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Staff
Spotlight
Pender
McCarter Moves to the Head of the Class
By
Sharon Richardson
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IEEE-USA
Communications Director Pender M. McCarter inducts a
new member into The College of Fellows of the Public
Relations Society of America (PRSA) at the PRSA's
international conference in San Francisco on 16
November 2002. As 2002 chair of The College, Pender
presents the Fellows' engraved gold medallion to one
of 16 new inductees, Kelly Rossman-McKinney of
Lansing, Mich. PRSA's College of Fellows recognizes
distinguished public-relations leaders, and seeks to
further the professionalism and reputation of
public-relations practice and education. In his
three-year term as an officer of The College of
Fellows, Pender listed as his top priority increasing
the percentage of minorities in the PRSA and in the
public-relations profession.
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Moving to the
head of the class is exactly what Pender McCarter, IEEE-USA, had
in mind when he joined the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
in 1986.
Headquartered in New York City,
PRSA is the world’s largest
professional organization for public relations (PR) practitioners.
Its approximately 20,000 U.S. members, organized into 117
chapters, represent government, corporations, associations,
professional service firms, non-profit organizations, and industry.
“I joined the
PRSA to network with my peers in the public relations field — to
compare what they do with what I’ve been doing. I did not have
training in PR theory, only in practice,” explains McCarter,
IEEE-USA's director of public relations and communications. He has been on the IEEE-USA staff since 1981. He has
also been an
IEEE associate member for 21 years.
To gain training
in PR theory, McCarter enrolled in night classes and prepared for the
Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) exam, a voluntary certification
program for public relations professionals. He took the exam
— the first one he ever took on a computer — in the
spring of 1997. The rigorous test consisted of multiple choice and
essay questions, and required him to complete a PR plan for a
hypothetical case, and answer questions on ethics before a panel.
Several months later, McCarter proudly added “APR” to his name.
Later that year,
he was elected chair of the PRSA Association Section. Then, in 1998,
McCarter received the esteemed honor of being inducted into the
exclusive PRSA College of Fellows.
PRSA's
requirements for admittance into the College of Fellows are
strict. One must have earned accredited PRSA membership, practiced
or taught public relations for at least 20 years, demonstrated
exceptional capability as a practitioner or educator, exhibited
personal and professional qualities that serve as a role model for
other practitioners and educators, and advanced the state of the
profession through unusual and exceptional contributions to the
field of public relations.
Currently, only
407 of the society's more than 20,000 members and two percent of
all PRSA members have been awarded that rank.
But McCarter didn't stop there. In 2001,
his colleagues elected him 2002 Chair of the PRSA
College of Fellows. He also became chair of another professional
organization, the International Public Relations Association's
United States section. In these roles, Pender has mentored new
members into the field and inducted new Fellows into the PRSA.
“As IEEE
staff, we appreciate working with knowledgeable, energetic and
committed volunteers. By the same token, as a PRSA volunteer, I
recognize how much a staff person can contribute to my volunteer
assignment," says Pender. "Wearing my volunteer hat has
helped me be more sensitive as an IEEE staff person supporting our
volunteers with full-time jobs. This is why I always encourage
staff to join a professional association.”
Sharon
Richardson is communications staff assistant at IEEE-USA in
Washington, D.C., where she also serves as editorial assistant for
IEEE-USA News & Views.
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