Nasarawa State University to Offer Degrees in Public Relations
With the unbundling of Department of Mass Communication into a Faculty, the Nasarawa State University will soon commence a degree programme in Public Relations.
A Senior Lecturer in the now Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Dr Anthony Ogande, made the disclosure when he paid a courtesy to Image Merchants Promotion Limited, the publishers of PRNigeria, Economic Confidential and other media titles in Abuja.
Dr. Ogande said the purpose of the unbundling was to yield to the yearnings of modern times, knowing full well that Mass Communication is an expansive field which needs to be broken down into smaller departments.
“At the moment we are about to start with three departments namely Public Relations, Broadcasting and Journalism departments under the Faculty of Mass Communication and Media Studies in Nasarawa State University,” he said.
On what the recent development is meant to achieve, Ogande said: “The unbundling has answered a question that has been agitating the mind of a good number of us who are in the University. Mass Communication is a large field and by virtue of the unbundling it has been reduced to focused and specific fields that every person, every student coming in to study will now have a direction,” he added.
The scholar also noted that the unbundling will brighten the career chances of students especially in fields like public relations ad Journalism which are based on capacity and competence.
“The unbundling comes with a lot of expectations and precisely the department of Public Relations the expectation is that the students will no longer be paper tigers, the students will now move out to know what is happening in the field, to utilise what is happening in the field and to add value to the larger society in terms of ensuring that Public Relations contributes its own quota to the economic growth of the nation,” he said.
The communication scholar who inspected PR facilities at Image Merchants Promotion, commended the management and staff for award-winning campaigns they had executed over the years.
“We are in IMPR, one of the most accomplished and successful PR in the country to seek partnership towards mentorship and internship placement for students once we commence the PR programme.”.
In his response, the Chief Executive Officer of IMPR, Yushau A. Shuaib said that the PR firm would be delighted to support the university in grooming young students and communicators in the field journalism and public relations.
Shuaib commended the National Universities Commission (NUC) for approved the curriculum for the unbundling of the Mass Communication Programme in Nigerian universities, which will result in the emergence of seven Degree-awarding programmes and the phasing out of the single BSc/BA Degree Programme in Mass Communication.
PRNigeria reports that NUC after consultations with academia and institutional stakeholders unbundled Mass Communication department by recommending Faculty of Communication and Media studies where students could undertake degree programmes Journalism, Public Relations, Advertising, Broadcasting, Film & Multi-Media Studies, Development Communication Studies, Information & Media Studies.
By PRNigeria
