EDUCATIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS FUNCTIONS IN PRIVATE TERTIARY UNIVERSITIES IN GHANA

Transcription

1 EDUCATIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS FUNCTIONS IN PRIVATE TERTIARY UNIVERSITIES IN GHANA Kingsley Agyapong Methodist University College Ghana, P. O. Box DC 940, Dansoman, Accra, Ghana Dan Duku Dankwa Methodist University College Ghana, P. O. Box DC 940, Dansoman, Accra, Ghana Anthony Agyemang Cape Coast Polytechnic, P. O. Box AD 50, Cape Coast, Ghana Abstract Public relations officers play various roles in business organisations in Ghana but the real educational public relations functions in private universities in Ghana have not been investigated. The purpose of the study is to get a better understanding of educational public relations functions in private universities in Ghana. The study was exploratory in nature and relied on multiple case study approach. Personal interviews, using an interview guide, was used to collect data from public relations officers of three private universities in Ghana. The objective of the study was to investigate educational public relations functions in private universities in Ghana. The study revealed that counseling of students was not one of the educational public relations functions performed by the public relations units of the private universities. The findings further indicated that educational public relations units of the private universities do not take audit of corporate social responsibility to enable the unit assess publics views towards private universities. Keywords: Educational public relations functions, Private tertiary universities, Ghana. 1. INTRODUCTION According to Clow & Baack (2007) many public relations activities are not considered marketing functions. Thus, marketing departments concentrate on customers and channel members but public relations departments focus on a variety of internal and external stakeholders including employees, stockholders, public interest groups, the government and society as a whole. Public relations then exist as an essential middleman between the corporation and its publics with a basic function to perform (Moore & Kalupa, 2007). Newson & Carrel (2001) see public relations practice as an art and science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 162

2 counseling organization leaders, and implementing planned programmes of action which serve both organisations and the public interest. The educational public relations functions in institutional decision making at colleges and universities has been well documented in literature (National School Public Relations Association, 2012; Peyronel & awniczak, 2000). According to Tianping (2003) public relations is a basic function of a modern school's management and will help improve the programmes and services of an educational organization (National School Public Relations Association, 2012). A search through the literature indicates that educational public relations functions in private tertiary universities have been under researched. Therefore, the current study was conducted to address this research gap. The objective of the study is to identify the main educational public relations functions in private tertiary universities in Ghana. The paper will throw light on review of the pertinent literature on educational public relations functions in private universities in Ghana. This will be followed by the methodology for the study, findings and analysis of the study. The final section deals with managerial implications for the institutions and conclusion. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW The growth of public relations has become very important in recent years (Moore & Kalupa, 2007). In their view, Peyronel & awniczak (2000) state that senior public relations administrators function is to be involved in institutional decision making at colleges and universities. Tianping (2003) further indicates that public relations is a basic function of a modern school's management but Bruning & Ralston (2001) assert that the practice of public relations at most universities has been relegated to a single office concerned primarily with managing institutional reputation. It therefore follows that educational public relations functions in educational institutions have been given a narrow view Educational Public Relations Functions Public relations plays a very critical role in almost every educational institution. Educational public relations officers assist students and work with parents and various groups within COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 163

3 institutions. They distribute newsletters containing information about campus events, build and maintain ties with alumni, lecturers, staff and students. According to National School Public Relations Association (2012) educational public relations is a planned and systematic management function to help improve the programmes and services of an educational organization. This indicates that activities of educational public relations is a two-way affair involving communication between the institution and its audiences. A communications plan provides the means by which resources and information can be accessed and managed easily for the benefit of an institution. Wilcox, D. L., Ault, P. H., Agee, & Cameron, G. T. (2001) throw light on public relations functions and believe that the practice of public relations is indeed a process, one that utilizes frequent and concentrated communication. Pirozek & Heskova (2003) examined public relations practice and found that two-way symmetrical tactics of research and feedback systems helped the university gain a better understanding of the attitudes of its key publics. Kaverina (2003) also showed that two-way symmetrical efforts helped strengthen the relationship between the university and its key publics. Henderson (2001) in his study proposed a four-step process for managing communication in universities: research, planning, communication, and evaluation. Lages & Simkin (2003) further support the importance of utilizing overall planning, execution and evaluation of an organization s public relations communication with both external and internal publics. Hence, communication becomes a vehicle used by an organization to initiate, develop, maintain and repair mutually productive relationships (Ledingham, J. A., & Bruning, S.D., 2000). White & Park (2010) concede that public relations is important in providing positive information to the society. According to Moore & Kalupa (2007) the need for communication between organizations and their publics is attested to by the fact that public relations officers occupy a dominant role in the economy today. Lancaster (2005) is of the opinion that medium use in communication can provide the necessary information that can inspire confidence and trust in an organization. Educational public relations officers serve as information stations by providing information to students, employees, and general public through mass media publications, leaflets and brochures on the university s programmes. COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 164

