The work of public relations at West Georgia College began in earnest with President Irvine S. Ingram hiring Tracy Stallings as Director of Public Relations in 1959. According to a September 21, 1999, interview of Stallings by Dr. Mel Steely, Stallings states that Ingram previously had someone in that role [unknown], but that “the person he had in that job didn't work out.”

Stallings served as Director of Public Relations from 1959-1969, after which he began working in other capacities around campus. As Stallings recounts during that interview of those early years, “I recruited students. I went to College Day programs, every College Day program held all over Georgia. I did all the alumni work, the fundraising for scholarships, I was a faculty advisor to twenty-five or thirty students, I was advisor to the student newspaper and the yearbook, and I put out a weekly faculty memo, and I put out news releases.”

In 1968, President Boyd added a position of Assistant to the Director of Public Relations, hiring Gordon Bradwell. In 1969, after Stallings began other duties, Bradwell’s title changed to Director of Information Services. Bradwell resigned in 1971 to take a position elsewhere.

During the late 1960s to early 1970s, various documents refer to the Office of Public Affairs, the Division of Public Affairs, and the Office of Information Services. President Boyd’s papers, in a file titled, “Department of Public Affairs,” mentions Dr. Stephen McCutcheon as Director of Public Affairs (June 1970), while a press release issued by the Office of Public Affairs with Bradwell as Director of Information, announces two staff additions to the department of public affairs — Doyle Akins as the Director of Alumni Affairs, and William Abare in the newly created post of Director of Publications and Special Events (July 1970).

Interestingly, in 1970, Abare was charged to form a committee to maintain a central college activities calendar. A published campus calendar does not appear to have not come into fruition until 1977, with the issuance of “Campus Calendar,” in a newsletter format, which in that same year was re-titled to College Upcoming Events, also known as CUE.

Also, of note is the organization of Central Duplicating, known today as Publications and Printing, which came under the leadership of William Abare [it is unclear if Bill Abare is the same person as Bill Adair] in 1970.

In the period of 1973 to 1974, there were two distinct offices: Public Relations with David Parkman as Director, and College Relations with J.T. Ford as Director. Both seem to have reported directly to the President. Ford also served in this role as Director of College Relations, in conjunction with his original position as Executive Assistant for Administration, until he resigned in 1977.

An organizational chart, annotated in pencil with the date October 16, 1974, shows the Director of College Relations as the manager for the Director of Public Relations (with four positions reporting to them), and the Director of Publications and Printing (with staff which included the manager of Central Duplicating) (Source: Sethna papers, box 64, folder 6). It is unclear if the organizational chart, which was proposed by Ford to the Executive Council, went into effect.

Clarity about the public relations activities and responsibilities revives when Stallings stepped back in to serve as Acting Director of College Relations from 1976-1977, and then as Director of College Relations (1977-May 1994). Activities of College Relations encompassed public relations, alumni relations, fundraising, publications, and, for a time, athletics, according to long-time university employee and past coordinator of the Information Center and Speakers' Bureau booklet, Frank Pritchett.

David Parkman continued to serve in public relations and became Acting Director of College Relations in 1994 upon Stallings’ retirement from the college.

During the time that the institution was the State University of West Georgia (1996-2005), the activities of the Office of Public Relations included media liaison, university photography, marketing and advertising, Campus Chronicle newsletter, special events, the Expert Guide, and group campus tours, and was under the leadership of Lisa Ledbetter, Director.