K-State professor's grant helps students with community service learning project benefiting several Kansas communities

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Source: Nancy Muturi, 785-532-3890, nmuturi@k-state.edu
Editor's note: Melissa Gore and Lisa Hummel are both graduates of Tescott High School.
News release prepared by: Beth Bohn, 785-532-6415, media@k-state.edu

Thursday, January 11, 2007

K-STATE PROFESSOR'S GRANT HELPS STUDENTS WITH COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT BENEFITING SEVERAL KANSAS COMMUNITIES

MANHATTAN -- A community service learning project has helped public relations students at Kansas State University gain some real-life experience in their field and provide useful materials to educate the public on water-related issues across Kansas.

Students in Nancy Muturi's Public Relations Campaigns course spent the fall 2006 semester developing and implementing a communications campaign about storm-water drainage in Manhattan for the city's Public Works Department, and a communications campaign for the Kansas PRIDE program on ecosystems health and clean water management that is being used in Greeley, Melvern and Rossville. Kansas PRIDE is a K-State Research and Extension program that serves rural communities.

The students' work was made possible through a $10,000 grant from WaterLINK, a Kansas Campus Compact project, to Muturi, an assistant professor in K-State's A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass communications.

"Staff from WaterLINK, Kansas PRIDE and the Department of Public Works made presentations to the class to provide context, then the students designed and implemented the communication campaigns," Muturi said. "The process included research and the development of communication material, including posters, pamphlets, logos used in the materials produced, public service announcements now airing on several radio stations, newsletters and more."

Students evaluated their work during the last week of the course, including going back to the communities involved to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns.

Muturi said students have produced enough materials for the projects to use for several years. They also came up with templates for newsletters, as well as a logo that the Manhattan Department of Public Works has adopted for its project.

"This was the first time students were able to design a real campaign and work with a real budget. They were evaluated on how well they spent the grant, as well as the whole process," Muturi said. "In the last week of the course, representatives of all the stakeholders were invited to a presentation and to hear the students' recommendations on how the projects should proceed."

Along with Muturi, others assisting with the project included Chris Lavergne, WaterLINK project coordinator; Sherry Davis, Kansas PRIDE; and Steve Hampton, storm-water management project. Julie Lea, vice president for communications and development services, Kansas State University Foundation also provided students with a presentation on how to work with nonprofit organizations.

A third group of students in Muturi's class worked on another project not supported by the WaterLINK grant. The students developed a communications campaign for the Manhattan Public Library aimed at teenagers. Coordinators for the library project were Linda Knup, assistant director, and Janene Hill, youth librarian.

Students, all public relations majors, who participated and their project include:

Rebecca Rogers, December 2006 bachelor's graduate, Arkansas City, Kansas PRIDE; Sarah Pritchard, December 2006 bachelor's graduate, Augusta, Kansas PRIDE; Megan Halderson, December 2006 bachelor's graduate, Delphos, library; Tara Nelson, December 2006 bachelor's graduate, Derby, storm-water management; Stacia Williams, December 2006 bachelor's graduate, Florence, Kansas PRIDE.

From Manhattan: Melissa Gore, December 2006 bachelor's graduate, Kansas PRIDE; Lisa Hummel, December 2006 bachelor's graduate, Kansas PRIDE; and Michael Sukup, senior, storm-water management.

Ashley Martin, senior, Salina, library; Heather Kautz, senior, Shawnee, library; Lesli Clark, December 2006 bachelor's graduate, Silver Lake, library; Sarah Erskine, December 2006 bachelor's graduate, Topeka, storm-water management; Krista Biddle, senior, Kansas PRIDE, and Erin Learned, senior, library, both of Wichita; and Julie Roller, December 2006 graduate, Woodbine, library.

From out-of-state: Lauren Bishop, December 2006 bachelor's graduate, Littleton, Colo., Kansas PRIDE; Maureen Thomsen, December 2006 bachelor's graduate, Omaha, Neb., storm-water management; Jennifer Orta, senior, Sturgis, S.D., storm-water management; and Megan Green, December 2006 bachelor's graduate, Richardson, Texas, storm-water management.