4 Developing a good working relationship with the mass media is a key step in increasing support for public relations education (Clow & Baack, 2007). Public relations is sometimes associated with the term publicity (Wells, W. Burnet, J. & Moriarty, S., 2005), which indicates the importance of this media function. The institution initiates publicity and provides relevant information to media. White & Park (2010) revealed in their study that public relations was perceived positively as against the negative perceptions portrayed by the mass media. A successful relationship between educational public relations officers and the media is built on reputation for honesty, accuracy and professionalism (Wells et al., 2005). According to Wells et al., (2005) when these qualities are tarnished, the public relations professionals cannot function effectively as a liaison between an institution and the media (Wells et al., 2005). Thus, education is news and the professionalism of the educational public relations officers and how they liaise with the media will help increase awareness of private universities programmes, services and accomplishments. National School Public Relations Association (2012) echoes that one of the educational public relations functions is to provide counseling to students, take a proactive stance, anticipate problems, and provide solutions and handle all aspects of the school publications. Newson & Carrell (2001) further emphasize that public relations personnel for the local schools district must be aware of the feelings of students, parents, voters and the regional accrediting agency. This affirms that educational public relations officers must counsel students on educational planning, effective decisions making concerning programmes of study, resolving conflicts, recognizing and utilizing academic strengths among others. This makes the function very comprehensive and data-driven activity. According to Decker, L.E., & Decker, V.A. (1988) the great work of school staff must be honoured and that public award ceremonies should be held and publish the award winners in as many media sources as possible. This view is supported by National School Public Relations Association (2012). Thus, one of the functions of Educational public relations officers is to publicize staff achievements, develop staff and retirement recognition programmes. This will make staff responsible and committed. Carroll & Carroll (1994) believe that Schools that have used public relations successfully involve every staff member and their daily commitment is the cornerstone of a successful marketing effort for the school. COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 165

5 Mullins (2005) illustrates that social responsibility issues are both internal and external to an organization. Clow & Baack (2007) state that social responsibility is the obligation that an organization has to be ethical, accountable and reactive to the needs of society. Social responsibility audit is usually undertaken by the organisation s management team in conjunction with department managers (Clow & Baack, 2007). The task of the public relations department is to make sure internal publics are aware of a corporation s social responsibility efforts. Palmer & Hartley (2002) conceded that because of increasing competitive markets, customers take into consideration the ethics of the employment practices exercised by a firm when evaluating alternative products. Thus, the purpose of a social responsibility audit is to make sure the organization has clear-cut ethical guidelines for employees to follow and that the company acts to serve the interests of all publics (Clow & Baack, 2007). One of the most important public relations functions is damage control (Clow & Baack, 2007). Damage control is reacting to negative events caused by a company error, consumer grievances, or when unjustified or exaggerated negative press appears. In the words of (Clow & Baack, 2007) a strong company image, which took years to build, may be destroyed in just a few weeks or months. According to Clow & Baack (2007) defending an organization s image and handling damage control takes the form of proactive prevention strategies and reactive damage-control strategies of which the objective is to reduce image damage. In the view of Lancaster & Jobber (2006) propaganda is designed to indoctrinate to attract followers and does not necessarily call for an ethical content. Thus, propaganda distorts and falsifies facts for self-interest. Propaganda is a major instrument which often generates international conflicts. It is employed in television and radio broadcasts, newspapers, magazines, and motion pictures to influence public opinion (Moore & Kalupa, 2007). Though, growing literacy has made it possible for social propagandists to influence the opinions of people, the function of educational public relations is to minimize its impact on the institution s image. COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 166

