CSUN Student Wins Internet Study Grant

Recognizing the growing use of the Internet as an advertising vehicle, a Cal State Northridge graduate student has won a $10,000 grant to examine the public relations benefits of the global computer network.

Barbara Ingram said the money will fund a study of private college and university home pages on the World Wide Web to determine which sites are most effective at communicating their institution’s offerings.

“Nobody knows how to do this,” she said, describing the chaotic nature of many college Web sites launched in the past two years. “Nobody really has written why you should do this at the college level.”

The 5-year-old grant is awarded annually by Ketchum Public Relations in association with the Institute for Public Relations Research and Education at the University of Florida, Gainesville. The grant includes $4,000 for the study, a $5,000, eight-week internship at Ketchum’s New York offices this summer and a $1,000 grant to Ingram’s advisor, CSUN journalism professor Maureen Rubin.

“I hope to finish by December,” Ingram said.

A Valencia resident, Ingram said that in addition to completing her master’s degree she also intends to use the research to improve the home page of The Master’s College, a private Christian college in Newhall where she works as marketing director.

“I’m hoping to create sort of a manual,” she said, explaining that many colleges fail to create a cohesive plan when placing their schools online. Ingram cited USC and the University of Texas at Austin as two successful examples.