Market Research For California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, CA ____________________________________________________

BUS 418 Dr. Stern Neill

Research Compiled By: Chelsea Mansfield

Chris Dahms Madison Ventura

Dane Joubert Hussain Ragaban

Presented:

December 3, 2014

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Executive Summary ……………………………………………………… 3

Research Brief ……………………………………………………………... 4

Research Purpose …………………………………………….. 4 Methodologies ……………………………………………………… 4 Conclusions ……………………………………………………… 6 Recommendations …………………………………………….. 9

Appendix A: Secondary Research ……………………………. 14 Appendix B: Focus Group Findings ……………………………. 23 Appendix C: Ethnographic Findings ……………………. 32

Appendix D: Questionnaire Findings ……………………. 59 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………….. 71

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Research Purpose

The purpose of this market research was to identify an effective communication strategy that the Office of University and Inclusivity could utilize in the future. Our goal was to create a communication strategy that not only strengthens OUDI’s campus presence, but also builds upon their current relationship with their customers. To achieve this goal, we analyzed other successful campus organizations to see how they connected with the student body. We also gathered data through a focus group, individual interviews, and a survey, all of which offered insight into what methods of communication are most effective. Research

In order to completely understand OUDI’s current situation we researched information on our client, customer, competitors, and environment. We took the material available and determined the known unknowns. These gaps in our knowledge provided a path in which we could base our primary research. Our team also did primary research through four different strategies. We started with a focus group of current Cal Poly students to get a general feel of how the customer feels about the current situation of OUDI. We then narrowed down some research questions and set out to do observational research looking at events on campus. We combined this field work with in depth interviews of students to test whether our assumptions taken from the research so far were valid. Our last method was a questionnaire to confirm the themes that we found and get a good representation of the student body. Conclusion

At the end of our research we came up with 3 prominent themes, all of which relate back to our research questions and offered insight into the development of our recommendations. These 3 themes involve campus networking, thoughts on diversity events, and utilizing means of communication more effectively. Throughout this document we provide supporting data that helps explain and validate each conclusion. Recommendation

Based off of the data we collected, we recommend a 3 pronged strategy to help OUDI communicate more effectively with their customer. The first stage is to focus and target the main form of advertising towards freshman. The second is to incorporate networking with different majors at the diversity events. The final stage is to measure growth of student involvement at these events. The combination of these three suggestions will result in a stronger campus for the organization.

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The Cal Poly Office of University Diversity and Inclusivity is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse and culturally competent campus in order to strive towards academic excellence. This means that OUDI is tasked with shaping the campus climate into something that students, faculty, and staff are all comfortable with and proud of. In order to find the most effective way possible of achieving this, our team set out to do various research and analysis on the customer.

The main purpose for researching the customer is to get a clear understanding of what needs there are to be satisfied in order to reach a diverse and well connected campus climate. The customer for OUDI is considered to be faculty, students,parents, alumni, and prospective students and alumni. Research gives more insight on our focus point, the customer. It unfolds their wants, needs, opinions, experiences, what things motivates them, and which things brings satisfaction to their emotions. It helps to understand the customers and be more prosperous. In order to create a report we could research and obtain data for, we decided to narrow down the customer to solely current students. This group is what we felt OUDI could directly interact with the most, leading to a greater influence on the university as a whole. Based on the research we conducted, we created questions to help us understand our customer and look for areas to improve on within OUDI. Our research questions were eventually boiled down to one main question: How would customers like to engage with and receive information from OUDI? This is the question we found most relevant in increasing OUDI’s ability to change the campus climate. Through our primary and secondary research, we were able to discover some common themes that answer this question well.

Our group utilized multiple methods of research in order to reach and make comprehensive conclusions about the issues at hand. We used both secondary

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research (research that already exists) and primary research in the form of interviews, surveys, observational research, and focus groups. The following is a summary of the types of research that was used, their objectives, and a summary of the results.

Secondary Research

Objectives: To gain an initial understanding of OUDI. To learn about their mission/objectives, the environment they operate in, and the obstacles they face. Results: Recent climate survey says 80% of students feel comfortable on campus. 86% of students of are satisfied with their academic experience. OUDI possesses the necessary resources but lacks at effectively reaching out to students. OUDI’s customers include current students, prospective students, and staff/faculty. OUDI’s main goals should be to facilitate an education rich in diversity and inclusivity that will help prepare students for the “real world.” OUDI should help students form relationships and network among one another.

Focus Groups Objectives: Offer participating students an open and non­influencing environment to address their opinions, beliefs, attitudes and concerns about diversity. Results: Students point out the lack of racial/ethnic. Acknowledgement that diversity could mean something other than race/ethnicity. Students highly interested in networking events. Students expressed interest in the recent events in diversity on campus and were frustrated they did not hear about them until the day of. OUDI could improve on its advertising initiatives through social media, posters, and in class announcements.

Observational Research

Objectives: To gain first hand insight into various student­organized events/clubs/meetings in a manner that does not influence their behaviors. How these clubs/organizations attract students to attend their events. Results: Greater promotion of events using posters/flyers near and around the event could attract people passing by. Dismal attendance by students compared to faculty and staff.

Interviews Objectives: Directly reach out to students for information that will help to answer our research questions. Results: Students point out the lack of racial/ethnic diversity on campus. Resurfacing of the idea that diversity could mean something more than just race/ethnicity. OUDI should take advantage of student “foot traffic” on campus by using more posters and in­class announcements.

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Questionnaire

Objectives: To reach out to a wider number of students which would give us a larger sample base. This helps to better answer our overall research questions by reaffirming or denying our previous results/assumptions. Results: Majority of students surveyed have never heard of OUDI. Facebook ranks the highest preferred method of social media communication. Email ranks the highest preferred method of general communication followed by customizable Poly Alert text messages. Peer influence ranks the highest method of influence for students to join/attend events. Posters and in­class representatives ranks the highest method of events advertising.

Based off of our research question, we concluded three main themes for OUDI to efficiently communicate with customers about information, which generated from our primary research. These three ideas consist of campus networking, thoughts on diversity events, and utilizing means of communication more effectively. Theme 1: Campus Networking During research; questioning, surveying, and observing the students, conclusions can be made, that the majority of the student body feel the need to connect with new people and expanding their network. We have noticed during our focus group study that students chose clubs based on their interest and the networks it sets available to them. Participants concluded that networking allow for connections to business opportunities, students from different majors, a diverse student body and diverse information.

