A survey of 258 public relations educators and practitioners examined the s
tate of public relations education across five dimensions: general percepti
ons of public relations, education, desired educational outcomes for both s
tudents and practitioners, assessment of student outcomes and learning, ele
ments of public relations curricula, and teaching practices. Results indica
te educators and practitioners agree that public relations education is on
track and that systematic assessment is an important feature of public rela
tions education. They also agreed on how public relations education should
be structured and demonstrated a high degree of similarity in their prefere
nces for teaching methods and techniques.
Stacks is Professor and Director of Advertising and Public Relations at the
University of Miami. Botan is Associate Professor and Area Head for Public
Relations in the Department of Communications at Purdue. VanSlyke Turk is
Dean & Professor in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at th
e University of South Carolina.