Bachelor’s students in the Advertising and Public Relations program of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications of the ISSH Faculty of Journalism successfully defended their graduation qualification projects. All of the works, without exception, were presented in the form of integrated projects of advertising and PR campaigns developed for subjects of various spheres – industrial, educational, governmental, cultural, and medical. Each project contained an extensive analytical portion, for which students used sociological and marketing research, a strategic and tactical block, and thoroughly developed criteria for effectiveness assessment. The members of the State Examination Commission – Senior specialist of the Informational Support Division in the Office of Press Services and Information of the Chelyabinsk City Government Valentina Yakobi, Deputy Director General of the Mikar company group Elena Verigo, and the Chairman of the SEC, Deputy Head of the Administrations of the Governor and the Chelyabinsk region government, Head of the Informational Support Division in the Office of Press Services and Information for the Chelyabinsk region Government Dmitriy Fedechkin – noted the high level of the projects, the originality of the ideas presented, and the practical significance of all projects. They said that the best projects were those of Polina Turchik, Ilnur Hidiyatov, and Anna Shigina.
The project method is the foundation of the Advertisement and Public Relations bachelor’s programs. Under the supervision of Candidate of Science (Cultural Studies), Associate Professor of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications Aliya Dobrikova, students systematically develop projects in advertising and public relations and implement them into real life over the course of a year. The effectiveness of the project-based approach is proven not only by the positive feedback from employers but also by the numerous victories by students in professional international, all-Russian, and regional competitions, including a victory at the Hrustalniy Apelsin (Crystal Orange) Grand Prix of the Open All-Russian Contest of Student Projects in Public Relations, Advertisement, and Media Technologies (Moscow) in the category “Ecological education. The year of ecology in Russia.”
“Project-based education at the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications has been implemented throughout the entire educational process for many years. First of all, the development of advertising and PR campaigns allows students to understand how to effectively use the knowledge they gained in various disciplines to solve communication tasks. Second, the formation of professional skills is impossible with only explanatory and illustration teaching. Finally, this approach helps the university achieve its innovative educational goals,” noted Doctor of Sciences (Philology), Head of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications, Dean of the ISSH’s Faculty of Journalism, Lyudmila Shesterkina.