News

The impending retirement of Executive Director Rich Bagin, APR, has created an opportunity for a highly experienced, strategic leader in the field of nonprofits and public relations. Job requirements include 10 years of leadership experience, and a strong record of financial and business management. Review the complete job description. 

At NSPRA, it’s tradition to celebrate leading school communicators every July. This year was no different as NSPRA virtually recognized the many accomplishments of school public relations in 2019-20. Many school PR pros joined the honorees and NSPRA on social media during the two live video premieres this month.

Visit the social media links below to rewatch the celebratory videos.

2020 NSPRA Member and Chapter Honors (premiere #1)

When: Wednesday, July 8, at 3 p.m. EDT (2 p.m. CDT, 1 P.M. MDT, Noon PDT)

NSPRA is governed by an Executive Board comprised of 12 elected officers: a president, president-elect, vice president for diversity engagement, seven regional vice presidents and two appointed vice presidents at-large. The annual election of officers is conducted in August unless a race is uncontested. In the event of an uncontested race, NSPRA Bylaws allow the Executive Board to affirm candidates by acclamation.

During its July 2020 meeting, the Executive Board will affirm the following approved, uncontested candidates by acclamation as officers-elect of the board: 

NSPRA’s Gold Medallion awards program is the only national awards competition that specifically recognizes comprehensive, strategic school public relations programs. This year, eight Gold Medallion winners were selected from among 30 competitive entries by school PR programs across the United States.

Each year the Mark of Distinction program recognizes NSPRA chapters for exemplary activities, projects and programs related to the association’s mission, goals and objectives. Those efforts are intended to build support and trust for education through responsible public relations that leads to success for all students. Eight chapters have earned the Mark of Distinction in 2020.

Own your mistakes. It’s a key tenet of great communications, and as the National School Public Relations Association, it’s something that we should both preach and practice. So, we’re owning a mistake: a message we issued last week that focused on sadness and empathy for our school communities and echoed the frustrations of peaceful protesters urging justice on many fronts, but fell short of articulating a strong enough message against racism, injustice and inequality.

If you have been preparing to earn accreditation in public relations (APR),  you may be wondering whether you can proceed during this time. The answer is yes!

The NSPRA Accreditation Committee, comprised of NSPRA members from various regions, has been in close touch with the Universal Accreditation Board (UAB), which oversees APR Panel Presentations and the computer-based APR exam, and has continued to meet and plan ways that we can support you as you pursue your APR.

NSPRA President Kelly Avants, APR, and Executive Director Rich Bagin, APR, released the following joint statement to NSPRA members on Thursday, June 4, 2020.

Dear NSPRA members:

Sadly, we’ve had to cancel the NSPRA 2020 National Seminar in St. Louis. The safety and health of all who are involved with planning and attending the NSPRA Seminar was the overriding factor in making our decision. Our priority remains your health, safety and well-being.

NSPRA has compiled helpful tips, resources and news items to assist school communicators and administrators in communicating about coronavirus-related preparation steps, response efforts and emergencies.