Please note that the University and the Faculty of Arts have launched a new assessment policy effective as of 1 July 2021. This new policy particularly affects LATE SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS. 

The Faculty policy in relation to late assessment submissions is as follows: 

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – 10 marks out of 100 credit will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted seven days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests, etc. 

To be very clear:

• • Unless you have applied for special consideration and had your application approved, for each day your assignment is late, 10 marks will be deducted. For example, if you submit your assignment 7 days late, 70 marks will be deducted, which means you will fail that assignment.
  • If your assignment is more than 7 days late (including weekends), you will get 0 for your assignment.

These are serious penalties that will substantially alter your final grade and even determine whether you pass or fail this unit. Please make every effort to submit your assignment by the due date.

If you find you cannot submit your assignment on time, please apply for Special Consideration through AskMQ. Make sure you read Macquarie University's policy regarding Special Consideration requests before you apply: 

https://students.mq.edu.au/study/assessment-exams/special-consideration

Lectures

Live lectures will run via Zoom from weeks 1-12. Lectures will mainly be delivered in an interview format with industry experts. The questions are carefully selected to guide you on important considerations that can be applied to your assessment tasks as well as provide key insights into the industry. Recordings will be made available after the lecture. 

Tutorials

You are expected to attend a 1-hour tutorial each week either online or on campus. 

Tutorials begin in week 2. However, you will be invited to sign up to your client group from Week 1. The client briefs will be available from Week 1 so as soon as you are organised in a team and assigned a client you will be able to get started on your group project.

Client meetings and engagement

Once you have your client brief in Week 1 or 2 and have met your team you will be able to email your client to introduce yourselves. It is recommended that each team choose one person to be the client liaison officer.

Initial briefing meetings with clients via Zoom (or face-to-face if applicable) should be arranged by each group to take place during class time where possible, preferably during Week 3, but may vary depending on client availability.

You are encouraged to organise your own Zoom meetings and engage in email correspondence with your client throughout the semester. At the initial briefing meeting please discuss their communication preferences as well as availability/unavailability times. Do understand that this is subject to change and your ability to remain flexible will demonstrate a key professional skill. If you are having trouble contacting your client please let your tutor know as early as possible. Occasionally things come up for clients that may take time away from their ability to participate in this project, which we must understand. Please ask your tutor for guidance around this early on if it becomes an issue.

Presentations to clients will be held via Zoom (or on campus if applicable) during normal tutorial times in weeks 11 and 12. This is where you pitch your idea to your client. Presentations will be recorded so that the client and tutor can maintain a copy for further reference. Ideally, your client will provide some feedback on your pitch before submitting your final strategy document. However, by maintaining regular contact with your client across the semester (ideally once a week for the first 6 weeks) you should be getting feedback from the client along the way so that you know whether your team is on the right track. The pitch and final document should not come as a big surprise to them in terms of the overall direction but you can 'wow' them with the way you package the idea. 

Readings

Readings, including recommended chapters, articles, books, and other resources will be available electronically on iLearn under the Leganto tab. 

Out-of-class commitment

MMCC3090 is a 3 credit point unit. This means that you should allocate approximately 10 hours of study per week for this unit (including in non-teaching weeks).

Roughly speaking each week this time should be spent on:

• engaging with the lectures (1 hr)
• participating in the tutorial (1 hr)
• preparing for assessment tasks, including the weekly challenge, meetings with your group members and client (6-8 hrs)

Assessment preparation includes such activities as:

• conducting research e.g. case studies, into the target public, social listening, into your organisation, competitors, tools and tactics 
• engaging with set and extra readings (e.g. academic texts, trade media, online articles) 
• formatting and design

While you will have some time in class to meet, discuss, and work on your strategy with your team members, you will likely need more time to work directly with your team members outside of tutorials. This may be done face-to-face (if applicable) and/or via collaborative online tools.  

Online Collaboration Tools

A private Facebook Group will be set up for this class where you will be encouraged to participate in a 6-Week Facebook Challenge which will help propel your project work forward.

You may also like to create a Facebook Group for your own team to share ideas.

Regular Zoom consultations with your team and client (as mutually agreed) can also be beneficial.

It is also recommended you familiarise yourself with online collaboration tools like Google Docs/Drive as you develop a shared Presentation Slide Deck and Strategy Report document that can be updated as you go along. 

Professional Presentation/Design Tools

Some extra support in the use of industry-standard Adobe Creative Cloud tools (e.g. InDesign, Illustrator, Rush) will be available for students in this unit which you can use to develop a professional report, pitch deck, social media posts and other collateral.

As students come to this unit with different skill sets we would most appreciate you being open to sharing your relevant skills and resources with your classmates. You may decide to have different team members focus on advancing skills in different programs according to your roles in the project which may, in turn, help to enhance your group's overall presentation.

Feedback in this Unit

Feedback in this unit to individuals, groups, and the class/cohort may be made available in multiple forms, including:

• Q&A sessions in lectures and tutorials (please don't hesitate to raise your hand, speak up, or ask questions in the chat function for online classes)
• Via email (please don't hesitate to ask any questions via email as they arise)
• Via the private Facebook Group
• Individual or group Zoom or face-to-face consultations (to arrange a private consultation please email your tutor or email/book an appointment on Calendly to meet with the convenor)
• Peer-to-peer feedback during tutorials and group sessions
• Announcements on iLearn
• Videos on ilearn
• Within Turnitin - see textbox, comments on the actual submission, mark-up on rubric for submitted assessments  

Samples of past assessments, as well as detailed marking rubrics for all assessment tasks, will be made available on iLearn.

Please don't hesitate to request feedback as you need it.

Emails

Generally, student emails will be replied to within 48 business hours. Students should not expect emails to be returned on weekends and after hours. If you are having trouble contacting your client, please inform your tutor. 

Students should ensure that they can receive emails sent to their MQ email addresses.

Technology Required

This unit will make extensive use of iLearn https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/. Required readings, comprehensive information on assessment tasks and important announcements will be posted to iLearn. Make sure you check iLearn and your Macquarie University email account regularly during this unit.

For technical support go to: http://mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/informatics/help

For student quick guides on the use of iLearn go to: http://mq.edu.au/iLearn/student_info/guides.htm

Week 1 Creating your PR/social media agency 

Week 2 How to engage your employees: best-practice internal communications 

Week 3 How to write a professional PR strategy report 

Week 4 Creativity and idea generation - practical techniques for generating ideas 

Week 5 Training your team to engage with the media 

Week 6 How to build fruitful connections: influencers, partnerships and collaborations 

Week 7 How to tell your story across platforms

Week 8 How to frame your research to sell your PR and social media strategy 

Week 9 How to pitch with passion

Week 10 How to measure and monitor success, analytics 101 

Week 11 How to create meaningful online and offline events 

Week 12 Career insights: how to step up in a constantly shifting industry