Third faculty member earns prestigious Plank fellowship
Posted on December 1, 2017 at 12:00 PM
Having one Plank Fellow on a university PR faculty is notable. Having three selected from Chico State J&PR in the past five years is newsworthy.
The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations competitively selects a handful of instructors from universities all over the nation each year for its Educator Fellowship Program.
The instructors are awarded intensive, two-week summer externships that provide them with hands-on industry experience to bring back to the classroom.Samara Anarbaeva, Ph.D., was the most recent J&PR faculty member to be named a Plank Fellow. She spent two weeks in the summer of 2017 in the New Orleans offices of Deveney Communications.
Anarbaeva joins J&PR Plank Fellows Debra Johnson (2012, Arizona Public Service) and Prisca Ngondo (2013, McDonald’s).
Ngondo left Chico State for Texas State University in spring 2016 and Anarbaeva started at Chico State in fall the same year.
The Plank Fellowship program matches educators with an agency or company based on the organization’s needs and what the educators want to take from the experience.
During her placement at Deveney, Anarbaeva learned about the agency’s day-to-day work, as well as conducting mini training sessions in social media and PR strategy.
Deveney bills itself as an “engagement agency,” focusing on PR and marketing from offices in West Palm Beach, Fla., and New Orleans.
This proved to be a good fit for Anarbaeva, who has worked as a communication and social media consultant with agencies around the country.
“I wanted to see a modern-day agency and spend a couple of weeks just to see the culture and how I could better prepare my students,” she said, noting that is important to her that J&PR students are prepared for the roles and challenges their future careers will bring.
Anarbaeva’s experience at Deveney reconfirmed the excellence of Chico State’s J&PR program and affirmed her own contributions.
“Everything I am doing in the classroom I should keep doing,”
Students and J&PR will gain an added benefit of Anarbaeva’s Plank Fellowship in spring 2018, when Deveney Communications CEO John Deveney will visit Chico State. Deveney will consult with faculty and students and guest speak in various classes.
Other recent J&PR faculty professional development includes:
Debra Johnson, PR professional-in-residence and 445 internship adviser, received her Adobe certification after completing an eight-week, international Adobe Train-the-Trainer professional development course that focused on Creative Cloud.
Janell Bauer, assistant professor and TGC adviser, attended drone training at a Poynter Institute satellite workshop in Wisconsin.
Stephen Caldes, assistant professor and JOUR 130i coordinator, attended Teachapalooza at the Poynter Institute in Florida.
Debra Johnson and Janell Bauer attended the Social Shake-up Boot Camp in San Diego. This one-day event is designed to provide communication professionals with tools and tactics to improve social media strategy.