KENNESAW, Ga. | May 29, 2025

Parsed into three groups, students in a public relations capstone course at Kennesaw State University discuss campaigns they have implemented after a semester of research, planning, and collaboration with their clients, three KSU campus organizations.

The course operates as a fully functional PR agency. Under the auspices of Peak Communications, students assist organizations on and off campus to appeal to broader audiences through social media content, flyers, tabling, and event planning. In the spring 2025 semester, the Museum of History and Holocaust Education, the SAFE Center and the Bentley Rare Book Museum saw the benefit.

That day, Tom Vizcarrondo, known as “Dr. V” to students, provided feedback to each team, consisting of copywriters, media relations specialists, creative designers, research analysts, and account liaisons, on how they would best illustrate the impact of their work to clients. They were preparing to give a presentation the following week, their final exam.

“Being in Peak Communications allows students to tell a story to the client through a campaign plan, show work samples, but take that a step further and actually execute it with results,” said Vizcarrondo, associate professor of communication in the Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences and advisor of the student-run public relations agency. He has led the course since 2019.

To apply, students are required to have earned a minimum of 90 credit hours and be declared a public relations major. So, they usually understand the basic PR principles they would be implementing through the semester-long project.

“Everyone this semester did a phenomenal job,” Vizcarrondo said.

Reflecting fondly on the past semester, public relations majors Gabriela Citino, Ellie Faulkenberry, and Charles “CJ” Maurer shared their experience working with their different clients.

Citino described the unforeseen challenges that can arise only from working with a live client, better equipping her for a future career in public relations. Her team increased the Holocaust Museum’s social media engagement levels from 4.5% to 7%, exceeding the goal of 6%.

“Things may not happen exactly how your textbook describes,” said Citino, who served as the copywriter for a campaign for the Museum of History and Holocaust Education. “You really need to build some level of emotional maturity to navigate those challenges because you may feel like everything is going wrong, but actually, it's not.”

Meanwhile, Maurer said he and his team found success promoting an event for the Bentley Rare Book Museum through trial and error. The museum wanted an event scheduled around Shakespeare’s birthday, where students and faculty could interact with the 1685 Fourth Folio of Shakespeare, one of the few in Georgia. They decided on a classroom takeover in collaboration with students from the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies, which included a reenactment of a Shakespeare work and recitation of a sonnet Peak students created to promote the event.

“Our courses teach us so much but being able to apply what we know in Peak Communications, like creating an actual pitch plan, was a really good learning opportunity,” Maurer said.

Faulkenberry, whose team created a campaign for the SAFE Center, helped attract more than 400 students at the center’s annual fundraising event, though the goal was 350. Promoting the event was particularly challenging, as the office provides trauma services to students and faculty, and the tone had to be just right.

“My experience in Peak Communications definitely boosted my confidence,” Faulkenberry said. “I can say I learned how to do this in a real-life setting and have real experience to show I can do a real public relations campaign and work with a real client.”

Peak Communications alumni have been able to apply what they learned while in the agency toward their careers. Will Simms ’24, who now works as a product marketing specialist at UPS Healthcare, said his time during the capstone lent to a set of skills he employs every day in his current role, such as creating designs, meeting deadlines and collaborating with his colleagues.

“I think the culture of Peak Communications and what Dr. V is building is just fantastic,” said Simms, whose client in Peak was the Aviation History & Technology Center on the Dobbins Air Reserve Base. “It’s a really awesome opportunity for people to get that experience of working with a client and seeing the public relations campaign from start to finish.”

Peak Communications has worked with several other external clients, such as Devereux, a nonprofit that provides behavioral health treatment to children ages 9 to 21. The agency collaborated with Devereux Georgia Development Director Matthew Dobson on a 50th anniversary event in 2023. The nonprofit had not launched any new fundraising campaigns since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students conducted a SWOT analysis and interviewed one of Devereux Georgia’s board members to create a campaign that involved social media posts leading up to the event. Dobson attributes much of the event’s success to Peak Communications’ work.

“It was a godsend at the time to be able to work with that class,” Dobson said.

– Story by Amber Perry

Photos by Matt Yung

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to its more than 47,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties, and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 8 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.