由於近年來大學校院大量增設,與出生人口數大量減少,大學校院面臨招生劇烈競爭。因此,公共關係對於許多大學校院來說是一門相當重要,並具迫切性的實務與研究課題。為瞭解我國之大學校院如何運用公關來提升學校競爭力,以及探討學校公關功能之發展,本研究為採現象學取向之質化研究,對台灣九所大學校院之學校公關負責人進行深入訪談,目的在瞭解大學校院公關之實際運作,以及公關人員對學校公關功能的認知情形,進而探討實際公關運作與學校公關認知落差之原因。 從相關文獻、專家意見與受訪的大學公關人員對其實際公關運作情形,整理歸納出20項學校公關功能,其中發現只有媒體關係、形象塑造、危機管理、社區關係,以及公關活動之規劃等五項公關功能,在大學校院中較受到重視;此外,公關人員的職級與權責,相當程度反映公關運作的效能。公關人員實際工作中,對學校公關的體認與其對學校公關概念的看法間有些差距。同時,也從九所私立大學校院中,發現了構成實際公關運作與對公關概念認知間差距的主要8項原因。
Public relations has become an important topic in many of Taiwan's institutions of higher education, related in large part to fierce competition in student recruitment and increased criticism and pressure from public interest groups for educational accountability. How universities and colleges utilize public relations practitioners to some extent determines their school development. Therefore, it is important to explore the functions of educational public relations practitioners from their lived experiences and perceptions of the ideal of educational public relations and the factors causing the discrepancies in functions between them. This phenomenological study uses a sample of 9 public relations practitioners in Taiwanese private universities/colleges to present a descriptive profile of public relations functions in Taiwanese higher educational institutions.