Students will work together, in teams, to complete a public relations campaign for a real client. As these are real clients, there are real consequences attached to the campaign. Full details of the campaign will be provided in Week 2, and students will be expected to commence implementation of the campaign immediately. The due date to finalise the campaign is dependent on the client, but will generally be within the final few weeks of term. The campaign will be budget neutral (no budget will be allocated for strategies). Students will need to consider types of strategies that can be implemented with no budget.

At the beginning of Week 2, the campaign choices will be posted. Team allocations will occur in Week 3. Details of this process are available on Moodle. By the end of Week 3, it is expected that the team will have arranged meeting times and provide a client contact person. Team members are likely to consist of online students, so meetings will need to be organised through a virtual platform (examples will be provided on Moodle), and students will need to communicate regularly as part of the process. How students communicate with team members, and when, will be up to the team, but all students are expected to maintain regular contact. The Moodle site will be updated regularly and students are expected to maintain regular contact with teaching staff.

Students' ability to complete the campaign and evaluate it will be assessed in Assessment 2, which will be a group submission. This assessment, Assessment 1, is a draft public relations plan about the proposed campaign and requires students to consider their own contribution, and that of other team members. This is a pass/fail assessment. The team must pass this assessment in order to continue with the campaign.

There are three parts to this assessment:

1. A Word document using the same headings as set out in Assessment 2, with dot points outlining the proposed way forward for the team. This is a planning document to help the team think through the required elements of the campaign. Some aspects of the campaign may change during implementation. (Don't forget to consider how the campaign will be evaluated once completed.) There is no word count as it will depend on the nature of the campaign - but aim for about 2000 words. This document may then form the draft outline of the final written document in Assessment 2.
2. A timeline of tasks (in the form of a GANTT chart). This must set out tasks of individual team members AS WELL AS a proposed timeline for implementation of the strategies and tactics in the campaign.
3. An oral presentation provided to the Unit Coordinator or another academic supervisor, where the document and timeline will be presented. Students will discuss the project with the Unit Coordinator and/or academic supervisor during this meeting. The presentation can take place at any time after the allocation of the project, but must be completed prior to the end of Week 5. Teams are responsible for arranging the meeting time with the Unit Coordinator or academic supervisor during the set contact hours as listed on Moodle.

A Pass grade means that the team has been given permission to implement the campaign, and the team can commence implementation immediately.

A Fail grade means that the Unit Coordinator or academic supervisor deems the project unsuitable or unachievable. Teams will have one opportunity to resubmit the plan. A Pass grade must be achieved in Assessment 1 to pass the unit overall.

Once approval to proceed is given, the written document may be provided to the client, if the client requests it.

This is a pass/fail assessment. The document and GANTT chart must be submitted and the presentation must be successfully undertaken in order for the team to be given permission to implement the campaign. A pass grade must be achieved in Assessment 1 to pass the unit overall.

Students will implement the campaign from Assessment 1.

Students are required to complete a report and evaluation of the campaign. This is the report that will be provided to the client, which explains what the public relations project set out to do, and what was ultimately achieved.

This is a formal written report in the form of a public relations campaign report (generally using the same format as completed in COMM11110 Introduction to Public Relations) which will include the situation analysis, campaign goal, target publics, strategies and proposed evaluation.

The following headings can be used as a guide:

• Introduction  (Broad outline/summary of the campaign.)
• Situation analysis (Justification for the campaign, including background to the organisation/client.)
• Goal (Achievable and relevant goal. One goal only.)
• Target publics (Including justification of why publics were selected, and how publics align with goal and strategies.)
• Communication pathways (This is the bulk of the written report which will explain what you actually did, broken down into strategies.)
• Logistics of implementation (This includes justification of budgetary constraints, timeline, ethical issues. Use this section to explain any issues as a result of implementation.)
• Evaluation (Considered in terms of goal and strategies.)

Presentation:

• Report to be written to be presented to the client at the conclusion of the campaign
• Report format with headings
• Double line spacing
• Professional presentation
• Word document
• Graphs and/or photos can be included. Total file size cannot exceed 100MB.

There is no word count, since the type of report will depend on the nature of the project. As a guide, expect the report to be about 3,000-5,000 words. One team member will submit the final report on behalf of the team.

It is up to the individual team members to negotiate how the final report will be written. Teams may choose to allocate different sections to each team member, or the team may allocate one member to write the report and each team member provides the relevant content to that member. It is strongly recommended that one team member be the coordinator of the final document.

Students will be assessed on the quality of the written report, and the quality of the evaluation. The report is a professional report and will be provided to the client upon completion of the campaign.

Please note: a project that does not achieve the campaign objectives will not necessarily result in a fail grade. If the goal was not achieved, the reasons why it was not achieved will form part of the evaluation.

A marking criteria is available on Moodle.

Students will be assessed on the quality of the written report, and the quality of the evaluation. The report is a professional report and will be provided to the client.

Please note: a project that does not achieve the goal will not necessarily result in a fail grade. If the goal is not achieved, the reasons why it was not achieved will form part of the evaluation.

The assessment in in two parts: a reflective journal; and self and peer assessment.

1. Reflective Journal (25%): Students are required to keep a record each week of what has been done, and the lessons learned. The weekly entries are to include at least three sections per entry:

• What I did (This section includes individual tasks, how those tasks contributed to the team and how they contributed to the campaign. This section is recording your individual actions and contributions.)
• What I learned (This section may relate to time management, or personal/team interactions, or communication techniques. The lessons might be good as well as bad - that you were prepared for the tasks, or that a task was performed better than expected. This section is your personal reflection.)
• What this means (This section is about how you will apply the lessons learned into the future. You may reflect on your growth as a practitioner, or it may allow you to recognise your own values, attitudes and beliefs as they relate to the practice of public relations. This section is the critical application of the reflection.)

There is no word count for the journal, although aim for at least 300 words per entry. The journal can be completed as a word document or as a blog. Students must complete a minimum of seven journal entries, commencing in Week 3. You may include more entries if you wish. Students are marked on the quality of the writing and the depth of academic reflection about the learning experience of the project. Journal entries that reflect on the lessons learned during the campaign will receive a higher grade than entries that simply list tasks performed from week to week.

2. Self and peer assessment (25%): You will grade your own performance during the term using the set criteria, and then grade each of your fellow team members using the same criteria. In order to be fairly graded by fellow team members, you will need to let team members know exactly what you have done during the campaign. If yours or a team member's work performance is poor, or communication skills are poor, the peer review mark will reflect this. You will be directed to a survey on Moodle to complete this task. This survey must be completed prior to the due date, when it will close.

The Unit Coordinator will allocate a grade based on a combination of the reflective journal, the self-assessment and the peer review mark allocated by fellow team members.

A detailed marking criteria is available on Moodle.

In relation to the journal, students will be assessed on the quality of their writing, the nature of the reflection of their own performance and that of the other team members, the manner in which individual challenges were addressed, and how these lessons may shape future practice.

Students will use the self assessment tool to grade their own performance against a number of criteria relating to team work (such as reliability, contribution to the team and communication).

Students will use the peer assessment tool to grade fellow team members against the same teamwork criteria.