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A major point, common among students we came across during our research is that students from different majors tend to feel segregated from one another.During an individual interviews with Danny, she mentioned (see Appendix C, interview # 1 & 2):

“I could see how an engineer or something specific like that who’s not really that

involved could say Cal Poly’s not diverse”. In summary, we concluded that students find it very important and necessary to network. For students networking is a source to connect with the corporate world.However, our main finding during our research was the need among students to network with other students from diverse fields and majors. Theme 2: Diversity Events Cal Poly have several events on it’s calendar, however there is always a need to reach more students to attend events. Three problems that stood out during our research process is that:

1. Students do not always think of ‘diversity’ and ‘culture’ events as appealing to them.

2. These events seem to only target a niche market.

3. “Networking” events promote inclusivity while attracting all types of students.

During the process of questioning it was clear to see that “diversity” and ”cultural” events was not the popular among the majority of students (See Appendix D, question 6).Rather student had an interest to attend more popular/ social events like concert and sport events. We concluded that the lack of interest in “diversity” and “cultural” events are due to the specific and small group it covers and bad advertising.During our observation of the OUDI, Campus Climate Report little amount of people attended. Most attendants were staff and employees and a limited amount of students participated. However, it is safe to conclude from the questionnaire that “Networking” events such as sporting events and social events (concerts) attract a large group including all type of students all at once.(See Appendix D, question 6). In an Interview with

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Bryn Bacharach she also mentioned the large and diverse groups of students, programs such as WOW attract all at once. In summary, it was very interesting to conclude from research that students are interested in knowing about and attending campus events. However, students do feel that events are limited to only some specific groups and therefore do not feel welcome to attend. Events also lack diversity, therefore students needs and interest. are not met by events (Students do not feel events at Cal Poly is diverse enough and only include only a niche market) Theme 3: Means of Communication Drawn from all research sources, we can conclude that the majority of students do think advertising around campus using flyers, stands, newspapers, and representatives in class are effective.However, according to students there is a lack in Cal Poly's overall communication. Examples of current club advertisements in business building breezeway. (see above)

From the focus group , Chris mentioned :“I learned about [the society of civil engineers] by listening to classroom presentations about clubs to join on campus” another participant also mentioned that it was through flyers around campus that she found her Geology club.However on several occasions students have mentioned that they are not informed of events around campus.Often times students find themselves accidentally stumbling upon events. As Caitlin mentions: “I had no idea culture fest was going on, and you know that kind of stuff bugs me cause I want to be involved” (Appendix B, theme 3) During the Questionnaire statistics concluded that students main use of social media are Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (see appendix D, question 2). Statistics also showed that the majority student prefer to be informed by Cal Poly through emails and Poly Notification Texts (see appendix D, question 3). During the observation process we concluded that events are attended if it is well advertise,for example Cal Poly’s MS Economics information session was well

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communicated to students as they used emails, flyers,follow up emails, offered free pizza, and had multiple dates for their event. Also in an interview with Bryn Bacharach she mentioned why WOW’s communication is effective.

“It is advertised a lot, there is always poster around campus , it targets a large group of

students at once, and there is always good feedback about it.”

To summarize, Cal Poly students do feel that Cal Poly’s communication are weak and needs to improve.The majority if students feel disconnected from information , however there is a need among students to be informed. Flyers, advertisement boards, and posters around campus is an effective way of communicating, so is emails and notification text.

When starting college as a freshman, large crowds of new faces can be intimidating, especially when knowing that a simple connection with a fellow student can turn into a project which jumpstarts a career. Saying this, networking can be one of the most important skills you learn in college and can significantly enhance a career in the future. The primary focus of networking is to meet people and have people meet you. After hearing many student thoughts, this became our main focus for OUDI. Our recommendations are based of a three­pronged approach for OUDI to effectively communicate with students with information from them:

Main form of advertising should focus on targeting freshman

Integrate networking with different majors at diversity events

Measure growth of student involvement at events

Plan Action

Stage 1: Advertising should target freshman

Class presentations are an effective way to communicate with many students about events happening on campus. OUDI should target freshman

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courses, such as BUS 100, so that they become aware of OUDI early in their college career.

Utilize club showcase during WOW week and have information table to communicate with students about what OUDI has to offer them.

Use social media to advertise OUDI social media sites.

EX. OUDI’s Facebok page posted onto Cal Poly’s Facebook page

Stage 2: Create campus networking/ diversity events as one

Students in different majors want to be involved with students from all majors, therefore fun events for students to get involved with would be networking events. During these events, OUDI could incorporate promoting inclusivity and diversity.

Advertising for these events would then include better use of social media sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and word of mouth advertising with class and club presentations.

Stage 3: Keep track of growth of student involvement at events

Provide name tags at event entrance to have a rough estimate of how many students attend. Students can also use name tags during networking events to communicate with others easily. On name tag write student name and major with year in college.

Physically administer short surveys to participants asking for their name, major, academic year, reason for attendance. An iPad or any other mobile device could be an effective tool to utilize here.

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Stage 1: Advertising should target freshman Freshman come to Cal Poly hardly knowing of any extracurricular opportunities available. They are seeking ways to connect with their new school and meet their peers. Cal Poly has done a good job acknowledging this and has put in various programs to inform new students of current programs. One of the first ways new freshman are informed of extracurricular information is through required classes with in class presentations. Most colleges here at Cal Poly require an introduction class to the major that helps students with typical first year problems. These classes include BUS 100 for Business majors, SCM 100 for Science and Math majors, EDES 101 for Architecture and Environmental Design majors, and various other classes for many other majors. In these classes, the instructor lectures on useful information, like how to declare concentrations, how to register for classes, and where to go for academic help. Another key part of these courses are guest speakers that give presentations about various on campus programs. Class sizes are usually very large in these required courses, allowing clubs to come and share their mission with hundreds of students. OUDI could take advantage of this large group of attentive freshman to share their purpose and promote events.

