapter," Harrison said.
For more information
about PRSSA contact Cook at highsteppin81@yahoo.com
or Harrison at george.harrison@uncp.edu.
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