The Foundation for The Gator Nation
An Equal Opportunity Institution
College of Journalism and Communications
Department of Public Relations
2085 Weimer Hall
PO Box 118400
Gainesville, FL 32611‐8400
352.273.1220
352.273.1227 Fax
University of Florida
Department of Public Relations
2010 Fall Advisory Council Business Meeting
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Council Members/Special Guests in Attendance: Rebecca Hart (Chair), Angela Buonocore, Bob Grupp, Del
Galloway, Christine Ahearn, Craig Dezern, David Morse, Debbie Mason, Deborah Charnes, Gary McCormick, Gigi
De Mier, Nancy Fishgold(for Grace Leong), Jay Magee, John Deveney and Karen Jones.
Council Members Not in Attendance: Joe Curley (Vice Chair), Al Quintana, Anthony D’Angelo, Charles Nicolas,
David Albritton, Elena del Valle, Joe Hice Jr., Michael Cherenson, Mike Fernandez, Necole Merritt, Nicki
Grossman, Oscar Suris(attended part of the meeting via phone conference) and Susan Towler.
Public Relations Faculty: Spiro Kiousis (Department Chair), Kathleen Kelly, Sora Kim, Juan‐Carlos Molleda and
Moon Lee.
I. Opening Comments
Dr. Kiousis welcomed everyone and mentioned that we have a very ambitious schedule.
He welcomed the newest member to the group Mr. Jay Magee who is replacing Katie Foster. He also mentioned
that Nancy Fishgold is attending for Grace Leong who was unable to make it. Dr. Kiousis also wanted to welcome
Erin Hart to the meeting.
II. Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Gigi De Mier to approve the minutes from the spring meeting and Bob Grupp seconded
the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously by the group.
III. State of the Department Report
Dr. Kiousis recognized many of the achievements some of our council members over the past year. He noted that
the Public Relations Advisory Council has had 31 years of excellent service. He thanked Rebecca Hart, APR,
Joe Curley, APR, CRPC, Angela Buonocore, and Gigi De Mier, APR Fellow PRSA for their years of service to
the council.
Dr. Kiousis gave the council an update on the personnel in the Public Relations Department which has currently
has 10 fulltime faculty members, 5 full professors, 2 associate professors, 2 assistant professors and 1 lecturer.
He told the council that the department has an open rank position available and is conducting a faculty search.
He also told the group that Dr. Kathleen Kelly, APR, Fellow PRSA completed her sabbatical for Spring 2010.
He told them that he had been promoted to full professor status and that Dr. Sora Kim joined the group as an
assistant professor from DePaul University. He announced that Professor Ann Christiano joined the department
from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as the inaugural Frank Karel Chair of Public Interest
Communications. He proceeded to congratulate Dr. Juan Carlos Molleda who received a Faculty Enhancement
Opportunity Award from the University for summer 2011.
Dr. Kiousis wanted the group to know that the college and department have identified some areas of priority
focus this year. These include:
 Strategic Communications Lab
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Public Interest Communications
Distance Education
University Budgeting System (RCM)
Faculty Size and Compensation
Enrollment Management
Resources for Faculty Development
Graduate Student Funding
Dr. Kiousis gave the group an overview about the Faculty and Student Research for 2010-2011. Collectively, they
produced the following:
Scholarly Outputs:
Books (Proposals/In Progress)
Book Chapters
Refereed Journal Articles
Refereed Conference
Presentations/Proceedings
Grants
Totals:
4
3
40
14
8
3
Dr. Kiousis reported that the College Doctoral program ranked 6th in recent assessment. He also mentioned how the
College had the highest number of papers at the prestigious AEJMC convention and how the Communication
Institute for Online Scholarship’s ComVista Service rates the Department’s research publication productivity in the
Top 10 for four research specializations.
Dr. Kiousis presented the following information on teaching:
Current enrollments:
• Spring 2010—376 juniors/seniors (534 total)
Diversity:
• 26% minority enrollment
• 87% female enrollment
Faculty‐student ratios:
• Overall 53:1
• Upper Division 37:1
Graduate enrollments:
• 34 Master’s Students
• 19 Ph.D. Students
• Department taught 6 graduate sections in Fall 2010
• Scheduled to teach 5 graduate sections in Spring 2011
Internships:
• 166 completed last year. Of those 25 were paid.
