Welcome to The Sandbox: New Public Relations Lab Is Hub for Experiential Learning

October 2, 2024By Matthew Milotakis '25

Alexandra Cos, a senior Public Relations major, left; Amiee Shelton, Professor of Public Relations, center; and other Public Relations majors stand inside The Sandbox, the new PR lab on the Bristol campus.

BRISTOL, R.I. - Located on the first floor of Global Heritage Hall, a new Public Relations lab is hard not to spot - literally. Peek through the glass door and you are greeted by whimsical blue dotted wallpaper. Step inside and you'll see a seating area for students to conduct meetings, monitors to work on projects, and shelves displaying past PR projects to serve as inspiration.

Dubbed The Sandbox, the purpose of the new lab is to promote collaboration - a space where Public Relations students and members of Roger Williams University's Public Relations Student Society of Americachapter can come together, play, and build things, said Amiee Shelton, Professor of Public Relations and PRSSA advisor. Describing the space as a canvas, Shelton said it offers students a place to be creative.

"I want students to feel they have a place they can grow, and they can grow the way they want to," Shelton said. "They can take what they've learned from all of our different classes and bring it together to create their projects."

At The Sandbox, students can meet and collaborate on everything from client-based projects to Bateman, a national PR competition. They have their own phone line, as well as multiple monitors equipped with Adobe Suite and PR-specific software. A bulletin board lets students leave notes, congratulating each other on getting an internship or putting up positive affirmations.

To showcase the lab, Shelton and PRSSA members hosted a grand opening on Sept. 25. Stationed outside the room were Public Relations majors who highlighted various aspects of the program, including study abroad opportunities, PRSAA, and national competitions. They also offered tours of the new space.

Alexandra Cos, president of RWU's Public Relations Student Society of America chapter, and Aiden Blatter, vice president of PRSSA, sit inside The Sandbox, the new PR lab they helped design.

Shelton said she and her students dreamt up the idea for The Sandbox and brought it to life with help from RWU's Facilities team, who hand-cut tables, made shelves, and removed a door frame to make the space all come together. The project was primarily funded by alumni of RWU's Public Relations program.

Alexandra Cos, a senior Public Relations major with a minor in Marketing, said she spent her summer putting up wallpaper and decorating the space, each decoration tying back into the PR program. Cos, a Danbury, Conn. native and PRSSA president, said she was excited about how the space came together. Her favorite decoration is something she came up with called the "corporate ladder," a physical ladder used to represents students' successes.

"It's about reimagining the corporate ladder as a positive thing," she said. "We plan to have pictures of everyone on the ladder and the ways you can move up the ladder are based on your class year. It's a way to stop the comparisons and just celebrate whatever successes we're each experiencing."