Renee Perez, a sophomore majoring in public relations and political science, won re-election as the School of Communication senator in early October. Perez is also the vice chair of the public relations committee for student government and uses the skills she has learned in the classroom to keep students informed about student government initiatives.

“I love that I can improve student government by using my public relations skills,” Perez said. “I recently designed a poll to help student government make plans to make San Amaro Drive safer. It made me realize how much I enjoy public relations research, and I am looking forward to turning that research into action.”

Perez was born in the Philippines but moved to Chicago when she was 11 and to Coral Springs, Fla., four years later. In addition to her senate responsibilities, Perez is vice president of communications for the Public Relations Student Society of America, public relations coordinator for the Butler Center, a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, and an intern at ADG Omnimedia.

“I stay very busy, but none of what I do feels like work,” she said. “It is not hard for me to stay motivated when I love what I am doing.”

This year, student government initiated Design-A-Course, a program that allows students to create and teach a class that may not be offered by the university. To design a course, a student must find a faculty sponsor and write a syllabus. The course must them be approved by student government and the faculty senate.

So far, there are no designed courses for the School of Communication, but as vice chair of the public relations committee, Perez is working to publicize the program.

“Every field of communication changes all the time, and Design-A-Course could be really beneficial to communication students who want to learn more about emerging trends in the field,” Perez said. “We hope to see more designed courses by next semester and we are working to better promote this awesome program.”

Perez welcomes comments and suggestions from SoC students and faculty. To contact her, email r.perez28@umiami.edu.

The second School of Communication senate seat became vacant when Alana Schmidt resigned from her position. The council of senate chairs will interview candidates and select the new senator.Story by Emily Young