Another program Cal Poly uses to inform freshman of extracurriculars is the Week of Welcome (WOW). WOW has many modes of reaching freshman, but we feel that club showcase is the most effective. During club showcase, on­campus programs interact with and recruit new freshman wandering through the event looking for ways to get involved with campus. These students attending the showcase are often more motivated to seek out information about programs than students attending WOW presentations. The club showcase is an individual activity, while the presentations are scheduled by a student’s WOW leader, regardless of the student’s interest in the topic. Targeting the intrinsically motivated students at the club showcase provides a more effective medium to communicate. OUDI could get a booth and promote upcoming events and share their vision for future campus diversity and inclusivity.

Before arriving at Cal Poly, students have very few ways of being reached by the university other than email. One means of communication a student may seek out is through social media sites like Facebook. Cal Poly’s official Facebook page has around 30,000 likes. This means 30,000 people are provided information posted by the page, ranging from contests to recent articles about the school. OUDI currently tries to make use of Facebook by posting about events and culturally relevant topics. Unfortunately, this is very ineffective because the OUDI Facebook page has under 100 likes. The information presented is very well done and informative, but not enough people are viewing it. This could be changed by attracting new followers from other Cal Poly related

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social medias. If the official Cal Poly Facebook page with 30,000 followers encouraged people to follow the OUDI page, it would increase greatly in popularity. Cal Poly has an official account on almost every social media, including Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. An organized effort to promote OUDI’s social media pages through these other, more popular, pages would greatly increase the amount of people OUDI could communicate with.

Stage 2: Create campus networking/diversity events as one One problem we found in our research is that students often don’t respond well to OUDI’s diversity and inclusivity events. Students that already feel they are included in a diverse community ignore the opportunity to go to an event that promotes what they already have. What we did find was that many more students feel the need for networking between different groups of people on campus. The majority of students feel that networking is an important aspect in their college experience. It allows students to meet new people, expand networks, and open doors to new opportunities. Business students interacting with engineers, architects interacting with design students, or any other possible combination of majors provides relationships that can translate into career opportunities. We found students can feel segregated by the school to only interact their major. Student housing and major specific classes differentiate the colleges and many types of different people. By encouraging all types of people and majors to get together and interact in a networking event, Cal Poly could significantly increase inclusivity. Labeling the event as networking with the addition of offering free food or career advice will entice students to come and mingle. Students will be able to find out about these events in a variety of ways. We believe the most effective ways worth focusing on are social media and word of mouth. As described in the previous stage, we hope OUDI will soon gain a heavier social media presence after coordinating with the official Cal Poly accounts. Once there are more people exposed to OUDI’s social media accounts, promoting these events will attract many more people. Also, we found that word of mouth is very useful in getting students involved. We recommend an OUDI representative goes to specific classrooms and clubs and gives a short brief of events before they are to happen. Representatives should go to culture based clubs and large academic classrooms to maximize the interest level and exposure of the event. We found these presentations alerting students of on­campus events are an extremely effective way to increase attendance.

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Stage 3: Keep track of growth in student involvement at events A great tool for further improvement is to continuously measure growth in student attendance at events held by OUDI. By following trends (if any) in student participation at certain events, we can gain valuable information about what worked, what didn't, and what can be changed. One simple method that can be utilized is to ask participants to take quick surveys at the events. Information such as name, academic year, major, and reason for attendance would be collected. This information can be collected with something as simple as issuing name tags or a having someone physically going around asking the participants to fill out the short survey. Mobile devices are a powerful tool that could be utilized in giving these short surveys.

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Client Research Cal Poly is a state university that is known for its philosophy of “learn by doing” which captures learning by experiencing real life job situations. Cal Poly is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse and culturally competent campus, which is why OUDI was entwined into the curriculum. Cal Poly defines diversity as being “specifically inclusive of, but not limited to, an individual's race/ethnicity, sex/gender, socioeconomic status, cultural heritage, disability and sexual orientation.” (The Cal Poly Statement on Diversity) No matter what race, age, or gender, there is diversity in everyone, and OUDI is a vital asset for connecting everyone university­wide. OUDI’s main offerings for connections are in divisions such as program development, campus climate, diversity strategic planning, research and assessment, and recruitment and retention of diverse students, faculty, and staff members. (Welcome to OUDI) Annie Holmes is the Executive Director of this office of whom we will work for specifically. By talking with current students about their involvement on campus, we will efficiently find a solution for the office’s involvement on campus. Cal Poly adopted this concept in 2009 on behalf of the Association of American College and Universities(AACU) and it’s initiative for “Inclusive Excellence.” This initiative was created to assist all colleges with fully unifying their educational and diversity efforts on campus. The four principles of this initiative are as follows:

In higher education, an excellent institution is an inclusive institution. All students should have the opportunity to succeed. All students benefit educationally from participating in a community where people

differ from one another. In order to be successful as citizens and workers, graduates must be prepared to

live and work in a diverse world. (Welcome)

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Cal Poly’s OUDI now funds a program called BEACoN Mentor Program which is in place to help diverse and underperforming students fulfill their graduation requirements for their school programs. Currently, there are three mentors, Dr. Robert Flores, Dr. Camille O’Bryant, and Dr. Jennifer Teramoto Pedrotti, who all have specific office hours located inside the University Union on campus. These three mentors are available by appointment or for walk ins to assist in any way they can academically. (Students)

The OUDI has recently conducted a survey of the campus climate to improve it with feedback from students. Dr. Susan Rankin defines campus climate as the "current attitudes, behaviors, and standards of faculty, staff, and administrators and students concerning the level of respect for individual needs, abilities, and potential." (What is Campus Climate) Overall highlights of this survey have been released and are as follows:

80% of Cal Poly students, faculty, and staff have reported feeling comfortable or very comfortable on campus

86% of students are satisfied with their academic experience 22% of the Cal Poly community has experienced some form of exclusionary

treatment. (Campus Climate Survey)

Below is a table that describes an analysis of OUDI’s current situation as an organization. Internally, the company has strengths and weaknesses, and externally, the company has threats from other organizations and opportunities that it could expand on. Each list has been derived from secondary research about OUDI.

