Abstract:

All over the world, institutional image in public minds influences the disposition of industry partners, academics, researchers and admission seekers towards tertiary establishments. Negative public image stunts institutional growth and reverses academic excellence. Central to institutional image are two issues of awareness and perception. There are concerns that many government-owned tertiary institutions are not taking advantage of the public goodwill at their disposal and this could be due to public relations problems.  This study examines public awareness and perception of public relations activities in government-owned tertiary institutions in Lagos, Nigeria. It adopts the triangulation methodology to show image-centred problems, structures and practices in purposively selected higher institutions. Survey research and In-depth interview designs are applied with a questionnaire and interview guide as instruments of data collection. Findings show that majority of the publics are aware of the public relations activities of the selected tertiary institutions. However, perception results show that these activities do not motivate positive public response to the public relations activities of the institutions. Also revealed is the practitioners’ inability to effectively exhaust public relations tools due to poor funding and faulty structures. The study concludes that public relations actions are proactive measures; and recommended the allocation of 5-10% of tertiary institutions’ budget to image building and sustenance.