The Public Relations Student Society of America chapter at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh won the Pacesetter award for the month of February because of advancements made in the chapter.
The chapter received the award because they completed three of the five qualifications, including increasing membership by at least five percent, having chapter developmental activities and hosting a public relation high school outreach.
UWO PRSSA chapter President Kaitlin Biersach said the chapter increased membership by 74 percent, along with fulfilling the other qualifications.
“We had exceptional chapter development activities, such as a LinkedIn workshop and industry speakers at our meetings,” Biersach said.
Biersach said it’s an honor to have the chapter’s hard work recognized on a national scale.
“This award supports why our chapter is an innovative organization that continues to help future UW Oshkosh public relations students build a strong platform for their future careers,” Biersach said.
Vice President of Public Relations Monica Salmeri said it feels really good to see the chapter succeeding in such a positive way.
“I think [the award] lays great groundwork for the future and I am excited to see what our graduates and our chapter is going to accomplish in the future,” Salmeri said.
Biersach said the biggest challenge to receiving this award was increasing membership, which included new tactics like speaking to journalism classes to raise membership numbers.
“The executive board and I didn’t see a significant increase in chapter membership for the fall semester,” Biersach said. “But I believe that because of our chapter’s impressive programming, speakers and activities, word of mouth became a powerful tactic for us, which resulted in an astounding membership increase in the spring semester.”
PRSSA member Emily Reise said she thinks the efforts of Biersach and the rest of PRSSA has been noticed by students.
“I think the hard work Katie and the others on executive board have done reaching out to alumni and planning agency tours have been recognized by other students,” Reise said.
Biersach said she believes this award will be a great recruitment tool for prospective PRSSA members because we received national attention for our chapter’s activities.
“PRSSA is an incredible pre-professional organization for students looking to pursuing public relations as a career,” Biersach said. “This award distinguishes our chapter on a national level and solidifies that our chapter is continuing to execute incredible activities for our members.”
Salmeri said she thinks the award should encourage students to get involved in PRSSA.
“I think that if you are interested in public relations as a career that this is one of the best investments you can make in yourself,” Salmeri said. “College is all about making your future as great as it can be and I know that PRSSA will help my future be great because our chapter is so fantastic.”
