PUBLIC RELATIONS AND INFORMATION OFFICE R ome, April 12th 2011

1. PUBLIC RELATIONS AND INFORMATION OFFICE Rome, April 12th 2011 daniela.vingiani@uniroma1.it

2. PUBLIC RELATIONS: FIELDS OF ACTIVITY PR is in general a profession with varying definitions because of its many functions and perceptions. Main functions can usually include: • COMMUNICATION • COMMUNITY RELATIONS • CRISIS MANAGEMENT • CUSTOMER AND EMPLOYEE RELATIONS • MEDIA RELATIONS • MEDIATION • PUBLICITY • SPEECH WRITING • VISITOR RELATIONS Very often these activities are not carried out by a single office, but by a series of different offices strongly linked to each other (we use to call them transversal activities). Daniela Vingiani

3. POSSIBLE DEFINITIONS “A FUNCTION THAT SERVES BOTH THE ORGANIZATION AND PUBLIC INTERESTS” “THE PRACTICE OF MANAGING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN AN ORGANIZATION AND ITS PUBLICS” The peculiar aspect of PR function is that the services provided are not tangible and that is what sets it apart from advertising. The aim is to serve and support the organization’s publics (or stakeholders) and to build stable and fruitful relations with specific audiences or general public. Daniela Vingiani

4. PR OFFICERS: SKILLS AND ABILITIES PR Officers must know how to: • speak clearly • write clearly • listen actively • think critically These skills are necessary because in the field of public relations there is a constant communication undergoing between professionals and their publics. And PR officers are very often required to come up with solutions to problems their audience may face. Daniela Vingiani

5. ORGANIZATION CHART PUBLIC RELATIONS AND INFORMATION OFFICE COLLOCATION IN SAPIENZA UNIVERSITY Daniela Vingiani

6. PUBLIC RELATIONS AND INFORMATION OFFICE: “EVERY – DAY” ACTIVITIES The Public Relations and Information Office is a qualified centre of assistance and guidance, specialized in finding out the appropriate solutions for every single case and to manage the reports concerning difficulties and problems. In particular, the Office provides information regarding the University organization, the reference regulation, the persons in charge and the status of the administrative proceedings.The services offered are addressed to all kind of University users, both internal (personnel, students, etc.), and external (other administrative bodies, firms, etc). The Public Relations and Information Office favours the development and integration of internal communication among administrative offices and proposes periodical verification of the quality of the services offered. The Office is also deeply committed in reinforcing the information dissemination through modern communication channels preferring e-mail and on line services. Daniela Vingiani

7. USERS PERCENTAGE Daniela Vingiani

8. CHANNELS Information is provided through different channels: • Face - to - face interaction • Telephone • E-mail • Website • The creation of a “chat space “ is in progress and should be implemented in a near future. The chat should make the interaction easier and friendlier, in a more informal environment. Daniela Vingiani

9. KNOWLEDGE SHARING Both front office and back office activities are carried out in a collaborative environment with the application of common knowledge management tools. In particular: • Shared data bases and folders • Web mail • Electronic Document Management System • Wikis Daniela Vingiani

10. INTERNAL COMMUNICATION For more than ten years our office has been working very hard on developing and maintaining a network of relations that can allow effective communication to take place within the organization. The network consists of formal and informal channels, which are both equally important. • Formal channelsallow to obtain certified information (necessary to guarantee consistency between internal and external communication) • Informal channels allow to maintain stable relationships with referents of different offices and departments (managers, technical and administrative staff, professors, etc.) Daniela Vingiani

11. SAPIENZA UNIVERSITY: VALUES AND POLICY Sapienza University is strongly committed to transparency and accountability towards its many stakeholders. For this reason our aim is to try and reach all our audiences and to establish constructive relations with them, through a series of particular activities and special projects. Those activities and projects are also intended as a way of constructing a real communication community, to spread the seed of communication as an asset, an added value. To stimulate a real changing process of attitudes and habits. Keywords of this process are essentially: • INVOLVEMENT • SHARING • COLLABORATION • AWARENESS • TRAINING • FEEDBACK Daniela Vingiani

12. PARTICULAR ACTIVITIES • EXHIBITIONS The Public Relations and Information Office organizes and manages the participation of the University in the main Italian exhibitions (in particular the Public Administration Forum – FORUM PA and the Communication of Public Administration Exhibition – COM.PA) in cooperation with other offices (mainly the Press Office) • WEBSITE EDITORIAL BOARD The Public Relations and Information Office is represented in the Website Editorial Board, which is devoted to the improvement of the institutional website (both Italian and English versions) • INTERNAL TRAINING The PRI Office also cooperates with the Staff Training Office in the implementation of training programs in particular subjects, such as public and institutional communication; interpersonal communication; communication planning and so on. Daniela Vingiani

13. SPECIAL PROJECTS The following is a list of special projects handled by our Public Relations and Information Office: • “URPINSIEME” – Integrated communication project among PR offices of different universities and other public bodies • “LINEA AMICA” – The new Governmental project which includes a unified call center of the Public Administration with the aim to provide information and assistance and to conduct customer satisfaction surveys • The Communication Plan – A strategic document that defines the annual communication goals and the means to achieve them • Reengineering of the Institutional web site Daniela Vingiani

14. URPINSIEME PROJECT Within this project we carried out a series of activities and studies. In particular: • The establishmentof a stable network of relations among PR Officers of different Universities and other Public Bodies • The creation of a co-managed website www.urpinsieme.it in which we share useful integrated information addressed to all kinds of audience, specifically involving procedures and services offered by each organization • The implementation of a “Focus” dedicated to researches and courses carried out in the interesting and popular field of “environment” • The organization of meetings and workshops related to different aspects of Communication • The production of articles and information materials about the project. Daniela Vingiani

15. CONCLUSIONS PR and COMMUNICATION functions are a real challenge in a wide and complex organization. The larger is the context the more complex is the task. Sapienza University is the largest university in Europe, with 145.000 students, over 4.500 professors and almost 5.000 administrative and technical staff. So you can easily imagine that our job is not easy. But it is surely very interesting and exiting. Daniela Vingiani

16. CONTACT DETAILS For any questions, input and suggestions DANIELA VINGIANI Head of Public Relations and Information Office Sapienza University of Rome daniela.vingiani@uniroma1.it Daniela Vingiani