6 3. METHODOLOGY The purpose of this study is to investigate the educational public relations functions in private universities in Ghana. The study was exploratory in nature and relied on multiple-case study approach. According to Creswell (1998) multiple case studies are an exploration of multiple cases which involve very detailed and in-depth data collection and serves as a source of rich information. Creswell (1998) further believes that case studies allow the researcher to become very familiar with the data in its natural setting and appreciate the context within which the study is being conducted (Yin, 2003). Hence, the data in the case study is drawn from educational public relations officers with rich experiences and this allowed the researcher to show the complicity of real life situations. The study employed personal interviews, using an interview guide due to the qualitative nature of the study, which Blaxter et al., (2001) argued that data collection and analysis in many forms, mostly non-numeric, tends to focus on exploring the study into details. Convenience sampling technique was employed in selecting Methodist University College Ghana, Telecom University College and Regent University College for the study. The educational public relations officers were interviewed in their offices to throw more light on educational public relations functions in the universities (Miles & Huberman, 1994) and was recorded and transcribed. According to Tilley (2003) interview transcription enables the researcher to have control over the transcription and also take advantage of understanding the processes that occur during transcription. This gave the researcher the opportunity to understand each case better. Miles & Huberman (1994) framework of data analysis was adopted to analyze the data obtained for the study. The researcher further conducted within-case and cross-case analysis based on Eisenhardt (1989) approach. Within-case analysis was achieved through a detailed write-up of each individual case within a day after the personal interviews (Miles & Huberman, 1994). Therefore, the thorough facts of each case enabled the researcher to conduct cross-case analysis. This made it easy for the researcher to identify the differences and similarities of educational public relations functions among the three private universities. COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 167

7 4. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY 4.1. Educational Public Relations Functions The educational public relations officers in all the three universities revealed that their practice is a process, one that utilizes frequent and concentrated communication (Wilcox, D. L., Ault, P. H., Agee, & Cameron, G. T., 2001). According to Ledingham & Bruning (2000) communication becomes a vehicle used by an organization to initiate, develop, maintain and repair mutually productive relationships. As a matter of importance, communication needs to be planned by educational public relations professionals. The study is consistent with modern view by Henderson (2001) who proposed a four-step process for managing communication in universities; research, planning, communication and evaluation. There is sufficient evidence in the literature that educational public relations officers occupy a dominant position in the economy today and this is attested to by the fact that they serve as information stations for institutions (Moore & Kalupa, 2007). In the view of Lancaster (2005) the medium used in communication can provide the necessary information that can inspire confidence and trust in an organization. Therefore, all the interviewees concluded that they are the information stations for students, employees, and the general public. At the three universities, all respondents expressly stated that a successful relationship between educational public relations officers and the media is built on reputation for honesty, accuracy and professionalism (Wells et al, 2005). Clow & Baack, (2007) put forward that a good working relationship with the media is a key step in increasing support for public relations education. The educational public relations units, therefore, should play a pivotal role in the day to day running of the universities and liaise with the media for the mass media to have positive perception about the universities (White & Park, 2010). Thus, cordial relationship with the media should be based on the common understanding that they are portraying the universities positively on all their activities. All the interviewees from the three universities conceded that counseling of students on educational planning and effective decisions making concerning programmes of study in the institutions is one of their functions. However, the practice at the universities is not in consistent COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 168

8 with the study by National School Public Relations Association (2012) that educational public relations function is to provide counseling to students. This affirms that educational public relations officers of the universities are not aware of the feelings of students but Newson & Carrell (2001) emphasize that public relations personnel for the local schools district must be aware of the feelings of students, parents, voters and the regional accrediting agency. There is sufficient evidence in the literature that publicizing staff achievements and retirement recognition programmes make staff daily commitment and this serves as a cornerstone of a successful marketing effort for the school (National School Public Relations Association, 2012; Carroll & Carroll, 1994). The view of all the interviewees from the three universities is consistent with the literature and states that the great work of school staff must be honoured and that public award ceremonies should be held and publishes the award winners in as many media sources as possible (Decker, L.E., & Decker, V.A., 1988). All the interviewees believe that corporate social responsibility appears to have a significant impact on internal and external quality of the institutions (Mullins, 2005). Information gathered from interviewees of the three universities confirms that social responsibility audit is very important but is not fully undertaken by educational public relations units. Palmer & Hartley (2002) echoed that because of competitive nature of the educational markets, customers consider the ethics of the employment practices exercised by a firm when evaluating alternative products. Arguments brought forth is that social responsibility audit is both a management and departmental issue which ensure clear-cut ethical guidelines for employees to follow and the company acts to serve the interests of all publics (Clow & Baack, 2007). Thus, the importance placed on social responsibility audit by educational public relations officer does not support the literature. The educational public relations officers in all the three universities showed that they are involved in damage control which is consistent with views from the literature (Clow & Baack, 2007). Clow & Baack (2007) also believe that a strong company image, which took years to build, may be destroyed in just a few weeks or months. It was found that the objective of the educational public relations officers of the three universities is to reduce image damage (Clow & Baack, 2007). COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 169

