PRA215 Public Relations : Objectives and Goals

er conduct the research for this proposal, 40 students from the Canadian University Dubai were surveyed whilst on campus, in form of a sample survey.This survey was conducted equally between the four year students, so as to gain a uniform view on the matter. Though, a mix of gender was opted for, in order to get better results. The results revealed that the students were not much aware about the Career Services being offered currently and this makes it more important that a campaign proposal is drawn. The students are very active on the social media these days, particularly on Instagram, and so, there is a need to concentrate the proposal on social media. The survey participants were also asked regarding the significance of volunteering and this revealed that the majority of individuals are eager to volunteer, considering it an important aspect. The conducted survey also reveals that the student had a lot of problems in absence of the Career Services being offered by the CUD. Hence, the chances of career services reaching its objective are high.

Targets

The primary audience for this proposal is the students belonging to the final year, i.e., the 3^rd/4^th year students. The secondary audience would the students from 1^st and 2^nd year. This is because the final year students would go to the 21^st century job market after completing their studies and need to know the best possible job for them.

As the students are overly active on the social media, it would be used as a tool for the communication of this proposal (Miss, 2014). In addition to this, certain volunteers would be involved, along with presentation workshops. The university print media would also be used for this proposal.

Strategy

The strategy for this proposal is to reach more and more students in the university, so that they can be made aware about the services being offered by the Career Services. And as the sample survey showed that the social media is used by majority of students, this very medium would be used to make the students aware about the services being offered.

The first and the foremost tool being used here would be a media calendar which depicts the timeline of the activities, which have to take place in the next three month period.

The social media page should be made at the four leading social media websites amongst the student, as highlighted through the survey. These include Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr (Meyer-Gossner, 2015).  A complete page of Instagram, which could be immediately, put online tomorrow, and which is linked to twitter, tumblr, Facebook, and the newsletter has been presented below.

Career Services at CUD

Canadian University Dubai

 

Recently, CUD has opened up the Career Services for its students, which is focused upon enhancing the career prospective of the students, and making the students conscious about their careers.

The career advice has been made available through this in order to help the students in developing the professional objectives and goals. This is done through career workshops held at regular periods, to support the students in finding a suitable employment, so as to be prepared for a workplace life.

These services also highlight how the volunteering services could help in attaining an advantageous point in the CV of any student. For volunteering services, the students should use these links: https://www.cud.carrerservices.php and https://www.cud.carrerservices/jobopportunities.php

The testimonials provide the evidence to the success of the services being offered here.

Prof. Stanley McMahon

Economics- Quantitative Aptitude

The new service being started at the university is a great initiative towards the future of the students. This would not only help the present batch, but the coming batches too.  In the past, we had to guide the students regarding their prospective career, but the reach of that was limited. Hence, this is a great initiative by the university in guiding the students.

Sander Maxwell

MBA- Final Year

Through these services, I got to know the real industry scenario and the services, although are new, led me to a great part time job opportunity. These guys matched my skills to the vacancy, as a result of which, both me and the company, were benefitted. I am thankful to the University for starting these services and would recommend the others to avail these services.

The above presented Instagram page and Newsletter would be used in order to promote the career services being offer, and these form a key part of the campaign proposal being drawn here. However, these are not the only tools being used for promoting the services that are being offered. To make the students aware about what all is being offered by the career services, five volunteer students would be put in a position where they will be acting as the PR manager. Though for this, they would not be given any monetary compensation, and instead would be provided with a reference when the volunteering students apply for a job and the same would be added to their CVs. This would also help the students in getting a volunteering opportunity, which as per the survey, is considered as very important by the students.

The students of the university, based on their year of education and the course opted for, would also be sent targeted emails, enlisting the career advice and the links and contact details in case where any clarifications, or further help is sought out. In addition to this, in-person events would also be held in the campus only, so that more students could be made aware about the same (Kellogg School of Management, 2015). The hashtag campaigns would help in tapping the students having presence on social media (Hemley, 2013). Once the hashtag trends on the social media, it would act as the best marketing tool for this campaign (Soard, 2016). Canopies would also be installed at different places within the university, so that the walking students could be made aware about the career services.