SWOT Analysis

STRENGTHS: (INTERNAL)

OUDI has access to all necessary resources given to them by the university in order to make them successful

Mentor programs for current students

Annie Holmes (Chief of OUDI) is open to any suggestions

WEAKNESSES: (INTERNAL)

Effectively connecting to the student body (lack of communication)

Social media promotions (Facebook)

Poor Campus Location Short mentor program hours

OPPORTUNITIES: (EXTERNAL)

There is a need among customers for connectivity and interaction with diversity to be met

THREATS: (EXTERNAL)

Not picking the right tools to communicate which result in wasting unnecessary money

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More students than ever are applying to Cal Poly (Saya)

International promotions/recruitment

and ineffective communication

Communicating Irrelevant information to the population

Constantly changing California politics that can influence how OUDI runs its department

Customer Research The target customers include prospective students, families, employees, current students and employees, alumni, and possible donors. Recently OUDI has published the “Campus Climate Assessment Project” in which 6000 diverse customers completed a survey which will reflect the good and bad experiences of Cal Poly's community. The all over result showed that Cal Poly is statistically well compare to those of higher educational institutions. The survey conducted showed that 80% of all customers was happy with Cal Poly's all over campus climate. Applying OUDI’s focus on the customer through research questioning will help them not only understanding the customer but also identify the customer’s needs to be satisfied. By listening to the customer OUDI can identify where changed need to be implemented to the path of improvement. Customer Needs

To receive standardized education, which will prepare them for life after college and qualify for entering a standard working world (being financially well of)

Networking: meeting people that might be useful in future times, having access to college programs that provides customer opportunities

Gain experience: not only through the college experience but also through internships, volunteering and work. Cal Poly’s mantra “learn by doing” allows this

Forming relationships: meeting new people, engaging in events, forming personal relationships

To take classes that are interesting and challenge learning objectives Need to connect and have access to rest of campus (departments, educational

programs, people, social and cultural events) Need to feel safe and respected Need to feel positive and enjoy the working environment they are in.

Characteristics of Customer

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Students This figure illustrates the increasing amount of incoming students of different school years over a period of time. It is clear to see that freshmen are the majority group which feed the university population. There was a 9.4% increase in First­Time Freshman.

The figure below shows the increasing

amount of FTF students groups (diverse gender, race, ethnic,geographical). Fall 2012 first­time freshmen (FTF) applications increased by 3,940 (11.9%) from last year to an all­time high of 36,941.

Employees: Facility, Staff, and Management This figure illustrates the staff, faculty, and management within the cal poly community. Faculty and Staff make up 93.3% of the Employees at Cal Poly and the other 6.7% is management

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Competitor Research In order for The Office of University Diversity and Inclusivity at Cal Poly (OUDI) to be successful they must fully understand what their competitors bring to the table. This information is helpful because it will illuminate ways for OUDI to differentiate themselves from the other organizations. They will also be able to utilize the effective strategies used by its competitors and implement them into their own programs and offerings. Competitors are not only the other diversity programs on Cal Poly campus, we are also able to learn a lot from competitors from other universities and also. The competitors that are comparable to OUDI are Cal Poly Career Services, Google, UNC Charlotte, and North Carolina State. In the following table you will find competitors whose diversity plans have had a beneficial impact on their organizations. The competitor that seemed to have ideas that could be best utilized by OUDI was UNC Charlotte. It does a great job targeting potential diverse students and encouraging them to attend their university. Their strategies include a Multicultural Student Recruitment Committees which is when the staff and faculty of UNC join together to form this committee and they suggest recruitment ideas to the Admissions. Another tactic of theirs is instilling some personalization to the recruitment of underrepresented students, they do this by writing a Parent to Parent Letter: A personalized letter from a currently enrolled student’s parent to an admitted student’s parent. This letter Touches on their currently enrolled students transition to the campus, organizations that can be utilized, and the love they have for UNC.

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Competitor Strengths Weaknesses Strategies

Cal Poly Career Services

Help Nurture and Develop future careers’ of Cal Poly Students

Provide links to not only Cal Poly Organizations but outside resources focused on the different populations in our area.

Diversity isn’t brought together.

Focuses on Graduating students instead of working with students throughout their college experience.

Website can be a little confusing if you don’t know what you are looking for

Online Website Multi Cultural

Workplace Competencies­ a document created by Career Services highlighting importance of Diversity.

Google Aware of the underrepresentation of females as well as blacks and hispanics in their workforce

taking action to transform their organization

Wealthy organization with the power to change their own organization and influence others to do the same

Identified Unconscious Bias and how that may affect how employees are hired­ trying to minimize this bias.

Company is so big that it will take a lot of time to see change.

Hard to identify all persons with Unconscious Bias because individuals don’t even know they have it.

Sponsors organizations that help women and minorities enter the tech industry

Diversity Training Workshops

Based on the field of Social Psychology: Unconscious Bias

Human Resources Group­People Operations

90 minute lecture given to skeptical Google employees

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UNC Charlotte

acknowledged the states need for making higher education more accessible to underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students.

Works with diverse populations before they even start their college experience.

The emphasis is on bringing in diversity but it doesn’t focus on the current diverse students of UNC and how to bring them together.

Financial Aid to low income and underrepresented groups

Multicultural Student Recruitment Committees

Multicultural Student Receptions .

Personalization to the recruitment of underrepresented students

Parent to Parent Letter

Multicultural Newsletter

NC State Strict set of guidelines for recruiting a diverse workforce

Their Retention Process maintains the happiness of current employees with their job.

Established a Diverse Workforce for the university

Intensive process that takes up a lot of time and resources

The Strict rules can also be a weakness because the recruiting process must be done a certain way without any alterations.

Position Description created by the Dean or Department Head

Mandatory Orientation for Search Committee

Cast a wide Net when recruiting for vacant positions

Potential Candidates must meet all job requirements

Dean Makes ultimate Hiring Decisions

Sources for Table: “Diversity Resources.”,2014; “Strategies for Student Recruitment and Success”, 2014; “Guidelines For Recruiting a Diverse Workforce”; Manjoo, 2014.

