Academic year ends with scholarly hat trick

It doesn't always work this way, but I had three scholarly publications in one academic year.

It's final exam week, and along with the excitement of seeing students finish projects and exams and head off to summer activities or graduation and career, I'm excited for my own accomplishments this year.

It doesn't always work out this way, but this year I had a scholarly hat trick--three journal publications in one year.

The first was "A case for the plausibility of public relations licensing: The carrot of privileged communication." This article in Public Relations Review started at the International Public Relations Research Conference (IPRRC) in Orlando in 2022 when Tyler Page of the University of Connecticut asked to talk to me after I presented some research on PR accreditation and other career milestones. He had this related idea for a paper. We brought on another scholar, Luke Caprizzo of the University of Missouri, to work on this together. We presented our paper at IPRRC the following year and it was published in December of 2023.

Essentially, we argue that accreditation is optional and has not really worked as intended after licensure of PR practice failed. We propose a limited form of licensure, and those who choose to obtain it would be granted the right of privileged communication. in the same form as attorney-client privilege. That would mean PR professionals offering counsel to CEOs would claim that conversation is privileged and not subject to subpoena. This would provide CEOs more confidence in PR counsel and allow more candor, and in the process elevate the profession and serve society better.

The second paper I published this year is a long-term effort and was the one in earlier form Tyler Page heard me present. "Perceptions of formal career achievements in public relations by students, professionals and employers: The certificate, accreditation and College of Fellows" was also published in Public Relations Review earlier this month. We surveyed PR students, professionals and employers who hire PR professionals on awareness and perceptions of these career achievements listed in the title. My two co-authors—John Forde of the Mississippi State University and Sharee Broussard who works for Mobile County Alabama, and both are former members of the Universal Accreditation Board (UAB)—and I looked at it through the lens of Social Cognitive Career Theory, and found in general that motivations to pursue the Certificate, Accreditation in Public Relations (APR), or membership in the College of Fellows is less about value expectancy or extrinsic reward, and more a personal and intrinsic perceived value for those who pursue it. We also found a good number with little appreciated value for these career designations.

The final paper I did solo and is based on a question I had: if PR professionals and scholars spend so much time discussing ESG, CSR, and DEI, and so many corporations are concerned with these things at the board level, are their people on boards with PR experience and education? I looked at the 25 companies on a list that ranked the top companies for these things--The Fortune Modern 25 Corporate Boards--and found in fact little PR capacity on these boards. Instead, many companies now have people with backgrounds, degrees and job titles specifically in things like sustainability and diversity, and PR people work with them in supportive or collaborative capacity. In the paper "PR capacity on corporate boards: Claiming the CSR and ESG responsibility?" published in the Journal of Communication Management, I discuss the implications for the future for PR at the management level.

So with the final buzzer on this academic year about to sound, I am savoring my scholarly hat trick. After teaching a spring class I will stay on the sidelines and enjoy a fall sabbatical to write a book with the working title “Public Relations Theory in Practice: Strategic Applications for Professionals.” The publisher is asking for a manuscript in early 2025. I’ll be sure to share that when it is available.