Vitae

Emel Isil Ozdora
Doctoral Student

EDUCATION
Ph.D in Mass Communication – Public Relations, GPA: 3.81
August 2006 – Present, University of Florida, Gainesville FL
Anticipated graduation: May 2009
Research areas: reputation management, corporate public relations, organizational communications, crisis communication.

Master of Arts in Mass Communication – Public Relations, GPA: 3.66
May 2006, University of Florida, Gainesville FL
Research areas: reputation management and corporate public relations.

Thesis: Reputation Management of the Big Four Accounting Firms After the Enron and Arthur Andersen Scandals, 2004
Thesis Chair: Dr. Linda Childers Hon

Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Design, GPA: 3.83
June 2004, Bilkent University, Ankara, TURKEY 
Placed in the High honors list of the Dean and was on full scholarship for three consecutive years.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
            Supervised Teaching with Dr. Belio Martinez for PUR 3500 - Public Relations
Research, Spring 2007 semester

• Assisted with the preparation of class exams and quizzes
• Provided support with advising students and research teams on class projects
• Participated in meetings with students and teams during
• Participated in the grading of multiple choice/true and false/matching exams
• Lectured three class periods

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Communications Graduate Assistant, UF College of Dentistry
July 2006 – Present, Gainesville FL

• Prepared and designed the College’s bimonthly staff newsletter Dental Direct – 4 issues
• Chaired the Staff Communications Board in the College of Dentistry
• Worked on the design and preparation of various brochures for the different departments in the College of Dentistry
• Assisted with the questions, design and analysis of the annual patient satisfaction survey
• Working on a communication plan for the Department of Orthodontics
• Preparing scripts for the radio show – Health in a Heartbeat

Public Relations Consultant, Merlion Singapore Cuisine
April 2006 – July 2006, Gainesville, FL

• Assisted in developing a public relations/marketing plan.
• Created posters and brochures for the restaurant.
• Developed a customer survey to be used to measure customer satisfaction

            Public Relations Consultant, IIA NCF (Institute of Internal Auditors, North Florida Chapter), Jan. 2006 – July 2006, Gainesville, FL

• Assisted with developing a public relations plan.
• Wrote news releases for the organization.

Public Relations Intern, N’PR Communication and Public Relations Corp.,
June 2003 – Aug. 2003, Ankara, TURKEY

• Participated in public relations activities and media relations of the clients.
• Assisted the employees of the agency during special events and press conferences.
• Took part in the preparations of the public relations magazine “HI”.

            Publications Assistant - Intern, Warrington College of Business – Publications Department, University of Florida, July 2002 – Sep. 2002, Gainesville, FL

• Conducted interviews for the “Triangle” Magazine and was responsible for the communication with the alumni.
• Published two articles in the Fall 2002 issue.

CURRENT RESEARCH

• In Progress:

Ozdora, E, & Ferguson, M.A. (2007). “Sometimes Positive, Sometimes Negative:  Reconciling Effects Of Corporate Social Responsibility On Reputation.”

This paper summarizes research on the interrelationship between
corporate social responsibility (CSR) and reputation and points out that some theorists argue for strategic social responsibility, while others report strategic CSR lead to skepticism and has a negative impact on corporate reputations.  The authors argue that a stronger public relations emphasis would recognize differences in publics and culture and develop CSR programs that not only “fit” the company, but also “fit” the publics and the culture.

• In progress:

Ozdora, E., Hon, L.C., & Kiousis, S. (2007) Corporate Reputation And The Big Four: Public Relations After The Enron And Arthur Andersen Scandals.
This research aims to explore the public relations and reputation management efforts of the Big Four after the scandals and the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley. The review of the literature shows that reputation management has become an important function of public relations, especially when companies need strong reputations to differentiate themselves from their competitors and win the hearts and minds of their stakeholders.  The historical timeline provides background on how deeply the reputations of the Big Four were damaged due to the scandals. The paper also includes a Web site content analysis of the Big Four to examine their public relations efforts to manage their reputations.  Interviews with the public relations directors of two of the Big Four companies, Deloitte and Touche and Ernst and Young, also were conducted to gain more in-depth information about their reputation management efforts. The research results reveal that the Big Four are engaging in various public relations strategies to manage their reputations and trying to reestablish public trust.

• In progress:

Explicating Reputation: An Examination of Approaches and Definitions between 2003-2006.
     This paper examines the different definitions of reputation in the current literature and  
     proposes a all-encompassing definition for reputation and its operationalizetion. 

UNIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
 (TSA) Turkish Student Association
President, Sep. 2005 – July 2006
Vice President, Nov. 2004- Sep. 2005, University of Florida,

• Facilitated social interaction among Turkish students in Gainesville.
• Organized special events to introduce Turkey and Turkish culture to members of the Gainesville community

(GSMCA) Graduate Students in Mass Communication Association
Treasurer, Jan. 2005 – Aug. 2006, University of Florida

• Created an environment of interaction among the graduate students from of the College of Journalism and Communication.

           
SKILLS
Languages: English – advanced (TOEFL 277)
   Turkish – native
   German – beginner
 
            Computer: Windows – advanced, Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) – advanced, Mac OS – advanced, Adobe Photoshop – intermediate, Adobe Illustrator – advanced, Adobe InDesign – advanced.