Linking diversity and public relations in higher education

This research examines public relationships and diversity issues at a large, Southeastern public university and a mid-sized, Midwestern public university in the United States of America. The Hon and Grunig (1999) scale was modified to measure the relationship factors. In general, students at both universities described their relationships with their university as founded in trust, commitment, and satisfaction.The students also seemed to believe their university was committed to diversity issues,which may be related to Weick’s (1979) concept of Requisite Variety. This research provides a starting point for future work measuring dialogue and public history in relationships. In addition, this research may contribute to finding additional relationship factors in nations other than the United States.