Evaluation

In order to estimate if the campaign has been successful, the number of students who enroll into the services offered under the new department, would have to be calculated. The form key evaluator would be an attainment of 50 students at each time cycle, and by the end of it, a minimum of 200 students, should have availed these services. The students, who were availing the services before the campaign started, would be compared to each of the time intervals, along with the final count at the end of the project. To count the number, each student enrolling in the career services, would be given a unique id, with a batch, stating the year and education they are in. this would help in calculating if the primary audience has been properly and effectively tapped. By calculating the number of students at each time interval, a variance from the objectives could be identified, and be dealt with in a timely manner.

Another manner of evaluating the services would be the number of students, who got placed in a job, whether full time or part time. By the end of the overall time cycle this campaign, if 75 students have been placed in some kind of job, it would depict the success of this service. The reason behind setting a low number is that all the students may not opt for a full time job; hence the focus may be on part time jobs. Further, the students may just want to concentrate on their studies, but at the same time, may direct themselves towards the particular job opportunity which pleases them.

Budget

The suggested budget for this campaign proposal is 3000 AED. The majority of this money would be used in installing the canopies. And the rest would be used for the newsletters. The social media campaign would not cost much, due to its presence being on the digital media. So, 2000 AED would be used in the canopies, 500 AED would be used for publishing and dispersal of the newsletter. And the rest 500 AED would be used for the petty expenses, the nature of which is not yet known.

Ethical Considerations

This campaign proposal, like any other, has certain ethical considerations (Armater, et al. 2013). Being a proposal being made for the CUD, where there is a diversity in the student mix, care has to be taken that none of the actions being carried on here, hurt the beliefs or values of students belonging to different cultural backgrounds (Saravia-Shore, 2008). In addition to this, the campaign proposal has to be formulated and implemented carefully, so that it does not present the CUD in a bad light, or states something, which in false. This is because such actions may result in a legal issue being raised against the university, the department and the makers of this proposal (Scott 2008).

Another key ethical consideration in this campaign proposal relate to the survey conducted. While conducting the survey, it has to be ensured that the students respond to it, without any burden, negative attitude or undue pressure. Also, their views should not be influenced by any other party. So the selection of the participants has to be done in a careful manner. Also, as the testimonials in the newsletter have been covered, their autonomy and sovereignty should be ensured. The campaign relies heavily on the use of social media, so care also has to be taken that this usage is properly supervised, so as to avoid any slip-ups or embarrassments (Reynolds, 2014).

References

Armater, M., Durant, M., Ryder, M., Paternostro, J., & Zhu, K. (2013). Campaign Proposal. Retrieved from: https://docs.rwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=cpc_marketing

Bernays, B.L. (2013). Public Relations. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.

Gaillet, L.L., & ‎Michelle, M.F. (2015). Primary Research and Writing: People, Places, and Spaces. Oxon: Routledge.

Hemley, D. (2013). 26 Tips to Create a Strong Social Media Content Strategy. Retrieved from: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/26-tips-to-create-a-strong-social-media-content-strategy/

Kellogg School of Management. (2015). Event Archive: Executive MBA Information Session (Miami, FL). Retrieved from: https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/news-events/events/archive.aspx

Meyer-Gossner, M. (2015). The use of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram in 2015 (Infographic). Retrieved from: https://www.thestrategyweb.com/the-use-facebook-twitter-pinterest-instagram

Miss, H.N.E. (2014). The Use of Social Networking Sites among the Undergraduate Students of University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), Paper 1195. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1195

Reynolds, G. (2014). Ethics in Information Technology (5^th ed.). US: Cengage Leaning.

Saravia-Shore, M. (2008). Chapter 2. Diverse Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners. In: Cole, R.W. (eds.) Educating Everybody's Children: Diverse Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners, Revised and Expanded (2^nd ed.). Virginia: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.

Scott, R.W. (2008). Promoting Legal and Ethical Awareness: A Primer for Health Professionals and Patients. Missouri: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Soard, L. (2016). Socialert – Hashtag Tracking to Take Your Social Media Marketing to the Next Level. Retrieved from: https://www.business2community.com/social-media/socialert-hashtag-tracking-take-social-media-marketing-next-level-01719246#wzVlmk0UHYIaLa2b.97

Theaker, ‎A. & Yaxley, H. (2012). The Public Relations Strategic Toolkit: An Essential Guide to Successful Public Relations Practice. Oxon: Routledge.