Our Faculty
PRactical ADvantage Communications instructors have a wealth of knowledge and professional experience in advertising and public relations. Each instructor is assigned to teach other courses in the Department of Communications. Instructors rotate in and out of the agency.
Professor Ken Hagihara, APR, Fellow PRSA is a full-time lecturer in the Department of Communications. He oversees PRAD and also serves as the faculty adviser to the CSUF Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America. He is the president of Integrity Public Relations, Inc., which provides comprehensive marketing services to companies in the technology and non-profit industries, and was named one of CSUF’s top 50 internship sites, Hagihara served as a public affairs officer in the United States Navy Reserve, where he was Deputy Public Affairs Officer for Commander, U.S. Third Fleet Headquarters.
Professor Pete Evanow has been teaching at the university level for more than 16 years. He teaches advertising, copywriting, and public relations, and has considerable experience in the advertising and marketing industries in addition to holding numerous roles in motorsports marketing and publishing for more than 35 years. Evanow is the author of Z: 35 Years of Nissan’s Sports Car, published by Motorbooks International.
Professor Keith Kesler earned his M.A. from the Department of Communications in 2012, and shortly after that joined the full-time faculty. He previously worked as account director at JetPack Marketing, and account director for Innocean USA. Kesler is an advertising and marketing executive with more than 25 years of experience working with advertising agencies, major corporations, marketing firms, and event companies.
Dr. Cylor Spaulding recently joined CSUF from Georgetown University’s graduate public relations program, where he taught courses and oversaw faculty and curriculum development. Dr. Spaulding has a decade of experience in the public relations industry, working for several firms, including Rogers & Cowan and Weber Shandwick. In his role with these agencies, Spaulding managed analyst relations, media relations and consumer relations campaigns both on a local/regional and a national and international scale for clients as diverse as Activision, The Hazelden Foundation, Razer, Gallagher & Kennedy, and Microsoft.
Dr. Doug Swanson, APR founded PRactical ADvantage Communications in 2011, in collaboration with Communications Dean Bill Briggs and COMM Chair Diane Witmer. Swanson has more than a decade of experience as a newspaper reporter, radio announcer and TV news assignments manager. He has extensive consulting experience and has taught at the university level since 1990. He is author of journal articles and book chapters focusing on mentoring and student-run agencies. He is author of the 2017 book Real World Career Preparation: A Guide to Creating a University Student-Run Communications Agency. Dr. Swanson stepped down from his agency responsibilities at the end of the 2021-22 academic year.