Deborah Silverman, Ph.D., APR

Deborah A. Silverman, Ph.D., APR, currently serves as chair of PRSA’s Board of Ethics and Professional Standards (BEPS), as a member of PRSA’s Definition of Public Relations Task Force and as PRSA’s representative on the Commission on Public Relations Education.

Silverman is an associate professor and associate chair of the Buffalo State College Communication Department, which has over 700 undergraduates enrolled in four majors, including public communication (PR/advertising).

According to Silverman, “BEPS has had a very productive year in its efforts to educate PRSA members, other public relations professionals, and those outside of the PR industry about ethical standards in public relations.” She is especially pleased by the work done by BEPS members on several new professional standards advisories, an ethics webinar in April for Chapter ethics officers, and an array of Ethics Month activities in September including blog posts on PRSAY, three ethics tweet chats (#PRethics), and a webinar on social media ethics for PRSA members. “It’s a pleasure to work alongside so many talented, dedicated public relations professionals on BEPS,” she says. “In PRSA’s recent membership surveys, our Code of Ethics has consistently ranked as the top value for our members. The members of BEPS understand the importance of the code to public relations practitioners and we’re engaged in a number of outreach efforts to inform people about our ethical standards.”  

For more information on PRSA’s September Ethics Month resources, including blog posts, commentaries, Tweet chat recaps, ethics quiz, roundtable discussion topics and on-demand Ethics Webinar, visit our PRSA 2011 Ethics Month Activities resource page.