- Why do we as a Society need to have national standards for our student-run firms?
PRSSA Student-run firms need to have a set of national standards by which all operations and strategic planning are guided because it provides credibility to every student involved in a firm, to all involved in the Society and to the profession as a whole.
PRSSA members who participate in student-run firms may receive excellent experience from their firm. However, potential employers may recognize or believe the experience because they may not be familiar with each student-run firm. By forming a national affiliation of PRSSA student-run firms and by abiding by standards of professionalism, employers will know and recognize the firm experience. In addition, the National Vice President of Professional Development for PRSSA needs a systematic way of collecting valuable information about the firms and assessing the best way to serve the needs of the firms.
The standards send a clear message to potential employers regarding the commitment to excellence of PRSSA firms. The standards will also drive the efforts of the National Vice President of Professional Development each year in a systematic way. Above all, the standards will fulfill the core goal of PRSSA to “serve the public relations profession by helping develop highly qualified, well-prepared professionals.”
- What must a firm do to become nationally affiliated?
To become a Nationally Affiliated PRSSA Student-run firm, a firm must complete a PRSSA Firm Progress Report and mail the report to headquarters. Firms should remember to ensure that all required signatures are provided and all contact information is up-to date.
Headquarters will keep the completed progress report in its archives and forward a copy to the National Vice President of Professional Development. At that point, the VP will contact the firm to congratulate them on their new status as well as discuss ways that the National Committee can be of assistance to the firm.
- Does a firm have to abide by the standards for one full year before becoming nationally affiliated?
No. If the firm is abiding by the standards for one full semester, they may become nationally affiliated. For example, the standards require that firms establish a Cross Country Connection. The firm director must speak with the PRSA Champion at least two times during the year. In this case, if the firm director has spoken with the Champion at least once during the semester, they may qualify for national affiliation status.
- What happens to the firms that do not reach the nationally affiliated status?
The firms that have not yet reached a Nationally Affiliated status may still operate as a PRSSA Student-run firm. However, the most important improvement that the firm should make is to implement the needed changes to meet the standards. Once the firm has reached the nationally affiliated status, its member will see the benefits of a national awareness campaign and a future referral system.
- Who developed these standards?
The standards were developed through a collaborative effort of many individuals. Devin Knighton, vice president of professional development 2004-2005 initiated the project and led the efforts. Through discussions with PRSSA members, firm advisors, faculty, PRSSA headquarters and the PRSSA National Committee, the standards evolved into the document unveiled at National Assembly 2005.
No official statistics or quantitative data was collected. Instead, the document resulted from long hours of qualitative interviews and collaborative feedback. The document will remain an open, living document that can be altered to best meet the needs and objectives of the Society in future years.
- If student-run firms receive funds for their work with clients, where does the money go?
All funds collected by firms stay within the firm itself. Headquarters will not collect any funds nor be responsible for the management of those funds. This responsibility lies with the local PRSSA Chapter and associated University.
- Is there a standard amount that firms are charging clients for their work?
No. Each firm may develop its own system of billing. This means that firms may choose to do pro-bono work, choose to charge only for the cost of materials or choose to charge a profitable fee for the firm. Some firms may choose to charge for the work they do per semester. Other firms may choose to charge per project. All of these decisions, however, are made locally within each firm.
- Why do firms need to serve at least three clients? What if the firm wants to serve one client and complete larger projects?
The standards provide a stipulation for firms to serve at least three clients because one of the purposes of a firm is to develop the member’s skills in dealing with clients. Working with only one clients, limits the limits the opportunity for as many students to interface as often with a client.
- What happens if a Nationally Affiliated firm ceases to meet the standards? How will they be enforced?
All firms must re-apply every three years to become Nationally Affiliated. Those who do not re-apply will be removed from the database of Nationally Affiliated firms. The reason that firms must re-apply is due in part to the fact that leadership of the individual firms changes at least every three years. This process provides an opportunity for the new firm director to ensure that the firm still meets the standards. The required renewal system creates accountability on the part of the firm to continually maintain its level of professionalism.
- How can the Champions who have not worked in an agency be an asset to the student-run firm?
The Champions can be an extremely valuable asset to the firm regardless of whether or not they have worked in an agency setting. Champions can provide feedback in many other ways than simply how to manage the firm. They can help teach students how to communicate and explain the value of public relations. They can help students understand the value of diversity and ethics in public relations. They can be a key resource in finding potential employers.
If the firm is unsure about how to connect the wealth of knowledge by the Champions to the firm experience, they should the National Vice President of Professional Development or other Nationally Affiliated firms to discover ways to utilize the Champion’s expertise.
- Why do all the members of the firm have to be registered PRSSA members?
The basic reason why all members of the firm, regardless of their academic major or career goals, must be registered PRSSA members is because the firm is not simply a university student-run firm. It is a PRSSA Student-run firm. Hence, the leaders of the firm should be actively involved and connected with the PRSSA Chapter. Both the Chapter and the firm should work to cooperatively support each others goals and objectives.
Firms may decide to outsource some of their financial needs to students outside of PRSSA. They may even outsource graphic design or other work. Those individuals who complete the outsourced projects are not official members of the firm and do not need to be PRSSA members.
- What about advertising, marketing and graphic design students who want to join the firm? Why do they have to be PRSSA members?
Although some of the members of the firm may be advertising, marketing or graphic design majors, they can benefit immensely from joining PRSSA. By participating in PRSSA, they will understand the core philosophies, frames of reference and thought process of public relations individuals. They will have a network of peers that may draw upon them to do professional work.
The firms may want to consider creating a program in which the members who are not public relations majors can work a certain number of hours in the firm to earn their PRSSA membership. In other words, the firm may use creative approaches to address ways in which it can pay the membership dues for its firms members.
As long as the firm bears the name of PRSSA and wishes to benefit from a PRSSA Nationally Affiliated effort, the firm must do all it can to maintain the integrity of the PRSSA name of mission. All students with other academic goals should know that the backbone of the firm is its PRSSA Chapter.
