Public relations education in the Caribbean
There are not many avenues for studying public relations in the Caribbean. To date, there is no degree offering at the bachelors or masters level in this area. I don’t know much about the educational offerings in other islands, but in Trinidad there a just a few offerings at the certificate level. In recent years, the College of Applied Arts and Sciences of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAATT) started offering an Associate Degree in Journalism/Public Relations. Another institution also offers a diploma in public relations. Of course, one also has the option of studying for the LCCI Diploma in Public Relations, Advertising and Marketing.
But a degree, no institution in the Caribbean offers a bachelors or masters degree programme in public relations or corporate communication.
The University of the West Indies (UWI), Jamaica campus offers a course in public relations within its Bachelors in Mass Communications. Recently, the UWI Trinidad campus started offering a Bachelors in Communications, but I’ve been told it’s more theoretical communication, as opposed to a public-relations or business communication-oriented degree. Additionally, The Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School offers a module in corporate communication, but within a MSc in Marketing.
The scarcity of tertiary-level offerings in public relations was the primary reason for me moving to England to pursue a Masters of Science in Corporate Communication at Thames Valley University. Out of the several offerings, I found its programme to be wide-ranging and comprehensive and I had especially looked forward to learning about the competitive intelligence and information and knowledge management component.
There’s also another university in Scotland with a good programme, but I can’t remember the name of the university right now. I like the offerings in the UK because academically they are very robust.
Earlier this year, I met a St Lucian teenager who is very interested in establishing a career in public relations. He asked about universities where he could pursue a public relations degree and I directed him to England.
If anyone knows of any good PR degrees worldwide, please share. I wonder if any of these universities may be interested in forming an alliance with the University of the West Indies. Additionally, If you know of any training or educational offerings in other Caribbean islands, please let me know.
To Richard Bailey, who gave me the inspiration for this blog due to a previous comment, don’t get me wrong, I loved the academia in England, it’s the cold weather I couldn’t take!
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Don’t worry: I deliberately misinterpreted you (for fun).
(Stirling is the Scottish university with the well-established MSc in Public Relations.)
The partnership approach makes sense: ours and many British universities are setting up outposts in the Far East. (Columbus of course had a similar destination when he happened upon the Caribbean islands).
But most useful to you: you’ve clearly found a market gap which you may be the best person to fill. (Keep it to yourself professor…)