Montclair Public Relations Student Society of America Chapter Enters 2020 Bateman Competition

Montclair State University’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), has officially entered, for the first time in its 11 years, the prestigious Bateman Competition. According to the PRSSA website, the “premiere national competition” allows public relations students across the United States the opportunity to apply classroom knowledge and internship experience to create and implement a full public relations campaign.

This year, the case study client is the U.S. Census Bureau, the federal government’s largest statistical agency. For their task, students will develop an extensive communications campaign “complementing the organizations current communications goals for the 2020 Census and the Integrated Communications Plan.”

“Entering PRSSA’s Bateman Competition is a tremendous opportunity for our students,” said Keith Green, Assistant Professor of PR and Strategic Communication. “Working with a real client like the U.S. Census Bureau allows our students to gain practical experience to add to their resumes. It also gives them insights into teamwork, client communication, and campaign planning and execution. I’m confident all four teams of students will put together impressive campaigns and proudly represent Montclair State University and the School of Communication and Media in the prestigious competition.”

According to Professor Larry Weiner, “The goal [of the campaign] is to get more people, especially those in lower socio-economic areas, to participate in the census, which is slated for 2020.” Weiner is currently Montclair PRSSA’s faculty advisor and has judged the Bateman Competition’s semi-finals and finals for numerous years.

The PRSSA campaign will begin Feb. 10 – March 20, 2020. The PRSSA will notify three finalists’ teams on April 23. After presenting their campaigns to the judges, a winner of the campaign is scheduled for announcement in May.

“We are very excited that our students will have the opportunity to compete in this important national competition” SCM Director, Dr. Keith Strudler said. “Our students have exceptional skills in understanding and designing meaningful and impactful campaigns, and this competition will allow them to put their vast skill sets to test”.

For more information about the Bateman Competition, please visit:

https://prssa.prsa.org/scholarships-and-awards/bateman-competition/