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Competitor Research The Office of University Diversity and Inclusivity at Cal Poly (OUDI) must navigate many environmental trends to remain its most effective and keep up to date. This includes keeping a close eye on economic, political, technological, and social changes around it. Any change or trend in any of these environmental factors can drastically change how OUDI wants to, or is even allowed to, run its department. Effective analysis and use of these trends present great opportunities to OUDI.

Environmental Factor

Trend Analysis

Economic Unemployment rate has been steadily decreasing

More students have the means for higher education, and Cal Poly has potential to attract many new students with a more inclusive campus.

Political Anti­discrimination legislation

Cal Poly must attract students from all backgrounds by making its camus the best it can be, not by picking and choosing a diverse group from its applicants.

California run school Being a state school, Cal Poly must accept funding, regulations, and laws given to them by the state.

Technological Ease of connectivity Increasing numbers in mobile technology use means information/data is becoming easier and faster to access.

Social media use Greater use of social media websites by college students gives them a powerful medium to express opinions/concerns. Gives OUDI incentive to capitalize on this outlet.

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Social Greater awareness of diversity and equality issues

Increasing numbers in both gender and race representations within our population is translating into increasing demand for awareness and change towards equality.

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As a part of our report, two focus groups were held on October 21, 2014. The first section included low involvement students, meaning they aren’t a part of many diverse campus clubs, and the second section was full of highly involved students who are very active with campus events, and diverse clubs etc. This analysis delves into the responses and thoughts of the focus group participants and identifies the common themes that came out of it. Date

Tuesday, October 20, 2014

Times

Focus Group 1 ­ Low Involvement Students: 9:10 a.m. ­ 10:00 a.m. Focus Group 2 ­ High Involvement Students: 10:10 a.m. ­ 11:00 a.m. Questioning Route

Welcome Participants: Both moderating pairs welcomed their focus group participants by introducing themselves and explaining what would be happening in their sessions. After stating who they were, they went into telling students that the information they provide about diversity will be helping the newly opened Office of University Diversity and Inclusivity on campus reach out to more students. The students were told that the session was being recorded so they should speak loud and clear so that important information can be easily accessed by researchers. The moderators asserted that honest opinion is preferred even if it’s not the popular consensus. Opening Question/Ice-breaker

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The moderators started discussion with a light hearted ice­breaking question that would open up each student to be a little more comfortable. This question is opinion based about our campus.

“Okay, so let’s begin by going around the table, stating your name, and one thing you love about attending Cal Poly.”

Introductory Question This open­ended questions first brought up the thought of diversity in the group.

“What first comes to mind when you think about diversity?”

Post-It Note Exercise Each participant was given 3 post­it notes to write single words or phrases on. These words were to be things that first come to mind when thinking about diversity. Then each participant was asked to stick the post­it notes on a white board and group them by common themes. One moderator then discussed the common themes chosen. The moderator asked for participants to speak about the common themes that they put a post­it note in.

Transition Question The moderators asked this open­ended question to start the conversation about the main purpose of diversity. Each participant got to explain their feelings on the matter for Cal Poly’s campus.

“Why does campus diversity matter or not matter to you?” Key Question This question specifically brings up advertising for club events and allows students to explain how they got involved. “What campus clubs/organizations are you involved in, and how did you learn about

them?” Ending Question This question offers each students opinion on how to help OUDI reach out to students and wraps up the conversation. “What is the best way to notify you of diversity events happening on campus and what

are good incentives to get you to go to them?”

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Focus Group Strategy

Moderators Towards the beginning of the quarter, Dr. Neill explained to us that we would be conducting focus groups as a part of our class project, and that he needed volunteers to be in charge of these groups. He had all of the volunteers go up to him during class, and they decided that a guy and a girl were preferred for each group. Kyley and Dimitri both ran the first focus group with low­involvement students, and Kayla and Scout both ran the second focus group with high­involvement students. By diversifying the moderating pair, we created a more comfortable scenario for the participants and made it easier for them to identify with each other. Sampling Strategy To decide on our sampling strategy, we had a class discussion on who we think would be the right target market to focus on. Going with a niche would be too difficult for our class to recruit in the time we were allotted, so we all decided to broaden our focus to all current students attending Cal Poly in any class level. Each team within the class had decided to recruit one low­involvement in diverse groups on campus student and one high­involvement in diverse groups on campus student. As a class, we felt that this would help OUDI reach out to the students who don’t know as much about diversity on campus, as well as learn from students who are involved with OUDI’s competitors. Each team also focused on making sure we had different class levels, different genders, different races, and so on in each focus group so that we could potentially have representatives of all types of students. Incentives To welcome and thank students for participating in these focus groups, we offered refreshments of coffee and SLODOCO donuts for free. These items are two very popular products that college students always appreciate. Each focus group was also told that their information stated is confidential and is purely for the improvement of our campus OUDI. OUDI also offered participants some goodies that had their logo on them like mini backpacks.

Focus Group Members

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FOCUS GROUP 1: Low Involvement Students

Name Year Major Campus clubs/organization that you are actively involved in

Mikenna 2nd Environmental Earth Science

Geology Club

Morea 3rd Nutrition N/A

Caitlin 4th History GLO (church on campus), Phi Alpha Theta (history honor society)

Kyle 2nd Computer Engineering

Robotics Club, Sigma Nu Fraternity, E.W.B., S.E.C.

Chris 1st Civil Engineering Society of Civil Engineers, Triathlon Club

Kaléo 4th RPTA RPTA Club

FOCUS GROUP 2: High Involvement Students

Name Year Major Campus clubs/organization that you are actively involved in

Simone 4th Modern Languages & Literature

IPC (International Peer Contact)

Michelle 4th Psychology Sorority

Mariam 2nd Food Science Sigma Kappa (Sorority)

Dionna 3rd Business Kappa Kappa Gamma (Sorority), Cal Poly Cheer Team

Kevin 1st Civil Engineering

Society of Civil Engineers

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Analysis of Participants Our focus groups were both female dominated, but we did a great job of recruiting a diverse amount of grade years in school. This was preferred, because we were looking at all current students. When we mean all, we mean all ages, colors, genders and sizes. This will give us a better view of how we can reach out to each age group. We also did a great job of recruiting a diverse amount of different majors within Cal Poly. This was preferred, because of the same reasons as listed above. The one thing that I think we could improve upon would be the high and low involvement differences. The first group was supposed to be low involvement in diverse clubs but could be involved in other clubs/organizations on campus, and the high involvement group was supposed have individuals rich in diverse club involvement. I feel as though we failed in the high involvement group pertaining to this statement. Saying this, it is hard to recruit these individuals when we ourselves are not involved in them.

