Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to establish the effectiveness of Public Relations Departments of IUM and
NUST in stakeholder engagement. The main objective was to investigate the extent of stakeholder
engagement by IUM and NUST’s public relations departments. The study was qualitative, with a
population of all universities in Namibia. Purposive sampling was used to select two Universities namely
IUM and NUST. Represented by the Marketing and Communication Department at NUST and the
Marketing, Communication and Stakeholders Engagement Department at IUM. Interview guides were
used to collect data. The findings of the study indicated that PRO’s roles are innumerable for each
organisation but the most common areas are dealing with media, stakeholders and marketing the
institution’s brand through event planning and social media as well as maintaining the image and
reputation of the two Universities. It was also indicated that Public Relations Departments are of benefit
to stakeholders of the two Universities because they act as custodians of the universities' brand and
ensure that the institution's images are well positioned in the public eye. They are also the ears and eyes
on the ground. Based on these findings, the following recommendations were made:
Email and social media platforms are the most preferred forms of communication among the two
Universities. The academic staff and the university management in general of the two universities need
to take advantage of this, to make use of email and social media platforms to engage and preserve
relationships with their stakeholders. The study also noted that to keep the effectiveness of the PRO of
the two universities each communicated message should be carefully crafted for the various audiences
to ensure maximum engagement. Information should also be made simple, summarizing the programs
they offer to make it easier for the learners to understand.In managing stakeholders of the two Namibian universities, PRO’s of the two Namibian Universities
should always fulfil their promises to their stakeholders as they are nothing without their stakeholders
and always give correct information to meet stakeholder’s needs.