9 At the three universities, all respondents stated that the propaganda is designed to indoctrinate to attract followers and does not necessarily call for an ethical content (Lancaster & Jobber, 2006). According to Moore & Kalupa (2007) propaganda is employed in television and radio broadcasts, newspapers, magazines and motion pictures to influence public opinion. Thus, educational public relations officers work is not based on lies where facts are always distorted and amplified in the mass media for self interest. The interviewees emphatically mention that they use both proactive prevention strategies and reactive damage-control strategies through the mass media to minimize propaganda on the activities of the universities. This is consistent with the study by (Clow & Baack, 2007). 5. Cross-Case Analysis The three cases of Methodist University College Ghana, Regent University College and Ghana Telecom University College were compared with each other for similarities and differences of educational public relations functions. Table 1 presents a summary of educational public relations functions. Table 1: Educational Public Relations Functions EDUCATIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS FUNCTIONS Methodist University College Ghana Regent University College Ghana Telecom University College Communications Planning YES YES YES Information Station YES YES YES Media s Liaison YES YES YES Counseling of students NO NO NO Publicizing Staff Achievements YES YES YES Auditing Corporate Social NO NO NO Responsibility Reducing Image Damage YES YES YES Managing Propaganda YES YES YES All the three private universities seem to have similar views on educational public relations COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 170

10 functions in the universities. It is also clear that Methodist University College Ghana, Ghana Telecom University College and Regent University College do not fully audit their corporate social responsibility and also do not have counsel section to enable the unit counsel students on educational planning and effective decisions making concerning programme of study to ascertain their feelings towards the universities. From the cross-case analysis of table 1, it could be observed that the three universities are similar in communications planning, information stations, mass media liaison, publicizing staff achievements, reducing image damage and managing propaganda. 6. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS From the findings and discussions, the study therefore shows that educational public relations functions are important for private universities in Ghana. However, certain important functions that can serve as a booster for the universities to assess themselves within and outside the universities have not been given the needed attention. It could be deduced that public relations units of private universities studied need to look at certain important functions that can bring the universities face to face with their publics. Hence, the managerial implication of the study is essential for private tertiary universities in Ghana. The study revealed that counseling of students as one of the educational public relations functions in private tertiary universities is not given the needed attention to help improve the programmes and services of an educational organization. (National School Public Relations Association, 2012). Therefore, the private tertiary universities need to set up counseling section within the educational public relations units to counsel students and know their feelings, thoughts and perceptions about the university (Newson & Carrell, 2001). Public relations is seen as a basic function of a modern school's management (Tianping, 2003). The result of the study further shows that auditing of social responsibility activity is important for the university to be ethical, accountable and reactive to the needs of society (Clow & Baack, 2007). Thus, social responsibility audit is an obligation that the university has to fulfill in order to assess past activities, know what to do presently and activities to be undertaken in the future. Palmer & Hartley (2002) echoed that because of competitive nature of the educational markets, COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 171

11 customers consider the ethics of the employment practices exercised by a firm when evaluating alternative products. Therefore, corporate social responsibility appears to have a significant impact on internal and external quality of the institutions (Mullins, 2005). Hence, private universities need to review their social responsibility activities continuously to give clear-cut ethical guidelines for employees to follow and the universities act to serve the interests of all publics (Clow & Baack, 2007). 7. CONCLUSION It must be noted that successful educational public relations practitioners are responsible for numerous tasks on a daily basis. Whether it is relationship management, event planning, or even crisis communications, public relations practitioners must always keep a level-head and be prepared for any situation at any given time. To this end, educational public relations unit should be seen as a very important component in the administration of the private tertiary universities. COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 172

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