PRSM107: Crisis Communication

Course Designer: Course Designer: Professor Queenie Byars

Requirements for Completion: You will only receive an official grade on your final exam. However, in order to adequately prepare for this exam, we recommend that you work through the materials in each unit. In order to pass this course, you will need to earn a 70% or higher on the final exam. Your score on the exam will be tabulated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam, you may take it again following a 7-day waiting period.

Time Commitment: While learning styles can vary considerably and any particular student will take more or less time to learn or read, we estimate that the "average" student will take 34.25 hours to complete this course. Each resource and activity within the course is similarly tagged with an estimated time advisory. We recommend that you work through the course at a pace that is comfortable for you and allows you to make regular (daily, or at least weekly) progress. It's a good idea to also schedule your study time in advance and try as best as you can to stick to that schedule.

It may be useful to take a look at these time advisories, to determine how much time you have over the next few weeks to complete each unit, and then to set goals for yourself. Perhaps you can sit down with your calendar and decide to complete subunits 1.1 and 1.2 (a total of 2.75 hours) on Monday; subunits 1.3-1.5 (a total of 2.5 hours) on Tuesday; the reading and web media for subunit 2.1 (a total of 3.25 hours) on Wednesday; the activity for subunit 2.1 (a total of 4 hours) on Thursday; etc.

Tips/Suggestions: Learning new material can be challenging, so below we've compiled a few suggested study strategies to help you succeed. 

Take notes on the various terms, practices, and theories as you read. This can help you differentiate and contextualize concepts and later provide you with a refresher as you study.

As you progress through the materials, take time to test yourself on what you have retained and how well you understand the concepts. The process of reflection is important for creating a memory of the materials you learn; it will increase the probability that you ultimately retain the information.

Pay special attention to unit 1, as it will lay the groundwork for understanding the more advanced, explanatory material presented in the latter units.

This course is designed to help you achieve the following outcomes:

• explain what crisis communication involves;
  
• describe and identify different types of crisis;
  
• describe the crisis management stages;
  
• explain what crisis communication problems look like;
  
• identify four types of crisis responses;
  
• explain how to anticipate and make advanced preparations for a crisis;
  
• describe the role of a crisis management team (CMT);
  
• explain how to use social media to deal with a crisis;
  
• explain the role of crisis communication when crafting strategic messages to a target audience;
  
• describe the risks of using social media;
  
• explain why social media is useful during a crisis, and describe how to use social media during a crisis;
  
• describe the function of a crisis communication plan (CCP);
  
• explain how to design and prepare a CCP;
  
• explain how to test a CCP;
  
• explain how to practice writing key messages that tell your company story;
  
• explain how to incorporate key messages in online and traditional media tools;
  
• describe how to help management communicate truthful messages; and
  
• describe how to communicate to various stakeholder groups.
  

Throughout this course, you'll also see related learning outcomes identified in each unit. You can use the learning outcomes to help organize your learning and gauge your progress.

In order to take this course you should:

• have read the Saylor Student Handbook; and
  
• have knowledge about the basics of public relations and feel comfortable in writing and producing public relations pieces for traditional news media and social media.