Public Relations
The world of public relations is fast-growing and exciting. Get the public relations skills you need to help an organisation build trusted relationships with its key stakeholders and enhance its public reputation.
If you enjoy writing and talking to different people, and love framing ideas in imaginative and engaging ways, then a career in Public Relations may be right for you.
Public relations practitioners plan and implement communication campaigns to influence people’s attitudes and behaviour. They are effective networkers who work closely with journalists to manage media publicity, and act as a crucial link between an organisation and its publics, such as the community, customers and corporate shareholders.
Public Relations professionals are also involved with crisis and issues management, government relations, lobbying, events, sponsorship and fundraising, and employee relations.
Our graduates go on to pursue exciting careers in a wide range of organisations.
Practical, hands-on learning
The assignments for this subject are highly practical. You’ll plan and deliver an innovative public relations campaign for a real client, take part in a mock media conference, build a website, use social media, create a range of advertisements, and write media releases for print, broadcast and online media. You'll also learn how to organise events, prepare corporate documents and deliver professional speeches.
Watch previous students presenting their PR campaigns.
Our students enjoy visits from a wide range of professional guest speakers in class, who will share their insights about what it's like working in the public relations industry.
Public Relations students can get involved with the award-winning Management Communication Students' Association (MCSA), a student club that organises regular activities for its members.
You'll also be eligible to become a student member of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ), for a discounted fee.
Internationally recognised
Waikato is the only university in New Zealand - and one of only four outside the United States - whose Public Relations programme is certified by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). This is your guarantee of a world-class learning experience, as the PRSA sets the gold standard for PR education.
We're also ranked in the world's top 200 universities for Communication & Media Studies in the QS World University Subject Rankings 2020.
You'll be studying at Waikato Management School, which is ranked in the top 1% of all business schools globally with our prestigious Triple Crown Accreditation from EQUIS, AMBA and AACSB.
Qualifications
If you wish to take Public Relations as your 1st Major subject, you'll need to enrol for either the Bachelor of Communication, the Bachelor of Business, the Bachelor of Management Studies with Honours or the Bachelor of Climate Change.
Otherwise you can take it as a 2nd Major (8 papers) or Minor subject (4 papers) for any other bachelor's degree offered at the University of Waikato.
If you'd like to gain specialist expertise at postgraduate level, take a look at our Master of Management Studies.
Key information
| Study Locations: | Hamilton, Online Papers offered differ by location. The Catalogue of Papers has full location info. |
|---|---|
| Area of Study: |
Study Public Relations in these qualifications
Study Public Relations as a specialisation of
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Business
- Bachelor of Climate Change
- Bachelor of Communication
- Bachelor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences with Honours
- Bachelor of Laws
- Bachelor of Management Studies with Honours
- Bachelor of Music
- Bachelor of Science
- Bachelor of Science (Technology)
- Bachelor of Social Sciences
- Certificate
- Diploma
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Graduate Certificate
- Graduate Diploma
- Master of Arts
- Master of Arts (Applied)
- Master of Laws
- Master of Management Studies
- Master of Science
- Master of Science (Research)
- Master of Science (Technology)
- Master of Social Sciences
- Postgraduate Certificate
- Postgraduate Diploma
Career opportunities
- Public relations executive
- Communications advisor/manager
- Community liaison manager
- Content writer
- Digital and social media manager
- Events and sponsorship manager
- Internal communications advisor
- Media relations adviser
- Press secretary
- Sponsorship/fundraising manager
- Stakeholder and engagement manager
Papers
Available Public Relations papers
100 Level
| Code | Paper Title | Points | Occurrence / Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| MRKTG101 | Fundamentals of Successful Marketing | 15.0 | 23A (Hamilton), 23A (Online), 23A (Tauranga), 23B (Hamilton), 23B (Hamilton Waikato College), 23B (Online), 23G (Hamilton), 23VB (National Economics University, Vietnam) & 23X (Zhejiang University City College, Hangzhou China) |
| This paper focuses on the role of Marketing in business, introducing students to marketing research, consumer behaviour, and analysis, as essential tools for developing brand positioning strategies that create value. | |||
| PUBRL101 | Introduction to Public Relations | 15.0 | 23A (Hamilton) |
| This paper introduces students to various kinds of tools and expertise used by public relations practitioners in their effort to build relationships between an organisation and its stakeholders. | |||
| STMGT101 | Introduction to Management | 15.0 | 23A (Hamilton), 23B (Hamilton), 23B (Tauranga), 23VA (National Economics University, Vietnam) & 23X (Zhejiang University City College, Hangzhou China) |
| Explores the world of management in organisations, the roles of managers and how they strategise, plan, organise, and motivate staff to achieve goals. | |||
200 Level
| Code | Paper Title | Points | Occurrence / Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| PUBRL201 | Media Relations and Publicity | 15.0 | 23B (Hamilton) |
