Contact: Allison Matthews
The head of Mississippi State's communication department now serves on two national boards dealing with public relations education.
Associate professor John E. Forde recently was appointed to the Universal Accreditation Board of the Public Relations Society of America and the UAB's Commission on Public Relations Education.
The UAB appointment represents Forde's second term on the body. His first term from 2007-2012 resulted from an appointment by the Southern Public Relations Federation.
"It is a diverse group of hard-working public relations practitioners and educators from throughout the country," Forde said. "This affiliation has been one of the most rewarding in my career."
An MSU communication/public relations graduate, Forde holds master's and doctoral degrees in public relations and communication, respectively, from the University of Southern Mississippi.
The UAB oversees the Accredited in Public Relations program, a voluntary certification process. It is comprised of PRSA, SPRF and six organizations, including the Agricultural Relations Council, Asociación de Relacionistas Profesionales de Puerto Rico, Florida Public Relations Association, Main Public Relations Council, National School Public Relations Association, and Religion Communicators Council.
Forde, who has held UAB accreditation for 20 years and was named in 2010 to the PRSA College of Fellows, long has advocated for accreditation of the public relations profession. He has served as SPRF vice president for accreditation and numerous related committees.
"Being accredited as an educator demonstrates to practitioners in the field a high level of understanding of the knowledge, skills and abilities to be successful," Forde said. "It is also gratifying that many of our alumni are now accredited and very involved in professional organizations."
Established in 1975, the Commission on Public Relations Education works to "establish benchmarks for teaching public relations that are current, research-based, sensitive to culture and language and applicable to preparing public relations students for a career in practice, research or teaching."
For more about the UAB, contact Forde at 662-325-8033or visit www.praccreditation.org or www.commpred.org.
For information about the MSU communication department, see www.comm.msstate.edu.
Comprehensive information about MSU is available at www.msstate.edu.