UC PR Students Take Top Honors Out of 17 Schools in Campaign Competition

Experiential learning is a strength for students at the University of Cincinnati, and the latest program to see the benefits of such an approach is the new Public Relations certificate program out of UC’s Department of Communication.

A team of students from UC’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) took top honors out of 17 teams in a contest to create a publicity campaign for donor registration for Donate Life Ohio, the organ donation effort sponsored by the Ohio Department of Health. It is a milestone achievement for a program that is in just its third year of existence.

The team worked from October through May creating and implementing a campaign to get Donate Life Ohio’s message across to a wider audience. Their final presentation was made on the first day of four when all the schools made presentations to the client.

“We had to wait almost a whole week. It was killing us,” says UC junior Kelley Ujvary, who was the leader of the UC team. “But it felt so great afterwards when the judges came up and said, ‘You guys blew us away, we didn’t expect anything like this.’ ”

“We really believe we have one of the best programs in the state,” adds UC Associate Professor of Communication Maribeth Metzler, the director of UC’s Public Relations program. “I couldn’t tell you how proud I was of those students after seeing their presentation.”

The UC team built its campaign on a motif of shoes, working around the campaign slogan of “Put Yourself in Their Shoes… Who Would Save Your Life?” They planned special events on campus and off campus to promote organ donor registration. Two videos were produced. A Facebook page was created.

To see one of the team's video, click here.

To visit the team's Facebook page, click here.

“They went with those old Converse Chuck Taylor gym shoes as part of their theme and did a lot with that,” says Metzler. “They carried their ideas through so well.”

UC has more than 100 students pursuing the PR certificate program now, and about 10 formed a core group that worked on the project.

It wasn’t a big team, so diversification of tactics became key, says Ryan Schatzman, the president of UC’s PRSSA chapter and a team member.

“Everyone worked incredibly hard. The people who worked on the campaign learned some key organizational techniques really quickly,” Schatzman says. “They learned how to engage different demographics and how to engage different people in different ways, to deliver an effective campaign from many angles.”

“One reason a competition like this is so valuable is because there are loads of opportunities for applications of things we are teaching in the classroom,” Metzler adds.

The team was awarded a prize of $2,000, which will be used to help defray the expenses of PRSSA members who are traveling to San Diego in the fall for the PRSSA national convention. Donate Life Ohio is expected to implement many of the winning proposal’s ideas into its ongoing campaign efforts.

UC PR is one of only two programs in the state of Ohio and 20 nationally to have achieved certification from the Educational Affairs Committee of the Public Relations Society of America. UC’s PRSSA chapter has also launched its own in-house PR firm called “Cinfluence.”

It all marks a rapid evolution for the program, which has now added one of its biggest plaudits yet with its statewide win. This was the third year UC competed in statewide competition – the first year resulted in a UC team winning a minor award, and the second year had a UC team bring home honors for best creative execution. Winning it all in just the program’s third year was both surprising and satisfying.

“It was a long and stressful process putting this together,” says Ujvary. “We had to stay focused. But we couldn’t be happier with how it turned out, and I think each of us really learned a lot.”