Late Assessment Submission Penalty  

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a mark of ‘0’ (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical issue. This late penalty will apply to written reports and recordings only. Late submission of time sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs will be addressed by the unit convenor in a Special consideration application.

Lectures

• Live lectures will run via Zoom from weeks 1-12.
• It is vital that students watch the lecture before their tutorial. The lectures will provide step-by-step guidance on each part of your campaign planning and will be tied to your assessment tasks.
• Please make sure to catch up on demand if you are unable to watch it live. If you are unable to watch the lecture before your class please make sure you review the slides in advance and catch up with the recording as soon as possible.
• Lectures may include interviews with industry experts. These will provide key insights into the industry and help you develop your industry networks as well as provide exemplary case studies that might inspire ideas for your own client projects.
• Recordings will be made available after the lecture. You are strongly encouraged to attend live, especially when there are industry guests.

Tutorials

• Tutorials begin in week 2, and run until week 12.
• You are expected to attend a 1-hour tutorial each week either online or on campus.
• Exercises relating to the same week's lecture will be discussed in the tutorials. Please ensure you engage with the lecture before your tutorial.
• There will be a heavy focus on client-based group work in tutorials. Your tutorials are important for collaborating with your team members on your client project so it is vital to attend so as not to let your group down. See these as essential work meetings.
• In Week 2 (your first tutorial): You will need to sign up for your client group. You will work in the same small groups across the semester to serve your client.
• In Week 4: There will be a briefing meeting with the client during your tutorial.
• In Weeks 9 or 10: You will pitch your ideas to your client during your tutorial. Please be aware that your pitch may be in a different classroom and may go overtime. Your tutor will inform you of details. Please get in touch with them if you are unable to stay longer than the allocated hour. The presentation weeks will be run online for online classes and in-person for on-campus classes, except where the client is unable to attend campus. Where the client is unable to attend on-campus presentations, they may be run on Zoom. Your tutor will keep you posted.
• Week 12: Your last tutorial.
• In week 13: There will be no tutorial. Your final report will be due to Turnitin and your client.

Readings

• Set readings will be available on ilearn under the Unit Readings/Leganto tab.
• The recommended textbook for this unit is:
  • Sutherland, K. (2021) Strategic Social Media Management: Theory and Practice. Palgrave MacMillan. 
• While the focus of the textbook is on 'social media', the process explained is the same for public relations strategy development more broadly. Other books may also be recommended during the course.
• An electronic version of the textbook will be available via Leganto with a limited user licence. It is highly recommended that you purchase your own copy.

Expectations

Out-of-class commitment

• MMCC3090 is a 10-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 (your group time) (1 hr)
  • engaging with the set readings (2 hrs)
  • application of key lessons from lectures, tutorials, and readings to project work/assessments (4 hrs)
  • writing drafts, preparing mock-ups e.g. sample social media posts, proofreading, editing (1 hr)
  • sharing updates of your individual contributions with your team members and the client where relevant e.g. via email, extra Zoom meetings etc. (1 hr)

Teamwork

• Teamwork is an essential component of this unit. Every student is expected to contribute fully to the project, keep in touch with group members, and take responsibility for their parts. Students should use their tutorial times productively to work on their strategy as well as time outside of class.
• Please do not let your group down. If there are issues affecting your ability to contribute to the group (we understand things come up), please let your group and your tutor know asap so that they can make appropriate accomodations.
• All students should bring a positive and professional attitude towards collaboration with peers and clients.
• Students should expect to drive their projects with is a high degree of autonomy and should proactively reach out to tutors for extra support as needed.
• While you will ultimately be marked on your own parts of the presentation and report, you will need to work effectively in a team to ensure the various parts are cohesive and fit together well.
• If you are having trouble with your team, please contact the convenor or tutor for extra support.
• While every effort has been made to highlight the expectations of both students and clients, this unit involves working with live clients and in student teams, which can occassionally lead to unforseen issues e.g. client or team-member availability or priorities may change. Your convenor and tutor will do their very best to minimise impacts on your assessments, but we encourage all students to approach this unit with a degree of professionalism and flexibility, which are also key skills for success in the public relations and social media industry.

Emails

• Students in the unit are expected to be able to write professional emails to their clients, team members and teaching staff.
• Generally, student emails to teaching staff 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 convenor and tutor. 
• Students should ensure that they can receive emails sent to their MQ email addresses.
• Please also regularly check for unit announcements.

Professional Presentation/Design Tools

• While the teaching of graphic design skills is not the focus of this unit, students are expected to present their work with a high degree of professionalism.
• Canva is a useful tool for this unit.
• Students may have access to industry-standard Adobe Creative Cloud tools (e.g. InDesign, Illustrator, Rush) 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. If you are proficient in Adobe software, for instance, we welcome you taking a lead in the graphic design of your report.

Feedback in this Unit

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

• Announcements on iLearn - please make sure you are receiving the announcements.
• Feedback from clients - it is important to regularly share your work-in-progress ideas with your client to check that you are on the right track. 
• 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 and on-campus classes.
• Via email - please don't hesitate to ask any questions via email as they arise. For general assessment questions, please email the convenor and CC in your tutor, noting which class (day and time) you are in.
• Individual or group Zoom or face-to-face consultations - to arrange a private consultation please email to make an appointment to meet with the convenor.
• Peer-to-peer feedback during tutorials and group sessions
• Within Turnitin - see textbox, comments on the actual submission, mark-up on assignments, and via the marked-up rubric  
• Samples of past assessments, as well as detailed assessment guidelines and marking rubrics for all assessment tasks, will be made available on iLearn.

Please ensure you engage with all these forms of feedback and hesitate to request feedback as you need it.

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

Please check ilearn for the most up-to-date schedule.

Week 1 Welcome to #MQAgency / Overview of the Unit / Assessment Tasks and Client Projects / Ethical Industry Practice

Week 2 Leading Communications Projects 1: Leadership Styles / Teamwork / Professional Client-Agency Communication / Preparing for the Briefing Meeting

Week 3 PR and Social Media Research 1: Background / SWOT / Competitor Analyses

Week 4 PR and Social Media Research 2: Key Issues / PESTLE analysis / media analysis [Client briefings]

Week 5 PR and Social Media Research 3: Key Publics

Week 6 PR and Social Media Strategy 1: SMART Objectives / Monitoring and Evaluation / Key Messages / Reverse Brief [Client Research Project Due]

Week 7: PR and Social Media Strategy 2: Selecting and Justifying Strategies and Tactics / Timeline / Budget

Week 8 Leading Communications Projects 2: Selling Your Ideas and Your Agency in a Pitch

----Mid-Semester Break----

Week 9: Not-for-Profit Campaigns 1: Fundraising / Flagship Events / Ambassadors [Pitches]

Week 10: Not-for-Profit Campaigns 2: Volunteer Recruitment and Corporate Outreach [Pitches]

Week 11: Leading Communications Projects 3: Selling Your Ideas and Your Agency in a Report

Week 12 Reflecting on Your PACE Experience / Adjouring / PR'ing Yourself

Week 13 No class [Report Due]

An Internal Communications Project has been replaced with a Client Research Project.