Raising the Bar

Bateman Case Study

	Bateman team (l-r) Erica Sniad, Samantha Phillips, Bonnie Overbeck, Tiffany Pokabla and Valerie Wright

The Bateman team members were Bonnie Overbeck, Samantha Phillips, Tiffany Pokabla, Erica Sniad and Valerie Wright. Their advisers were Dr. Kathy Fitzpatrick, Jack Felton and Kelly G. Page.

This year’s case, which was underwritten by credit card giant VISA, challenged public relations students to plan and implement a comprehensive financial literacy campaign aimed at educating high school and college students about being “money smart.”

The UF team focused on the theme, “Take the F.R.E.E.way—Financial Responsibility Enriching Everyone.”

They enlisted students to sign pledges of financial responsibility, staged a halftime “debt-defense” lay-up contest at the Ole Miss-UF basketball game, sponsored an investment workshop on campus and presented street theater at three area high schools.

UF was one of 42 schools which submitted campaign books and a five-minute promotional video.

Runners-up were Loyola University (New Orleans) and Cal State-Long Beach, respectively.

Team member Valerie Wright, current president of the UF PRSSA chapter, said she believes the competition honed her professional skills. “The competition made all of my public relations classes come together,” Wright said. “It was a great experience and justified the 30-40 hours per week we spent on the project.”

UF also won the competition in 1983, 1986, 1990, 1995, 1996 and 1998. No other school has finished first more than three times.