NMU student Cristina Seiter (pictured back row, third from left) has been elected the national vice president of internships/jobs for the Public Relations Student Society of America. She is also the president of the PRSSA chapter at NMU. 

Seiter submitted an application, essay and letter of recommendation, then gave a speech followed by a question-and-answer period at the PRSSA National Assembly. Delegates voted for her as their candidate of choice.

“I am extremely excited,” said Seiter, a junior from Brighton, Mich. “This position will allow me to assist all PRSSA members in finding potential jobs and internships, and I think it will be very rewarding to know that I will be playing a part in the career paths of our members. I should even be able to find myself a job when I graduate next year.”

 

This is the second time in three years that NMU has had a PRSSA student elected into a vice-president position at the national level. 

“Our main goal is to build up our school’s reputation,” said Walter Niebauer, NMU PRSSA adviser. “We want employers to see NMU on resumes and recognize it as a symbol of a quality education.”

NMU’s chapter has also been named one of the top three in the country, according to a summary of the PRSSA national conference in New York this semester. About 350 PRSSA chapters from across the country were judged on various criteria, including the number of members and their amount of active involvement on-campus and in the community. 

Niebauer said Northern's PRSSA chapter has come a long way since he first started advising in 2000. “There were only seven members when I started, and the organization was bankrupt. We now have 33 members and do a lot of fundraising to keep us financially stable. We’ve definitely come a long way.”