BURLINGTON, Vt. - While the stock market continues to surprise the country with its spiral further into recession, a local college plans to help circumvent the backlash in the job market by connecting its students directly with industry professionals and their organizations. 

In March, Champlain College became the first institution in Vermont to form a chapter in the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), aimed at helping its public relations majors get a leg up in the business world and plan for success in a tight job market.     

"The Public Relations Student Society chapter is designed to assist students by giving them a professional edge when they go out into the marketplace," says Nancy Kerr, Champlain College's Media Communications program director and PRSSA advisor.

As members, students will boost their professional profile, while allowing them to connect with local public relations practitioners through guest speakers and visits to regional firms, says Kerr. At Champlain, one of the chapter's primary objectives is to host speakers to bring in a different perspective from outside the academic world. 

"We're working hard on behalf of our students to have them feel free to call different professionals in the community to ask questions, talk about possible internships, and make them feel like a part of the group,"  says Kerr.

Champlain College's PRSSA members also gain access to national and regional conferences and conventions, industry journals, scholarship opportunities, and most important - the online Job Center, which displays thousands of job and internship postings daily.

"For employers looking for people in PR, it's not like they're going to just post [job listings] in a newspaper," says Leah Shearer, a Champlain College junior and president of Champlain's PRSSA chapter.  "They post with the Public Relations Student Society of America because they're looking for people who are in the group and are very active in public relations." 

The Champlain chapter hopes that its formation will not only help students feel more secure in their career future but also better about the career itself.  "Hopefully, our chapter and its members will better the public relations community, lead to more professionalism, and better industry standards for professionals in public relations," says Shearer. "It's exciting to think about."

Champlain College, a private baccalaureate institution, was founded in 1878. Located in Burlington, Champlain College is a national leader in educating students to become skilled practitioners, effective professionals and global citizens. It was ranked 12^th in the top tier of Best Comprehensive Colleges in the North by U.S. News and World Report's America's Best Colleges 2009. Champlain has approximately 2,000 students, presenting 32 states and 17 countries. It has study abroad programs that include campuses in Montreal, Quebec and a newly opened campus in Dublin, Ireland. For more information, visit www.champlain.edu