2016 Page Center research grants connect public relations faculty with industry professionals
April 28, 2016 • Jonathan McVerry
With a goal of bridging the academic and professional worlds, the Arthur W. Page Center has awarded grants to research projects that unite public relations researchers with professionals in the industry. Each project focuses on a specific topic, but all six are designed to reveal a better understanding of ethics and integrity in public communication.
To boost the faculty-practitioner collaborations, the Center’s 2016 Page & Johnson Legacy Scholar Grants will provide these groups with up to $10,000 each. The projects will deliver relevant and valuable insights for the entire field and will examine a range of topics, such as international public communications, millennials’ views on ethics, corporate social responsibility and crisis communication. Practitioners represent a range of companies, including Edelman, APCO Worldwide, the Museum of Public Relations and more.
“It was important for us to encourage faculty to reach out to practitioners so they could see different perspectives and work together to better understand each other’s needs,” said Denise Bortree, Page Center director and associate professor in the department of advertising and public relations. “We had a great response from researchers all over the world, and I am excited to see the results that emerge from these innovative projects.”
The awarded faculty-practitioner grants are:
“Transforming CSR: Creating Shared Value, Trust and Perceived CEO Quality in the U.S., Germany and China” Yi-Ru Regina Chen, assistant professor at Hong Kong Baptist University; Ben Boyd, president of practices, sectors and offerings at Edelman Public Relations; Don Stacks, professor at the University of Miami; Ansgar Zerfass, professor at the University of Leipzig; Chun-Ju Flora Hung-Baesecke, senior lecturer at Massey University; and Shannon Bowen, professor at the University of South Carolina
“Help, Don’t Harm: Communicating for the Public Good in Disaster” J. Suzanne Horsley, associate professor at the University of Alabama and Jill Bode, president of Designed Write Public Relations
“Yesterday is Tomorrow: How History Informs Ethical Crisis Communication” Yan Jin, associate professor at the University of Georgia; Shelley Spector, president of Spector & Associates and founder of the Museum of Public Relations; Bryan Reber, professor at the University of Georgia; and Lucinda Austin, assistant professor at the University of North Carolina
“The Ethics of Climate Change Communication: Understanding Practitioner and Layperson Perceptions of Message Frames” Nicole Lee, assistant professor at North Carolina State University; Matthew VanDyke, assistant professor at Appalachian State University; Rachel Hutman, account director at Pure Communications
“How Millennials View Ethics in Public Relations Practice” Marlene Neill, assistant professor at Baylor University, and Nancy Weaver, head of Corporate Communications at JT3
“Employee Prosocial Engagement in CSR through Empowerment in Decision-Making” Weiting Tao, assistant professor at the University of Miami; Mary Ann Ferguson, professor at the University of Florida; Baobao Song, doctoral student at the University of Florida; and Sarab Kochhar, associate director of measurement and analytics at APCO Worldwide
In addition to the Legacy Scholar Grants, the Page Center selected and funded proposed online teaching modules on a variety communication ethics topics. These modules will be built by experts in the field and shared for use by communication and public relations faculty across the globe. Read more about this upcoming curricula development on the Page Center website.
Since its 2004 founding, the Page Center has become an international leader in research on ethics and integrity in public communication. Over the past 12 years, the Center has funded more than 200 scholars and awarded more than $700,000 in research funding. Visit the Page Center website (link) for more information about the Center and its many initiatives.