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This paper is a first attempt at making an analysis and trying to present a summary of the main characteristics of a newly founded undergraduate program for Translators and Interpreters at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Maribor. The author tried to outline the structure of the program, which is based on the development of competences in the field of translation science, with the aid of theoretical and didactic approaches. The policy of EU-integration, demands qualified translators and interpreters, and the profession of translation aspires to unified educational criteria. Theoretical and scientific postulates confirm the presented strategy of education in the context of harmonization and optimizing European undergraduate programs and curriculums for future translators and interpreters

The integration of advertising and public relations is a topic of interest to their practitioners and educators. For years, both have recommended ways to integrate these functions. In accordance with this trend, some advertising and public relations schools decided to merge and to change the names of their programs to Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) or Strategic Communication. This study was designed to investigate the trend of integration between advertising and public relations programs in U.S. higher education. To achieve this purpose, we analyzed the contents of 113 advertising, public relations, IMC, and strategic communication programs that described in these schools’ official websites. Although a few schools have begun to use the terms IMC, or strategic communication for the names of their schools or programs, the terms advertising and/or public relations remain in the mainstream. Nine institutions use strategic communication, and most of them use this term as an umbrella term, which includes both advertising and public relations majors. Regarding curriculum, a majority of the programs offering advertising, public relations, or strategic communication tend to offer separate introductory, writing, design, and campaign courses for both advertising and public relations majors, while a small portion of schools provide combined courses for both majors. Implications for curricular integration and design in advertising and public relations are discussed.

Using an online survey and telephone interviews, this study examined how and to what extent ethics is currently being taught in the public relations curricula seven years after the Commission on Public Relations Education recommended that ethics pervade all public relations courses and that the curriculum have, if possible, a dedicated PR ethics course. Overall, educators perceive ethics instruction to be very important for PR students, but few programs require an ethics course or recommend one as an elective. The preferred method of ethics instruction delivery is embedding it into each course in the public relations curricula. The most effective methods for teaching ethics were case studies, simulations, and small group discussions. The least effective were Socratic dialogues, research papers, and lectures. The most helpful materials were current events, the PRSA Ethics Code, and PRSA online ethics resources. Class discussions, reflexive/position papers, and student presentations were the most effective forms of assessment. Several of the interviewees, however, noted how difficult it was to assess ethical knowledge.

Academic scholarship reveals a disconnect between health impediments college students identify and health information their respective campuses provide; campus health promotions that lack personal relevance for college students, and health programs that utilize control-based strategies to compel behavior change. The purpose of the present study was to explore college student perspectives about health messages to enhance campus-based health communications. The researcher conducted individual, in-depth interviews with 16 female undergraduates at a research-intensive university in the southeastern U.S. The researcher applied thematic analysis to interview transcripts to uncover participants’ health message perspectives. Findings revealed that female undergraduates are proactive and perceptive regarding health messages when they need information for a specific issue or concern; initially dismissive but eventually receptive of health messages they involuntarily encounter; differentially responsive to health messages from interpersonal sources; grudgingly tolerant of societal health messages—especially those concerning unrealistic body standards. Findings additionally revealed that female undergraduates usually disregard health messages they encounter on campus.

Social media have been adopted from its inception by public relations, advertising and marketing practitioners as tools for communicating with strategic publics. Wright and Hinson (2009) have established that public relations professionals perceive social media positively with respect to strategic communication. Given that social media are having an impact on professionals in the industry, the current study examined if social media are having a similar impact on college students in general and students studying in the area of public relations and advertising. The uses, attitudes and perceptions of social media among college students were explored through survey data over a 2-year period. The researchers found that education affects students’ understanding and attitudes towards social media. It is important for educators and curriculum leaders to have an appreciation of students’ knowledge base of social media and how they employ it in their construction of knowledge and reality. It is also valuable for professionals in the industry, who are hiring recent college graduates, to gain insight into how students perceive social media in their own lives and as strategic tools. Findings suggest that college students majoring advertising and public relations view social media more positively than other majors because they understand how it fits in to the industry in which they are being educated. These finding suggest that social media should be incorporated into strategic communications curriculum to better prepare students for the current media climate.

This study uses scholarly literature grounded in organizational communication theory, feminist perspectives and gender theory on the public relations industry to provide a theoretical framework for primary research conducted on both undergraduate public relations majors and public relations practitioners. Results from primary research (interviews with undergraduate students and a survey administered to public relations practitioners) reveals parallels and disconnects between student expectations and professional realities of the role gender plays in the public relations discipline. To help foster diversity and reduce gendered stereotypes within undergraduate public relations programs and the public relations industry fresh, pedagogical recommendations are explored. Cameron, Lariscy, and Sweep (1992) found that education influences the way public relations is practiced. Thus, with pedagogical changes at the undergraduate level, there is hope for a rebalance of equal gender distribution for female practitioners at all professional levels, as well the capacity to provide more comprehensive and accurate images of the discipline.

Social media have been adopted from its inception by public relations, advertising and marketing practitioners as tools for communicating with strategic publics. Wright and Hinson (2009) have established that public relations professionals perceive social media positively with respect to strategic communication. Given that social media are having an impact on professionals in the industry, the current study examined if social media are having a similar impact on college students in general and students studying in the area of public relations and advertising. The uses, attitudes and perceptions of social media among college students were explored through survey data. 7KHUHVHDUFKIRXQGWKDWHGXFDWLRQDIIHFWVVWXGHQWV¶XQGHUVWDQGLQJDQGDWWLWXGHVWRZDUG social media. It is important for educators and curriculum leaders to have an DSSUHFLDWLRQRIVWXGHQWV¶NQRZOHGJHEDVHRIVRFLDOPHGLDDQGKRZ they employ it in their construction of knowledge and reality. It is also valuable for professionals in the industry, who are hiring recent college graduates, to gain insight into how students perceive social media in their own lives and as strategic tools. Findings suggest that college students majoring advertising and public relations view social media more positively than other majors because they understand how it fits in to the industry in which they are being educated. These finding suggest that social media should be incorporated into strategic communications curriculum to better prepare students for the current media climate.

An examination of college Web site preferences of high school students, parents/guardians of high school students, and high school guidance and admissions counselors suggests that offering dialogic Internet features could impact the likelihood of submitting applications. The findings also show that intuitive interface and useful information that generate return visits take precedence over flashy graphics, photos, and interactive features.