Penn State & PRJessica Carey, Greg Grimm, Sarah Naples,

Neal Turner, Tiffany Zuro

The school was founded in 1855 by request of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society.

In 1863 the school was named the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania and it became the Commonwealth’s sole land-grant institution.

In 1953 the schools name was officially changed to The Pennsylvania State University.

Today there are 25 Penn State campuses. Ranked 49th out of the top 100 world class

universities in 2012

Penn State Background

Meet Gerald “Jerry” Sandusky•Penn State Coach for 31 years 1969 to 1999. •Defensive Coordinator for 23 years •Founded The Second Mile in 1977 to help at-risk children•In 1999 Sandusky quit coaching at Penn State to focus on charity

Investigation started in 2008 after one boy from program claiming that he was molested by Sandusky

November 5th, 2011 Sandusky was arrested & charged with 40 counts of sexual abuse to minors

Athletic Director Tim Curley and Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz charged with perjury and failing to report suspected child abuse

Scandal

“I wish to say that Tim Curley and Gary Schultz have my unconditional support.”

“Tim Curley and Gary Schultz operate at the highest levels of honesty, integrity and compassion.”

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Curley was forced to resign

Schultz was forced to retire

Graham Spanier fired charged with grand

jury perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and child endangerment

Joe Paterno announces plans to retire after the season- fired hours later

N.C.A.A. fined Penn State $60 million dollars, banned from post season play & reduced scholarships for four years, revoked victories from 1998 through 2011

Jerry Sandusky found guilty of 45 of 48 counts of sexual abuse on 10 boys (sentenced 30-60 yrs)

Laying Down the Law

A PR Nightmare

Penn State has a large target market that includes adult students, first-year students, international students, transfer students and veterans.

The online World College allows anyone to be a student at Penn State no matter where they are geographically located.

15% or men join a fraternity, 3% of women join sororities

Other lifestyles of students include being part of band, dance teams, student organizations, theater, student government or campus ministries just to name a few.

Target Market & Demograhics

Pennsylvania has 469 colleges

Delaware has 23 New Jersey has

215

Indiana State University of Illinois Perdue Wisconsin Ohio State

Competition

Perceptual Map (Leaders)

Football Record & Reputation

Academic Reputation

Campus and Community Affairs

Internet Communications

Public Information

Research Communications

University Marketing and Advertising

Promotion Mix Elements

Organizes all activities with:◦ academic ceremonies◦ work with community

organizations Support United Way

campaign Tours of the campus Use of campus

facilities

Special projects throughout the entire year

Campus and Community Affairs

Maintains the institutions web presence

Uphold the University’s web policy

Management of the institutions web page

Internet Communications

Objectives:◦ Leader in the

integration of teaching◦ Research and public

relations◦ Enhance the

University’s reputation Work with the

Internet Communications Unit

Utilize: ◦ Press releases to

develop awareness ◦ News and

entertainment media

Department of Public Information

Goals:◦ One of the nation’s

premier research universities

Provide clear, credible & interactive communication outlets

Research target market◦ Understand what

they want Surveys, etc…

Evaluate their effectiveness

Research Communication

Ties the four previous units together

In charge of sharing research

research tools◦ Maximize use of

University’s budget

University Marketing and Advertising

$4.26 billion dollar budget

$2.9 million dollar decrease ◦ expense reduction

$28 million dollars in total cuts

University Operating Budget

According to Progress the total cost for legal fees and PR consultants & firms have totaled $20,972,633.

Board of Trustees of Internal Investigation and Crisis Committees have accounted for half the total cost spent at $11,730,265.

This board includes PR Firms: Edelman Inc., Ketchum, Kekst and Company Inc., and Reed Smith LLP.

Public Relations Budget

Richard Edelman“In today’s context, a person has to hear a message 5 to 7 times before he or she believe it. Everyone today has 8 different sources of media.” Providing accommodations to families “Faces” Campaign

Evaluation of PR

Evaluation of Penn State PR• In response to the Jerry Sandusky scandal

Penn State hired various outside specialists in public relations to restore their image in the eyes of the public.

• These PR firms included, Edelman, La Torre Communications, Ketchum, and Kekst & Company

In April 2012 Penn State accepted bids from competing PR Firms, ultimately deciding on Edelman and also La Torre Communications

Bids totaled 2.5 million dollars Edelman in particular is described as being “the world’s

largest public relations firm” Employ 4,500 people and specialize in communications

strategy for businesses and corporations Have done work for many types of companies such as

MTV, the NFL, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard

Edelman Background

Main objective of Penn State’s Public Relations is to disperse information

Secrecy and deceit of withholding information put Penn State into current position.

Penn State PR has developed two main tools for communicating information to the public

Progress & Faces of Penn State Websites

Penn State PR Samples

Project originally entitled as “Openness” Improved through more updated features, organization and

professionalism Penn State’s main communication tool regarding the Sandusky

scandal. Allows public to see what is being done about the scandal, how they

are rebuilding their brand, and allows for questions to be directly asked towards the Office of University Relations.

Site features excellent organization while presenting a very clean and user friendly interface

Openness vs. Progress

Progress

Support child abuse organizationsMarley’s Mission

Better program for reporting violations Allow time to pass Keep Statue Down Replace Statue with fountain or permanent

donations jar

Recommendations

Penn State Football must also play a role Beaver Stadium capacity: 106,572 Covered regionally and nationally both on

TV and radio.

Recommendations