Moderator Analysis

The atmosphere between both focus groups was very obviously different. The second group felt a lot more awkward and forced than the first one, but both seemed to bring out quality information on the diversity topic. Both groups discovered seemingly similar responses to each of the questions as well. Each also had different probing questions to pull out more details on each set of questions. Focus Group 1 Kyley and Dimitri created a very natural and relaxed setting for their focus group. The group they ran was low involvement in diverse groups on campus, but it seemed as though many of them were pretty involved on campus. Right from the get go, it seemed almost as if they had done this a million times before. They seemed better prepared for involvement with planning of each question. Each of their participants answered each question specifically, and when the participant said something relevant they both asked appropriate probing questions to have them explain their concept more thoroughly. It felt as though their focus group could have gone on for a lot longer than one hour, but the quality of information probably would have lessened. Focus Group 2 Kayla and Scout created a very uncomfortable and almost formal room setting for their focus group. The group they ran was supposed to have more involvement than the first one did in diverse groups on campus, but there really wasn’t too big of a difference between focus groups on this notion. The lack of detailed answers for each of the main questions make it hard to find similar themes through both groups. This might have

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been because they didn’t thoroughly give explanations for each question or make them clear and concise. This group was smaller than the first, which made for a speedy session, but this could have given Kayla and Scout even better answers because the time they had for each participant to speak was longer. Between both of these moderators, it’s disappointing to see that both of them lacked this realization.

Findings Common Themes Below is a list of common themes found in the first focus group, the second one, or both. With similar discussion questions, recurrent thoughts were stated and they will be highlighted to address my team’s research questions. To cite each participants quotes directly, here is a key to each chart listed:

Key As listed in the focus group member table above (pages 4 and 5), each participant will only be addressed by their first name. For focus group one, the participants will be identified by the color pink. For focus group two, the participants will be identified by the color red. Next to each participant name, there will be a number from 1­5. This number directly correlates to how well they think Cal Poly’s campus provides a diverse environment. Completely agreeing will be a 5, with it’s opposite being a 1 and completely disagreeing. The order of participants in the chart will start with the beginning of the session at the top and descend to the end of the session at the bottom for each theme. For example, the number 1 will be the earliest quote from the beginning of session one, and the last number will be the last quote from the end of session two.

Theme 1: Networking-Diversity is important in the real world. This theme is actually a common notion to learn as a business student. When working for a company, they will specifically put people with different backgrounds together so that they can achieve as many different opinions as possible. It is ensuring to know that students studying other majors realize that this is a very important skill to have for the real world. It was almost universal for all participants to agree that diversity is important, and they all seemed to want to be immersed in more diversity on the daily basis.

Selected Focus Group Evidence:

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Name of Participant

Does Cal Poly provide a diverse environment?

Quote from session

1. Kyle 4 “When people come from different backgrounds you can learn from them”

2. Mikenna 5 “When you’re supposed to go out into the world and integrate you should have a taste of studying abroad”

3. Chris 3 “I joined [society of civil engineers] for networking and professional contacts”

4. Morea 2 “I joined the nutrition club freshman year to network and to learn from the faculty”

5. Michelle 3 “I love Cal Poly cause it’s been great to meet new people and further my connections for life”

6. Kevin 2 “I think that diversity of race could be seen as a good thing so you can have experiences with interacting with them”

7. Simone 3 “In the IPC group I get to meet a ton of people from places you would have never thought about traveling and it’s really cool”

8. Mariam 1 “What drew me to Sigma Kappa was that it is diverse, there’s tons of different ethnicities, majors, and different interests”

Theme 2: Cal Poly’s diversity is dependent on other things than race/ethnicity. After agreeing that diversity is important for networking and experience, participants stated that Cal Poly does have diversity, just not heavy in different races. Most of them thought that the lack in diversity of their friends started with dorm living situations, but others said that immersing yourself in diversity is a choice. Either way, it’s always a common conversation to have that Cal Poly is primarily white/caucasian.

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Selected Focus Group Evidence:

Name of Partcipant

Does Cal Poly provide a diverse environment?

Quote from session

1. Kyle 4 “Diversity of thought is more important than diversity of ethnicity”

2. Chris 3 “Diversity goes beyond ethnicity and into gender and opinions”

3. Kyle 4 “I found Cal Poly to be very diverse primarily based on thought and the range of majors we have”

4. Michelle 3 “It’s not just diversity of gender and race at Cal Poly, it’s diversity of majors and intermingling with them”

5. Michelle 3 “Besides gender and race in the [sorority] organization, other than that the other categories of diversity are so like shown within that organization, like we have girls with different majors, different hometowns or different personalities”

6. Kevin 2 “I do think that the lack of diversity [race/ethnicity] here at Poly is extreme, because in a dorm of 150­200 kids there’s not a single African­American kid, male or female”

7. Kevin 2 “Their [Cal Poly] excellence is gonna bring in the smartest group of people, because Poly wants people who want to come here”

Theme 3: Advertising needs to improve from OUDI. The main reason for our research is how to assist OUDI in effectively reaching more students who want to know about OUDI information. Surprisingly, social media wasn’t brought up as much as I thought it would be. Rather, participants gave good examples of advertising that would spark their interest while they spend their time on campus.

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Selected Focus Group Evidence:

Name of Participant

Does Cal Poly provide a diverse environment?

