UA Plank Center to Award $25,000 in Leadership Grants in Public Relations

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Plank Center for Public Relations Studies at The University of Alabama will again award up to $25,000 in competitive grants to scholars and professionals to study leadership in public relations. The grants of $2,500 to $10,000 will support research that advances knowledge of leadership in the profession and helps develop excellence in leadership.

Dr. Bruce Berger, director of the Plank Center and chair of the advertising and public relations department in the UA College of Communication and Information Sciences, said the center launched the grants program in 2006 and awarded $20,000 to researchers at five universities last year.

“We are pleased to again support innovative studies that will help PR educators and professionals better understand and develop leadership values and skills,” Berger said. “The future and credibility of public relations are tied to its leadership, and helping develop effective and ethical leaders for today and tomorrow provides a compelling challenge for the center.”

The center encourages collaborative proposals from scholars, educators, graduate students and professionals in public relations, organization studies, management and related fields. Themes for the grant proposals focus on what core values and skills are essential to excellence in leadership and how leadership values and skills get translated in the classroom. The center is also interested in cases or exemplars of leadership excellence in practice.

Berger said proposals from any perspective or using any research method are welcome. A blind review process will be used to select recipients. Grant applications and guidelines are available from Berger and through the center’s Web site at www.plankcenter.ua.edu. Grant applications must be received by May 25.

The center, named for UA alumna and nationally acclaimed public relations pioneer Betsy Plank, seeks to encourage a national dialogue among public relations professionals, educators and students about effective and ethical representation of institutions, organizations, ideas and individuals. It promotes teaching, research and service that further the understanding and practice of public relations.

The center is located in the College of Communication and Information Sciences at UA, one of the most prestigious communication colleges in the nation. C&IS consistently is ranked among the top 10 in number of doctoral degrees awarded and in many of its research programs. With more than 600 students, UA’s public relations program is the largest undergraduate degree program in the College.