There are many clubs on campus that provide great opportunities for many different majors, and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) is mainly composed of students looking for careers in public relations or communications.

PRSSA is a pre-professional organization, which means it helps students get an idea of what a professional atmosphere in their possible careers may be like.

The club also provides an opportunity for students to network with professionals and gain experience in the field.
Sometimes there are even opportunities to go out and experience public relations at the national level, with competitions held between PRSSA clubs across the country. The UW Oshkosh chapter annually takes part in the Bateman Competition and the National Organ Donor Awareness competition.

Assistant Professor Kristine Nicolini, the faculty adviser for PRSSA, said competitions are important to give students real-world experience.

“In both competitions, PRSSA student members develop and implement a comprehensive public relations campaign for a real client,” said Nicolini.

Along with that, she said it can provide students with content that can be useful in the future.

“These experiences provide excellent portfolio work samples and allow students to develop a viable solution to a real-time strategic communication challenge,” she said.

The club on campus has been able to do well throughout these competitions, placing nationally in both competitions multiple times.

Students join the club for a multitude of reasons, whether it be the competitions or the experience, according to Nicolini.

“Students join the organization to participate in professional development events (workplace tours, guest speaker engagements, educational workshops, etc.),” she said.

Students like Justine Eron, president of the Dr. Julie Henderson chapter of PRSSA at UWO, said she joined the club because of its ability to help students get relevant internships and jobs.

“I joined PRSSA because I wanted to be part of a club that was dedicated to helping students excel in the professional world,” Eron added.

PRSSA has also helped Eron gain experience for her future career.

“PRSSA has helped me grow as a young professional and has helped me find my career path,” she said.

PRSSA is a campus club that welcomes all but does have some specific skills to aid some majors specifically.

“PRSSA is open to all majors,” Eron said, “However, PRSSA tends to mostly have students in public relations, advertising, interactive web management, communications, marketing, and multimedia journalism.”