Category: News

News about the accomplishments of students, faculty and alumni; updates on curricular and co-curricular activities; promotion and coverage of events sponsored by the department.

Virtual Preview Day Do’s and Don’ts

By Lucy Walsh

While comfort levels vary concerning travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, high school students navigating the college search process are taking on a whole new experience than those who’ve enrolled before them. This is most likely one of the biggest commitments they have ever individually gotten to make, and they’re doing it at ages 16-18 during some really peculiar times! Even five years later I can remember how much anticipation and sometimes stress I put on myself to reconcile if the best choice, safest choice, most fun choice, most cost effective choice and most growth-inducing choice could somehow all line up to be the same thing. By some miracle, Belmont has been able to become all of those things to me, and now serving as a Bruin Recruiter for Belmont’s Office of Admissions I get to help prospective public relations students navigate the same thing. After having the first virtual Preview Day of the 2020-2021 academic year under my belt, I finally feel qualified to share some advice on how to make the most of the college admissions processes, even if you’re doing it from home for now! 

 

DON’T: Forget to register in advance!

Signing up online is a simple process, and it ensures that Belmont will be expecting you. While this is a no cost event, reservations are still required so admissions counselors and academic colleges can prepare accordingly. Also, this creates a BU4U account that can be used to schedule future visits or even apply to the university during a high school student’s senior year! To register for an upcoming preview day, visit http://www.belmont.edu/admissions/visiting/previewday/index.html. 

 

DO: Consider academics!

While you might not have to pack your car or book a flight, it is still best to put some work in before a virtual visit. One of the most important things to take a look at is what major or academic college you might want to visit during our academic sessions. Listing a major on your registration isn’t like signing a marriage certificate- you aren’t in any way making a binding or lasting commitment! However, it’s always a good idea to have a starting place that lines up with some of your interests. 

 

For example, I love speaking to prospective students interested in public relations, but I would also never hesitate to refer them to our friends in the media studies or marketing departments if they decided they wanted to explore related fields! Additionally, you might think you could see yourself as an entrepreneur, but then learn that a degree in creative and entertainment industries or Christian leadership could help get you to that goal. That’s what these visits are all about! Pick a starting place, but feel free to explore. Learn more about each academic college here: http://www.belmont.edu/academics/colleges-and-schools.html. 

 

DON’T: Think that you can’t get a well rounded touring experience virtually.

When you think about it, people have traditionally chosen restaurants and booked vacations virtually all the time. While making a four year commitment is a bit bigger than a weekend getaway or dinner reservation, you can still apply some of those same skills to scoping out services within things like dining services and residential life. Engage with the virtual tours, and put your Yelp and VRBO stalking skills to work! You can watch virtual residence hall and campus tours here: http://www.belmont.edu/admissions/visiting/online-info-sessions.html. 

 

DO: Make it personal!

The entire collection of staff, faculty and current students hosting Preview Day and other admissions events are truly there because they want to spend time helping you feel at home on Belmont’s campus, so engage with them meaningfully with any questions you have! No one wants you to feel like just another muted mic in a Zoom room, so speak up if you need clarification or have a really specific concern. We love hearing people ask about things like what it might be like for a student moving from Chicago who hasn’t spent a lot of time in Nashville or how a student could potentially blend their love of both music and politics. 

 

On the other side of the coin, feel free to ask staff and students about their own personal Belmont experiences! Some of my favorite Preview Day memories have come from personal moments where parents have asked my advisor why she wanted to teach at Belmont instead of her former state university, and I vividly remember students wanting to know about my own experience going to a different college as my twin brother. In my opinion, the people are truly what makes Belmont University special, and I promise that we want to get to know you as you might want to get to know us! 

 

At this time, it is undetermined if Preview Days for the rest of the academic year will be able to operate in an in-person capacity, but mark your calendars accordingly to join us on November 7th and 14th! However, I am sure that with these do’s and don’ts in mind that you can make the most of any virtual, hybrid or on campus experience that those days may hold! To learn more about preview days, contact the Office of Admissions or Dr. Kevin Trowbridge. 

 

Lucy Walsh is a senior public relations and publishing student from Evansville, Indiana. Alongside her duties as the editor of the PR at Belmont blog, she is an active executive board member of Belmont PRSSA and Belmont Ambassadors. She can typically be found listening to the full discography of Taylor Swift, walking Belmont Blvd. or writing snail mail to her friends and family. The photo included in this post was taken during the November 2019 Preview Day.