• Department strongly endorses paid internships for both students and supervising organizations.
Dr. Kiousis then discussed the teaching accomplishments of the department. He highlighted the instructor
evaluations and the study abroad program.
Spring 2010 Instructor Evaluations:
• Instructor Evaluations- Department Average = 4.17
• Instructor Overall- Department Average = 4.19
Summer 2010 Instructor Evaluations
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Instructor Evaluations- Department Average = 4.31
Instructor Overall- Department Average = 4.46
The Study Abroad programs offered in France and Italy and are coordinated by Professor Deanna Pelfrey, APR,
Fellow PRSA, Professor Ann Christiano, and Dr. Juan‐Carlos Molleda.
PRSSA
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168 members (among largest in country)
Chapter selected to host 2011 National conference in Orlando
5 Alpha PRoductions accounts (3 are paid)
Serves as National Affiliated Student‐Run Firm by PRSSA
Solar Decathlon Team won Best Student-Run Firm Award for Best Campaign at PRSSA Conference.
2011 Bateman Competition Team
• Faculty Adviser, Deanna Pelfrey, APR, Fellow PRSA
• Professional Adviser, Mickey Nall, APR, Fellow PRSA Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
• Advisory Council Committee Head, Craig Dezern, Vice President, Global Public Relations, Disney
Destinations
Graduate Student Accomplishments:
• Doctoral student Maria De Moya (Dr. Juan‐Carlos Molleda and Dr. Belio Martinez, Advisers) won the
Graduate Student Teacher Award in the College of Journalism and Communications.
• Doctoral student Maria De Moya (Advisers, Dr. Juan-Carlos Molleda and Dr. Belio Martinez) won a
UF International Student Award.
• Doctoral student Matt Ragas (Advisers, Dr. Spiro Kiousis, APR) won the outstanding Student
Research Award in the College of Journalism and Communications.
• Doctoral student Moonhee Cho (Adviser, Dr. Kathleen Kelly, APR, Fellow PRSA) won an
Outstanding Master’s Student Award in the College of Journalism and Communications.
• Two graduate student entries to Arthur Page Society Case Study Competition.
Dr. Kiousis gave an overview on service activity in our department:
Service Activities:
Membership in Academic/Professional Associations
Leadership Positions Held in Academic/Professional Assoc.
Conference/Convention Attendance
Article/Paper Reviewers
Totals:
20
13
16
28
Service activities include:
• Dr. Linda Hon served on Board of Directors, Plank Center for Public Relations Leadership, University
of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.
• Dr. Kathleen Kelly, APR, Fellow PRSA continues service in Arthur Page Society and Institute for
Public Relations Board.
• Dr. Mary Ann Ferguson is serving as Chairof University of Florida Faculty Senate.
• Dr. Juan‐Carlos Molleda is serving as Chair of Public Relations Division in International
• Communication Association (ICA)
Development activities include:
• Growth of PR Advisory Council Fund
• Support for conference memberships and faculty travel to AEJMC, ICA and PRSA.
• Faculty receiving support include Dr. Belio Martinez, Dr. Juan-Carlos Molleda, Dr. Kathleen Kelly,
Prof. Deanna Pelfrey.
Curriculum Revision:
• Undergraduate Level is ongoing.
• Graduate Level- refocusing of curriculum, Thesis Only
Issues for the near future:
• Accreditation
• RCM
IV. PRSSA Alpha Chapter Report
PRSSA President, Erika Zayas, presented on the new developments and initiatives PRSSA is taking on this year.
She spoke of how they have a new focus on creating opportunities for members to engage with the chapter.
