Media contact: Yvonne Taunton
The student-led public relations organization at UAB received the PRCA Alabama Chapter of the Year Award.The Public Relations Council of Alabama chapter at the University of Alabama at Birmingham has received the 2020 Bettie W. Hudgens Student Chapter of the Year Award.
“I am so proud of each of these students,” said Jacquelyn Shaia, J.D., Ph.D., assistant professor and director of the Public Relations program in the College of Arts and Sciences. “These students have stayed focused and met the challenges of this past academic year. Submissions are competitive, and these students competed against much larger programs before out-of-state public relations practitioners who served as judges. This award recognizes the hard work and skill of these students by professionals practicing in the field.”
“COVID-19 made everything challenging. We had to adjust to an online world and navigate using shared online documents,” said Emily Limings-John, PRCA at UAB secretary and co-editor of the chapter’s annual report. “It was a valuable learning experience and provided us additional skills we will need to be successful in this field.”
In addition, 33 students received individual awards from PRCA-Al, including four Medallion Awards, the highest award of achievement, 16 Awards of Excellence and 13 Awards of Merit.
“Students in this program partnered with seven diverse not-for-profit organizations in the Greater Birmingham area in 2020,” Shaia said. “These individual awards recognize the professional level of strategic planning and delivery of public relations campaigns to each of these organizations and the tremendous differences these UAB students have made in our community. What they have accomplished is truly exceptional.”