 

Debate 2020: Bringing Current Events into the Classroom

By Lucy Walsh

Belmont University announced their plans to host a 2020 presidential debate in November of 2019, and students have been clambering to get involved from the get go. While hosting an event of this stature is always an honor and a marker of a successful institution, in some ways this privilege is old hat for Belmont, as they first hosted a town hall style debate in the Curb Event Center between then Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain in 2008. However, reprising this unique opportunity 12 years later continues to usher in new opportunities for current students to volunteer at the nationally broadcasted event, civically engage and and experience their own piece of history. 

 

While Debate 2020 will only physically impact Belmont’s campus during the week of October 22nd, semester-long activities allow both the student body and Nashville community the opportunity to gear up for the 2020 election cycle through Well Core programming and an altered course catalogue that includes three presidential debate related courses. Belmont’s Department of Public Relations is offering an elective course entitled “PR in Action: Debate 2020,” while the neighboring Department of Media Studies is sponsoring both a “Watergate and All the President’s Men” and “Democracy and Media” courses. As a senior public relations major with a minor in publishing, I have had the opportunity to take two out of three of this semester’s “Debate 2020” related classes, and it has completely opened my eyes to the extent communicators of all disciplines relate to both presidential debates and the presidency as a whole! 

 

“PR in Action: Debate 2020” is taught by associate professor Dr. Sharee Broussard, who formulated the course as an opportunity for undergraduate public relations students to formulate academic research papers and public relations case studies surrounding Belmont University’s involvement with the debate. Taking a unique perspective as the host university has been an unusual view, as compared to the typical scrutiny of the candidates and participating political parties. However, taking the time to view an event like this at a community and institutional level allows for a greater and more focused look at how the RPIE methodology can apply to public relations activities in all stages of debate preparation. Professionals from Belmont’s Office of Communications, Campus Sonar and FleishmanHillard’s New York and Washington D.C. offices have served as guest speakers to provide supplemental commentary on the “Debate 2020” season, which has made all the difference in helping us look at the debate from an outside perspective. 

 

Meanwhile, I’m dually enrolled in the “Watergate and All the President’s Men” elective, which I was inspired to take after seeing Bob Woodward speak at the 2019 Public Relations Society of America conference! Taught by Professor Sara Wigal, a public relations professional and Director of Publishing within the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, this course takes a detailed view of how the Watergate scandal role in shaping precedent of  executive privilege, investigative journalism and America’s understanding of the news media. 

Belmont’s debate theme “Ideas of America” comes to life through these unique classroom experiences and the full lineup of educational events open to students and the public. From curriculum changes to student volunteer opportunities, public relations students at Belmont truly have the opportunity of a lifetime to experience a “from here to anywhere” style event right on our own campus. For more information on the Belmont 2020 presidential debate, visit https://belmontdebate2020.com.

 

Lucy Walsh is a senior public relations and publishing student from Evansville, Indiana. Alongside her duties as the editor of the PR at Belmont blog, she is an active executive board member of Belmont PRSSA and Belmont Ambassadors. She can typically be found listening to the full discography of Taylor Swift, walking Belmont Blvd. or writing snail mail to her friends and family.

Department launches new website

The Department of Public Relations launched a new website to provide timely information for its students, alumni and friends of the program.

“We are preparing our students to become strategic communication professionals and there’s no better way to practice what we preach than to develop and maintain this site,” said Kevin Trowbridge, associate professor of public relations.

Students, including associates of Tower Creative Communications, will manage the site under the supervision of the department faculty. Tower Creative is Belmont’s student-run strategic communication agency.

There are four major categories of content for the site:

The new website will become the hub of information about the Department of Public Relations.
  • News & Events will showcase the accomplishments of PR students, faculty and alumni. Updates will be posted on curricular and co-curricular activities. Additionally, this category will include promotion and coverage of events sponsored by the department.
  • Insights will include thoughtful and research-based commentary on current topics and events relevant to the study and practice of public relations.
  • People will feature profiles of students, faculty, alumni and friends of the public relations program.
  • Opportunities will include posts about service, internship and job opportunities.

Trowbridge said readers can expect content to roll out soon.