Quote from session

1. Chris 3 “I learned about [the society of civil engineers] by listening to classroom presentations about clubs to join on campus”

2. Morea 2 “I learned about nutrition club in my first nutrition class where my professor talked about it and said to join for networking and stuff like that”

3. Chris 3 “Have events like culture fest in the uu and make them more lively and close to the dorms, like club showcase”

4. Caitlin 3 “I had no idea culture fest was going on, and you know that kind of stuff bugs me cause I want to be involved”

5. Mikenna 5 “They have our phone numbers, so you know just shoot me a text and let me know it’s happening, I’d be totally cool with that”

6. Chris 3 “Snapchat, cause I know that like ASI or something was saying to add them and they would send us snaps”

7. Dionna 3 “I think celebrating diversity would help too and like giving opportunities to learn about different races and cultures”

8. Kevin 2 “I feel like Poly is general is poor at advertisement, whether it has to do with sports, things in the UU, or the culture showcase”

9. Dionna 3 “When I was looking at colleges, I do remember that I would get flyers in the mail from some schools”

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Sampling Strategy

Observation rules and criteria Cultural on campus events

Located mostly in the Cal Poly University Union Each of us chose our own event to observe

List of events we chose from, was located on Cal Poly’s website event calendar

Fly on the wall technique, by sitting outside of locations and observing the general behavior of students

Observation time lengths are at least 10­15 minute intervals Interview rules and criteria

Random, current students with the possibility of different races, genders, and religions

Students can be of all grade levels (preferred) Interview Question Guide Opening

Can you tell me about yourself? year, name, from?

What’s your major? Are you interested in other classes/minoring in something? Why did you come to Cal Poly over other schools? Are you involved in any clubs on campus?

Intro What does diversity mean to you? Do you feel welcome on campus? Was there ever an incident where you felt unwelcome?

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Transition Are there any programs on campus that have assisted with you feeling welcome?

If yes, describe. If no, would you be interested in a program like this?

Primary What programs have you heard the most about on campus? How are you familiar with them?

Key Have you heard of the Office of University Diversity and Inclusivity?

If no, interviewer should give a brief statement about it. Does this sound like something you would be interested in learning about?

Ending As a ____ year, how do you feel about Cal Poly’s diversity overall?

Thank interviewee Application to the Research Questions

Does Cal Poly offer an education that is rich in diversity? What needs/wants are to be met by Cal Poly’s OUDI? How can OUDI improve advertising to increase student usage? Opening questions: These questions tell us about the student’s life at Cal Poly

and explains some background about them. It also lets them explain what they are involved with and how they came to be involved with it. We wanted to know this so that we could know what intentions these students had when they decided to become involved and how they learned about it.

Introductory questions: These questions let the student explain how they view diversity. Overall, we wanted to know if there was a consensus about Cal Poly not being diverse enough.

Transition question: This question allows the student to be more in depth about what they are involved with and how these things help them feel welcomed on campus.

Primary questions: These questions allow the student to respond to advertising of clubs around campus. Some may do a better job than others on being recognized,and we wanted to know how they did it so that we could offer ways of more effective advertising to OUDI.

Key questions: We wanted to know if the student had even heard about OUDI before the interview was conducted. After answering, we wanted to find out if the student would be interested in something of this sort. This brings in what the wants and needs are of students that OUDI needs to address.

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Ending question: This question let’s the student reflect more about Cal Poly’s culture as a whole and how we change it if we need to at all.

Observation Plan In Our observation plan we focused on two settings; the University Union and event Cal Poly had to offer. Each member spend an hour observing the nature of students within the setting while taking effective notes, which can help support our research questions Chris Campus Climate Survey Presentation in the Chumash Auditorium in the UU 10/16 Thursday 10:45am

Since the Campus Climate Survey Presentation was put on by OUDI, it helped us identify the current tactics used by their organization in advertising. It also showed the types of people going to their events. This relates back to our research question because once we know how they currently advertise we can brainstorm ways for OUDI to improve their advertising and increase their attendance and student usage. Using a fly on the wall observer technique, We were able to see the efforts made by OUDI toward the general public to advertise their event.

Who are we interviewing?

I interviewed Danny Shellworth, a second year business major. He is a high jumper on the Cal Poly track team, and describes himself as pretty involved with campus life because of it. The interview took place from 1:20 p.m. to 1:30 p.m, Thursday, October 23 on the second floor of the University Union.

Dane MS Economics information session, Clyde P.Fisher Science Hall, Building 33, Room 287 10/28 Tuesday at 10:50 ­ 11:50

Looking at other successful programs and organizations within Cal Poly, helps us to compare OUDI’s with the best. All students were informed by email and other effective resources of the MS Economics information session hosted by the Economic department. Therefore, having so many students informed about the event I decided to base my research and observation here. Free pizza was also offered from 10:50­11:50, which is the time students get hungry, adding to the

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amount of students choosing to join. Students choosing to attend the event are those of different needs, wants, race, and opinion. Which not only speaks valuable information of the customer but also the client hosting it. Information gathered relates back to our research question, clarifying what actions OUDI need to take in order to become more effective among students. Both in the field of advertising and meeting the student needs. Techniques like observation and interviews allow us to get face to face information from the customer and opposition. It reveals how other programs communicate and engage with students and why students are interested in these programs.

Who are we interviewing?

Bryn Backerack: I decided to interview Bryn because of her diverse background. She is a 4th year Transfer Student from UCLA and have been attending Cal Poly for two years. Not only does she have a diverse school experience, but also a diverse field of study. Currently she is an English Major looking to get her minor in Biology. Bryn was also perfect for the interview as she is very engaged on campus. She is apart of the Women's Tennis Team, BlockP, and Student athlete club.

Hussain: Gatherings: A Space for Women of Color UU Multicultural Center 10/23 Thursday 5pm

My choice of event was also motivated by wanting to learn how different groups and clubs around campus attract and retain student participants. The event was attended by a diverse group of people and not just women of color. This was most likely because of the out­of­state guest speaker that attended the event.

Who are we interviewing?

Jordan, business student, 4th year, from San Francisco. Active in a couple of business clubs. Jordan was an easy choice for this assignment for two reasons: first, is he grew up in a very diverse city/neighborhood. And second, he was always outspoken about the diversity on the Cal Poly campus. He often criticized the lack of diversity apparent on campus.

Madison UU hour 10/30 Thursday 11am­11:35am

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Observation will include seeking out how the competition advertises to get students involved in cultural events. University Union hour is usually when a lot of students cultivate there and when a lot of clubs advertise themselves. While in there at this time, we are hoping to find a certain niche and certain club that is doing a good job advertising. Basically, is this hour something that OUDI should take advantage of?

