Meet the Teacher: Tiffany Derville

Lately the Oregon Ducks have been making a big move into the PR blogosphere. Robert French noticed and interviewed Kelli Matthews and Lisa Poplawski; I noticed, and I'm interviewing Tiffany Derville. It turns out Tiffany's a big fan of my colleague, Kaye Sweetser -- perhaps the next lucky teacher we meet here on Teaching PR. :-)

Q. Tell us a little about your school and how PR is taught there.

A. The University of Oregon is located in the Willamette Valley. We are two hours south of Portland and an hour away from the beach. Our School of Journalism and Communication has five required public relations classes for undergraduates: Principles of Public Relations, Public Relations Writing, Advanced Public Relations Writing, Public Relations Plans and Problems, and Public Relations Campaigns. Last quarter, we added a research class for public relations and advertising majors, which Dr. Pat Curtin taught last quarter. We plan to make it a requirement. Students can take Communication Law and Mass Media Ethics classes. At least every four years, Dr. Tom Bivins teaches a public relations ethics class. We are experimenting with weekend boot camp classes to give students basic skills in specialized areas, such as video production and investor relations.

We have experiential learning opportunities through Allen Hall Public Relations, our student-run public relations agency; PRSSA; and the Senior Experience. Students who are selected for the Senior Experience program live in Portland for a quarter and take one to two public relations classes at our Turnbull Center. During this time, they work 20 hours a week as paid public relations interns. Some of the organizations that partner with us include Adidas, Columbia Sportswear, Nike, Portland Trailblazers, Edelman, Fleishman-Hillard, and Hill & Knowlton.

An innovation that has worked well for us is pairing our Public Relations Writing class with our Reporting class for news conferences and pitches.

Q. How and when did you first get interested in blogging? What is the purpose of your blog? Are you using any other social media?

A. I first learned about social media through PRSA's publications, Tactics and The Strategist. I started collecting clippings (this is before del.icio.us entered my world). Then I went to an AEJMC conference, where I met Dr. Brigitta Brunner and received a copy of her blogging assignment. At that point, I knew I wanted to integrate social media into my teaching, but I still needed a shove into the pool, so to speak.

That push came when I joined the University of Oregon's faculty last fall. I was thrilled to receive the course assignment of Advanced Public Relations Writing. I had wanted to dive into social media, and this was the opportunity for which I had been waiting. Kelli Matthews regularly teaches the course, so she brought me up to speed.

I experimented with blogging in the fall and launched my blog, The PR Post, in the winter. I found that having my own blog, reading others' blogs, and commenting on them made a world of difference in teaching the subject. I also use Twitter, del.icio.us, and social networking sites, including PR Open Mic, Facebook, and MySpace.

Q. Your blog is tied to your writing class. Do you teach social media in other classes?

A. I only teach Advanced Public Relations Writing now. I think it would be a great idea though for other classes, such as the principles class. Joining the blogosphere is a way to learn fresh case studies and join contemporary discussions that public relations educators and practitioners are having. The blogosphere is a bridge between education and practice.

Q. In what ways do you incorporate social media into the classroom? What would  you most like to do that you aren't already doing?

A. My students create public relations blogs and post comments to others' blogs throughout the quarter. They set up accounts with Feedburner and Technorati to track their subscribers and "authority." In addition, they set up Google Alerts for themselves to get familiar with this application. I require them to set up a feed reader with at least 20 public relations blogs for monitoring. Your blog is always on the list of recommended blogs to follow.

Students listen to guests share case studies about using social networking sites for public relations and then set up profiles on PR Open Mic, Facebook and LinkedIn. I ask them to join a Facebook group or fan page to experience how others are using this tool. I like Dr. Kaye Sweetser's idea about using Facebook to send gifts to volunteers. Students also engage in the 48 hours of Twitter assignment, which I learned about on your blog. In addition, they create a podcast about a public relations topic of their choice. My students also build del.icio.us pages, and we discuss purpose-built del.icio.us pages. They also produce a social media press release and an ePortfolio. They post their ePortfolios on their blogs and use Google Docs for hosting their ePortfolio tactics.

Online video is the next frontier for me! I am inspired by the conversations from Edelman's Digital Bootcamp, which you hosted. Even though I didn't attend the conference, I learned a lot from following the social media coverage of it. Thank you for being so inclusive! I enjoyed the discussions about video by Dr. Kaye Sweetser, Robert French, and Phil Gomes.

Kelli and I are considering having our students experiment with social media resumes.

Q. Do you have any advice for other PR educators who are considering starting a blog or getting involved in social media?

A. Yes! Visit Dr. Kaye Sweetser's blog. Her assignments include descriptions, directions for students, learning objectives, recommendations, and grading rubrics. Also, join PR Open Mic to meet new people and engage in discussions with public relations students, faculty, and practitioners. In addition, set up an aggregator through Google Reader or Bloglines to monitor your students' blogs, practitioners' blogs, and educators' blogs. Set up an alert for yourself in Google Alert, so you can reply when others mention you on their blogs. Commenting on others' blogs is also a great initial step.

Tiffany was kind enough to interview me back, so look for her post, published simultaneously with mine, at the PR Post.

Comments

[Tiffany Derville]

Karen,

Thank you for interviewing me. I enjoyed featuring you on my blog.

I would like to introduce you and your readers to Tom Hagley, who is a University of Oregon faculty member. He is starting to experiment with social media. He joined PR Open Mic yesterday. You can visit his page here: http://www.propenmic.org/profile/TomHagley

Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Tiffany

[Karen Russell]

Wow, the Ducks are goin' crazy. Next you'll be hosting a social media conference, right? :-)

[Robert French]

You know, I feel a podcast coming on. Hmm? How about an interview with both of you and we can compare and contrast teaching styles/practices/exercises and more? You will be great guests! What do you say? :o) It'll be a sort of East Coast/West Coast & North/South perspective.

[Karen Russell]

I'm in if she's in. :)