They have developed a Skills Seminar to enhance member’s skills outside of the classroom and they have a
Speaker Series with professionals coming to talk to the group. This has resulted in topics which members are
interested in and heightened interactivity and attendance. The chapter has asked its members to give feedback on
what topics they want to hear about in the speaker series and what skills the members want help with. To better
introduce new members to the chapter, the e-board created groups called families and divided members by
groups. They are working towards balancing the membership numbers and getting a better spread of participants
from freshman to seniors. They have had a great year in Alpha Productions and are trying to include the
members as much as possible. Alpha PRoductions had three paid accounts this year, which brought in revenue.
The chapter also participated in the Solar Decathlon Competition with three other colleges at the university and
won the Best Student Run Firm Award for Best Campaign at PRSSA Conference. Erika also mentioned that a
team of three students presented our bid to the national committee at the PRSSA National Conference in D.C.
and our bid won. The Alpha chapter will host, in October of 2011, the National PRSSA Conference in Orlando,
Florida. They have created a National Conference committee to spearhead the event.
V. Development Report
Mike Harding, the College Development Officer, gave a presentation to the group about the initiative the college
is taking with regards to development. He thanked all of the members for their support. He gave each member a
copy of the Development Digest which is an internal newsletter prepared for faculty and staff and used by the
Dean at meetings. He recapped the summer series that he and Dean John Wright did this summer to reach out to
alumni across the country and mentioned some the places they visited. He mentioned how there a quite a few
people who want to be associated with our college and how we all need to look for opportunities. He also spoke
about Florida Tomorrow and how we have two years left on this campaign. We are at 77% of the goal and the
college is at 58% of the goal. He addressed some ways that the council members could help such as hosting a
reception in your area for UF Alumni, volunteer to visit with contributors in your area or host a Dean’s
reception. He also mentioned that they could provide gifts or sponsor projects or educational research. They
could also contribute to the matching program or send in donations directly.
VI. Council Committee Reports
Designated Gifts – Joe Curley was not present. The report was moved to the next committee.
Future Trends – John Deveney presented a report and discussed the Advisory Council members and student
pairing panel for tomorrow.
Internships – Del Galloway presented and said that they are working with doctoral and graduate students to try
to identify internship opportunities. They included a hand out of frequently asked questions about the program
and hope that we can find opportunities for these students and include all members in the recruitment process.
Nominating Committee – Joe Hice heads this committee. John Deveney was nominated to serve as chair and
Susan Towler was nominated to be vice hair chair. After nominations, all were in favor of John Deveney
becoming chair and Susan Towler acting as vice chair. Dr. Kiousis asked members to start thinking of new
possible council members and explained the selection process. He reminded the council that the floor is open
for nominations for next year and to please submit your suggestions to the chair or Joe Hice before December
1st.
Communications Committee – Nancy Fishgold presented for Grace Leong who was not present. She discussed
the website that they have been developing to encourage communication between students and council
members. The address is UFPRAC.ORG (acronym for University of Florida Public Relations Advisory
Council). The site is geared for students and so we need to develop content that will be helpful to them.
Bateman Committee – Craig Dezern spoke of how he is helping the group with preparation for their
competition.
Department Research Support – Dr. Kiousis spoke for this committee and he told the members that how they
can assist is by providing feedback on projects and that they could also help provide funding to support the
students research proposals. Several proposals from graduate students were presented requesting support.
Presentations were made by the following students: Vanessa Bravo, Soo Yeon Kim, Cassiano Polesi, and Na
Young Park. They also gave the group a packet with information on each of their proposals. If anyone is
interested in supporting the proposals presented, they should contact Dr. Martinez.
VII. Dates for Spring 2011 Meeting
Dr. Kiousis will communicate with Council members in the near future to select an appropriate period for the
next meeting. Tentative dates: March 24th & 25th or March 31st & April 1st.
VIII. Other Business
Dr. Kiousis mentioned that tomorrow will be a strategic planning working lunch. He also included in the packet
a summary of the job posting for the Communications Director open position in the college. He asked the
members to please pass it along to any qualified candidates. He reminded everyone of the reception to follow the
meeting for the Karel Chair and asked that everyone take a minute to go down and see the new CMIR lab open
in the college.
Minutes approved by:
Spiro Kiousis, Ph.D., APR,
Professor and Chair
Department of Public Relations