This week, I am excited to review another governance course—GOVN/CMNS 444: Media Relations.

Overview

GOVN 444 is a three-credit, senior-level course offered by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.  It has no official prerequisites, though completion of CMNS 301 or another course in communication theory is recommended.  GOVN 444 consists of seven units and four assignments with no midterms or final exams.  It has a challenge for credit option.

Summary

GOVN 444 is an introduction to public relations (PR).  The course explores the foundations and practice of PR as well as the critical study of it.  Students are taught the true functions of PR practitioners, including efforts to foster client relationships, control the image of a company, and establish open communication channels with the public.  Of course, such work often has implications for citizens—especially marginalized ones.  The course addresses this reality and includes perspectives from other disciplines, including environmental studies, political science, and journalism.

Content

The course is broken down into seven units, each containing an introduction, various readings, and accompanying notes.  A digital reading room is provided to keep track of all the readings in one place.  There are no forums.

Evaluation

The breakdown of each assignment’s weight toward the final grade can be seen in the table below.  The first assignment is not scheduled until after the third unit, giving students time to acclimatize to the course and get their bearings.

While grading response time was often inconsistent, the feedback itself was thorough and helpful.  The grades seemed fair, and it was clear that the tutor had extensive knowledge and interest in the course content.

Materials and Costs

There is no required textbook.  As such, students are not charged the Course Materials Fee.  All readings and additional materials are supplied directly in the course.

For assignments, students should have access to Microsoft Office 2013 or newer.  Fortunately, AU provides the suite free of charge for current registrants.

The Course Fee Calculator can be used to determine the cost of any undergraduate course.  More information about tuition and fees can also be found on AU’s website under the Applications and admissions tab.

How Does the Course Fit Into AU at Large?

GOVN 444 is a cross-listed course not required for any program.  It is a relatively popular elective, especially for students who are familiar with or interested in the communications field.  It covers a discipline that many people are familiar with but have not been educated in—including myself.  According to the course author and current tutor, Dan VanKeeken, enrolment numbers steadily hold at 30 to 40 students registered at any given time.

Sidebar: A Brief History

Thanks to Mr. VanKeeken, I can share a short biography about this class’s origins and evolution.

Mr. VanKeeken created the original Media Relations course roughly 15 years ago.  Much of the content came from the capstone project of his Bachelor of Professional Arts Degree in Communications right here at AU!

Soon enough, he was invited to tutor GOVN 444.  After a few years, the course was updated to include more information about public relations in the digital era.  Later, it was restructured to become a more critical media studies course with an academic, rather than applied, approach.  Currently, the course is in its third iteration.  Mr. VanKeeken recognizes the need for another refresh and hopes to kickstart this process soon, depending on funding.  An area that needs particular development is the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in communications.

Who Should Take This Course and Why?

I was drawn to GOVN 444 because it stood out from other governance classes in its interdisciplinary focus on media and public relations.  I had minimal experience in this field, but I was interested in how mass communications affect governance systems in our country.  I appreciated the absence of a final exam and anticipated that this course would be a challenging but manageable fourth-year elective.

As for other students, Mr. VanKeeken some thoughts on who this course will pertain to.  Anyone interested in communications, whether that be journalism, marketing, advertising, or public relations, will come away from the class with valuable knowledge.  Alternatively, this course is an excellent one-off elective for non-communications majors with an interest in the inner workings of PR.  Lastly, Mr. VanKeeken recommends GOVN 444 “for anyone taking a business degree, because business thrives on good communications and on understanding the world of communications swirling around all of us.”

How Can Students be Successful in This Course?

As a fourth-year course, GOVN 444 requires concentration, advanced writing, and critical thinking.  All assignments are writing-based, so students will be asked to conduct research, synthesize information, answer questions, and analyze textual documents.

Mr. VanKeeken emphasizes the importance of reading and rereading instructions to ensure that all components of an assignment are included.  Many students needlessly lose out on marks because of simple oversights, he says.  Effort is needed to craft thoughtful, detailed responses; submissions cannot be “slapdash.” One way to ensure quality is to avoid relying on AI.  Lastly, to keep afloat, Mr. VanKeeken recommends that students pace themselves and submit assignments in the order that they appear in the course.  This way, students can avoid making the same mistakes twice or three times in a row.  Of course, anytime a learner needs assistance or clarification, they are encouraged to reach out to their tutor.

My Experience

As part of the guidelines for my Bachelor of Professional Arts in Governance, Law, and Management), I must complete a minimum of 18 GOVN credits.  I chose GOVN 444 because it fit this criterium and because I wanted to dive into unfamiliar waters.  While I had prior experience with digital technologies and workplace communications, I was totally unfamiliar with the theory and practice of PR.

Overall, I enjoyed GOVN 444.  Exploring a relatively new and under-researched discipline was exciting, if a bit confusing.  It was interesting to see how PR complements, and also differs from, similar professions.  The number of units and assignments felt manageable, though Assignments 2 and 4 seemed unnecessarily long; I enjoyed the question-and-answer format of Assignments 1 and 3 more.

I believe the course would have benefitted from more variety in its presentation and assessment.  For example, interactive resources such as illustrations, charts, videos, and infographics would have been more engaging and dynamic.  Something else I would have liked to see is a course glossary.  This was featured in GOVN 301, which I completed over the summer.  As for coursework, four writing-based assignments felt a bit homogenous.  A short quiz or creative project where students utilize mixed media would have spiced things up.

Ultimately, this was the third course I took at AU, and it was nice to return to the world of governance.

If you are looking for an upper-level course that tackles big questions about public relations and ethical communication, check out GOVN 444.

Many thanks to Dan VanKeeken for his comments.  I could not have completed this course exam without his help.