Special Projects

The EMU Interdisciplinary Program in Public Relations offers many opportunities for students to apply what they learn to real-life projects. All public relations students complete internships as part of the program and students also partner with community groups in academic service-learning projects like Write-Link Community Connections and others (see links at right). EMU public relations courses also prepare students for internships and entry-level positions by involving them in real-life client projects, both in JRNL 314 Writing for Public Relations and JRNL 408 Case Studies in Public Relations. Dozens of organizations throughout the Detroit metropolitan area have benefited from the assistance of EMU students, while the students gain portfolio pieces and special project experience. It’s a win-win situation!

The project summaries below include recent descriptions of client projects written by students who worked hard all spring semester 2006.

St. Vincent & Sarah Fisher Center Client Project
by Jeremy Allen, Tiffany Brantley and Lisa Donovan

Three students in JRNL 314, Writing for Public Relations, helped carry on Eastern Michigan University’s tradition of community service by joining forces with St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center of Farmington Hills, Mich. The center’s mission is to protect, nurture and strengthen at-risk children and their families.

“It was an amazing opportunity to give back and actually connect with people who care about kids who have encountered some hardships,” said Jeremy Allen, a student involved in the project.

Allen and fellow students Tiffany Brantley and Lisa Donovan worked with Gina Rozier, director of agency relations, to produce the summer 2006 issue of the center’s newsletter. This was an especially important issue because it introduced the center’s new community outreach program, Our Children, as well as its new location in Detroit’s Brightmoor area.

“I got to talk to the president of a major corporation, and interview a mother whose daughter saved money from her Bat Mitzvah to make and donate gift bags for children at the center,” said Brantley.

Donovan had a chance to talk with participants of the center’s teen parent program as they celebrated their high school graduations, as well as adults who benefited from the center’s services many years ago.

“I was really impressed at the difference Sarah Fisher has made in so many young people’s lives,” said Donovan.

Michaelene’s Gourmet Granola & Lipari Foods Client Project
by Mike Munie, Dayna Long and Laura Novkov

Hoping to achieve sweet success, a student team learned how to apply professional public relations skills while helping to announce a partnership between Michaelene’s Gourmet Granola and Lipari Foods, Inc.

“It is really exciting to be able to work with a real client. This isn’t a class where you walk away feeling empty-handed,” says Laura Novkov, an EMU journalism student.

Mike Munie, Laura Novkov and Dayna Long were given the chance to work with Michaelene Hearn, a Michigan-based gourmet granola maker. Hearn’s company, Michaelene’s Gourmet Granola, recently accepted a partnership with Lipari Foods Distributor of Warren, Michigan to distribute to Lipari’s customers covering nine states. The team was assigned the task of creating a media kit for Hearn’s company to aid in securing clients and announcing the partnership to the media.

“This project has been really involved. We have been contacting printers, designers, creating press releases and so much more,” says Long, an EMU public relations major. The students put to use skills learned in Motschall’s class on how to conduct research to determine what will work best for the client, create an objective to attain the goal, develop a strategic plan of action, and evaluate the outcome of the media kit.

“I am excited to be a part of this project. I am hoping to see it through to completion,” says Mike Munie, an EMU public relations major.

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