Surviving the PR Sequence: Ethics and Law of Advertising and PR

By Alyse Rohloff

Ethics – a one credit class jam packed with so many philosophies and decision-making models, you’ll walk out an ethical superstar. This class is taught by one of our #PRKent favorites, Tim Roberts. To make things even better, the class is only five weeks long (that’s 1/3 of a semester!)

Here are some quick tips on Ethics:

• Assignments for this class include two essays, one brief, and one scenario. While it’s exciting that that class doesn’t involve much homework, these assignments shouldn’t be taken lightly. If you do poorly on one assignment, you could really screw up your grade for the rest of this course.
• This is a class that could be taken with harder or more time-consuming classes, such as Case Studies or Reporting. Since this class is so short and does not have a ridiculous amount of assignments, you don’t need to worry about overworking yourself.
• This class goes by in a blink of the eye, which can be good and bad. Write down due dates so they don’t slip away too fast!

You know you’re getting old once you’ve gotten to Law. In most cases, you have to take Law and Campaigns and then, that diploma will be in your hands. Law is a three credit class taught by (you guessed it) Tim Roberts. Tim really puts a lot into this class and truly shows how well he understands law. And trust me, Tim will make sure you walk out of this class knowing the 1st and 14th Amendment like the back of your hand.

​Here are some quick tips for Law:

• This class is not as terrible as everyone makes it seems! It consists of two papers, three exams, and a handful of “pop” quizzes. Depending on how well you manage your time, this class could be taken simultaneously with Campaigns. Don’t stress yourself out too much over this class.
• You will have to study pretty hard for the exams. Not hard like “I haven’t left my room in three days.” Hard like, “I went over the review sheet, read the book, reviewed the PowerPoints and made note cards.” Generally, you’ll freak yourself out for the test and end up knowing more than you realized once you start.

While Tim is an amazing professor, who loves law and ethics almost as much as he does The Real Housewives, he does have a couple quirks that you may want to know before taking his class:

• Proofread everything… twice! Tim is a stickler for grammar and will mark you off 1 percent for every grammar error in your papers. While this can sound rough, you will walk out of any class with him with amazing grammar skills.
• Review the lectures. When studying for one of his test, it’s best to reread all of the lectures, just make sure there is nothing you missed in the notes. He will take questions right from his lectures.
• Detail is key. When writing papers or essays answers, put every, single detail about the topic that you can think of. Tim really wants to see that you understand the topic and the more detail, the better!

​Alyse is a senior public relations major and is PRSSA Kent's intercampus liaison. Contact her at arohloff@kent.edu.

---