| This paper provides students with concepts and techniques that enable them to create and report news for traditional and social media and to communicate effectively on behalf of organisations. | |||
| PUBRL202 | Health Communication | 15.0 | 23A (Hamilton) |
| This paper explores the construction and evaluation of communication campaigns to address health issues in communities and organisations. The campaigns use communication theory to design persuasive and innovative health campaigns. | |||
| PUBRL204 | Contemporary Public Relations Writing | 15.0 | 23A (Hamilton) |
| Modern communications professionals write to represent organisations across many different audiences, purposes and contexts. PUBRL204 teaches students to select and use a range of genres from established media to emerging digital platforms. | |||
| PUBRL205 | Internal Communication and Organisational Change | 15.0 | 23B (Hamilton) |
| This paper introduces students to communication as central to organisational practices. It provides theoretical and practical insights to equip students to identify, analyse, and respond to communication challenges in contemporary organisations. | |||
300 Level
| Code | Paper Title | Points | Occurrence / Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| PUBRL301 | Stakeholder and Community Engagement | 15.0 | No occurrences |
| This paper is designed to develop capacity in students to develop and facilitate ethical collaborative communication and relationship engagement activities with a diverse range of stakeholders within communities. | |||
| PUBRL302 | Issues and Crisis Management | 15.0 | 23B (Hamilton) |
| PUBRL302 takes a case study approach to learning to understand and strategically adapt to a wide range of issues and to respond to crises that may threaten organisational viability and wellbeing. | |||
| PUBRL303 | Events Management | 15.0 | 23A (Hamilton) |
| This experiential paper draws together best practice in event management from a practical, business, and operational perspective. The paper covers researching, designing, planning, and implementing an event for a client. | |||
| PUBRL304 | Corporate Social Responsibility and Social License | 15.0 | 23A (Hamilton) |
| This paper introduces students to the concepts and practices of corporate social responsibility, and the associated need for organisations to establish their social license to operate. Without such a license, organisational legitimacy is threatened. | |||
| PUBRL305 | Public Relations Campaigns | 15.0 | 23B (Hamilton) |
| Public Relations Campaigns is the capstone course in the public relations major. It develops students' strategic approach to public relations challenges and hone their communication skills as well as ability to build trustworthy relationships with their organisation stakeholders. PUBRL305 is a practice-oriented paper that helps stu... | |||
| WSOMM396 | Management Internship | 15.0 | 23A (Hamilton), 23A (Tauranga), 23B (Hamilton), 23B (Tauranga), 23C (Hamilton) & 23C (Tauranga) |
| The Management Internship provides students with the opportunity to apply their management discipline-based knowledge to an authentic project within an organisation. | |||
| WSOMM399 | Report of an Investigation | 15.0 | 23A (Hamilton), 23A (Tauranga), 23B (Hamilton) & 23B (Tauranga) |
| This paper offers students the opportunity to complete a directed investigation of an approved topic relevant to an organisation or industry and in an area related to their management discipline of study. | |||
500 Level
| Code | Paper Title | Points | Occurrence / Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| LCOMM584 | Sustainable Futures | 30.0 | 23B (Hamilton) |
| Individuals and organisations operate in contexts that are increasingly complex and uncertain. They face issues that are global in nature and which threaten long term sustainability. To successfully meet fast changing futures, contexts and stakeholders must be addressed. New styles of leadership and management are thus required, ac... | |||
| PUBRL591 | Public Relations Dissertation | 30.0 | 23X (Hamilton) |
| A report on the findings of a theoretical or empirical investigation. | |||
| PUBRL592 | Public Relations Dissertation | 60.0 | 23X (Hamilton) |
| A report on the findings of a theoretical or empirical investigation. | |||
| PUBRL593 | Public Relations Thesis | 90.0 | 23X (Hamilton) |
| An externally examined piece of written work that reports on the findings of supervised research. | |||
| PUBRL594 | Public Relations Thesis | 120.0 | 23X (Hamilton) |
| An externally examined piece of written work that reports on the findings of supervised research. | |||
800 Level
| Code | Paper Title | Points | Occurrence / Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| PUBRL800 | Public Relations MPhil Thesis | 120.0 | 23X (Hamilton) |
| No description available. | |||
900 Level
| Code | Paper Title | Points | Occurrence / Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| PUBRL900 | Public Relations PhD Thesis | 120.0 | 23I (Hamilton), 23J (Hamilton), 23K (Hamilton), 23X (Hamilton) & 23X (Tauranga) |
| No description available. | |||
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern completed a Bachelor of Communication Studies at Waikato Management School in 2001.
Read stories from other Public Relations students
Scholarships and prizes
New to Waikato? The International Excellence Scholarship is worth up to $10,000.
Visit our Scholarship Finder for information about possible scholarships
Graduate study options
- Bachelor of Communication with Honours
- Bachelor of Business with Honours in Public Relations
- Postgraduate Certificate in Public Relations
- Postgraduate Diploma in Public Relations
- Master of Management Studies in Public Relations
- Doctor of Philosophy in Public Relations
Contacts
Management Student Centre (MSC)
Level One - Waikato Management School
Phone:
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.management.ac.nz/msc
Opening hours: 8.45am - 4.45pm Monday to Friday
Location: MSB.1.50, Hillcrest Road, University of Waikato, Hamilton