Who are we interviewing? Brooke St. Denis, Liberal Arts student,Transfer Student, 3rd year. During one of

my breaks between classes I was sitting in the UU next to Brooke, I decided to interview her because she is a Cal Poly student and would be able to offer some insight into our research. According to OUDI everyone is diverse which is why I believed she would fairly represent a client of theirs.

Chelsea Study with Pride UU room 209 10/29 Wednesday 6pm­8pm

Observation will also include seeking out how the competition advertises to get students involved in diverse events held on campus. This event was one of the ones found on the calendar of events on Cal Poly’s website. Could OUDI possibly develop study groups like this? It may be a niche target market, but they might be able to get more students involved and networking by holding smaller sessions like this.

Who are we interviewing?

Jessica, business student, 3rd year, in Delta Sigma Pi and Peer Mentors for Orfalea College of Business Jessica is a friend of mine, but more like an acquaintance than something I hang out with all the time. I really respect what she does and her opinion. She enjoys being involved on campus and I figured she would like her voice being heard on campus.

Ethnographic Synthesis Common Themes

1. Diversity of thought/opinion/background on Cal Poly’s campus 2. OUDI customer needs/wants are based off of networking

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3. Advertising for OUDI should involve word of mouth Theme #1: Diversity of thought/opinion/background on Cal Poly’s campus.

During our research, we found many people find Cal Poly diverse through defining diversity in a certain way. Of the students we researched, the majority were able to look beyond the traditional definition of diversity, seeing it as more than ethnicity.

One student we interviewed was Danny Shellworth. When asked about how he defined diversity, he answered with a definition that encompases much more than race. (See Quote 1 in table below) This definition of diversity provided by Danny is similar to what many of the students we asked have replied with. When this is the definition of diversity, it is hard to say Cal Poly isn’t diverse. The only way Danny could argue against Cal Poly being diverse was by saying that the admissions statistics were not what many look for in a diverse school. (See Quote 2) But even then he couldn’t help by finishing with his feeling that Cal Poly is still diverse, because diversity is much more than those statistics. (See Quote 3) When looking at the overall definition of diversity, it is easy to see that the average Cal Poly student is surrounded by diversity.

Another student that was interviewed was Bryn Backerack. At first when she was asked to define what diversity meant to her she referred to her ethnographic background. However, when a clearing house question was asked upon the question, she define diversity beyond ethnicity (See Quote 4). Bryn does mention that Cap Poly has majority groups within the school which dominates, such as Californian citizens, whites, upper class pupils (See Quote 5). However, she does point to more than one group which show that Cal Poly does have diversity of different types of groups on campus.

When Jessica Krtek was interviewed, she was asked the same question about diversity and what it meant to her. Instead of going straight to gender, race, or age, she mentioned that that’s what most people would first say. She then went on to say that to her, it’s diversity of mindset. It was surprised that she came to this realization so quickly on her own. But yet again, she’s very smart and aware of her surroundings so it should have been expected. (See Quote 6) She then moved on to add that not only are we primarily Caucasian here on Cal Poly’s campus, but we are sheltered from being exposed to a lot of diversity. Unless you are from a big city in California, most people come from small, mostly Caucasian towns. (See Quote 7)

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Brooke St. Denis said similar things about diversity as Jessica, and many of the other students interviewed in the focus groups, she thought about diversity as a racial aspect and then thought of it more generally (see quote 9). After we probed further she realized diversity can also be in other aspects such as thought and mind (see quote 10).

Interviewee # Quote

Danny Shellworth 1 “I think that diversity is every type of person that there is, whether that be color, attitude, personality, physical appearance, intelligence, whatever.”

2 “I feel like Cal Poly may not have the highly diverse statistics many look at to tell how much diversity a school has”

3 “I feel like we were still diverse. […] Diversity is not just color.”

Bryan Backerack 4 “Yea, everything; the place that you been living and how that differs and everything that factors into that and how that differs from other people.So your religion, your politics, your ethnic background, your practices and background”

5 “... it is a CSU so a lot of people within California is going to want to come here.” “ ...lots of white people... lot of people of upper class”

Jessica Krtek 6 “Diversity to me... I feel like a lot of people generally view diversity as like gender or age or race, but to me diversity is diversity of mindset, so it doesn’t matter what gender you are or color you are, or how old you are. Rather it’s how your experiences and the culture that you come from shapes your viewpoint, and I feel like that’s very important to have.”

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7 “I don’t necessarily feel like it’s a very diverse campus, not only because everyone is primarily caucasian but just because they are mostly from sheltered white backgrounds. And I feel like the people who are diverse don’t really stand out as much because they are a minority.”

Jordan 8 “...I think if you mean culturally or ethnically diverse, Cal Poly is pretty bad. I mean I think we can agree Cal Poly is a white campus more than anything else. And all the other students are mostly Asian.”

Brooke St. Denis 9 "Racially I feel like we don’t have that much difference on campus.”

Brooke St. Denis 10 “ I’ve never thought about diversity in other aspects on campus. In that case everywhere and everything is diverse. People have different thoughts and beliefs especially on a campus where so many people are residing in one spot”

Theme #2: OUDI customer needs/wants are based off of networking.

Cal Poly as a school has many great academic programs. Unfortunately what we have found is that students feel like the integration of all the different colleges into one university could be better. Students feel the campus is diverse, but the segregation they encounter on a daily basis does not lead to the diverse education that is possible.

From the moment students start Cal Poly as a freshman they are placed with people similar to themselves. Dorms are separated by major and mutual interests, and classes are usually following your specific degree flowchart. With no other integration into the school, you could go through Cal Poly in four years and see the same group of people you started out with on day one. Diversity is all around us here, but if a student is stuck with the same group of people, that student may never see it. Danny Shellworth backed up this point in an interview when he created a hypothetical situation in his head of a specific major. (See Quote 1) This lack of interaction is something that students have a negative view on. Students want to network with a lot of people. This makes

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them feel welcome and also provides the diversity that Cal Poly has to offer. Danny is on the Cal Poly track team, which has allowed him to interact with a lot of people he wouldn’t have interacted with otherwise. He likes this because it allows him to see how his peers think and gives him insight on what he should be doing. (See Quote 2) Not everyone has this opportunity to meet such a diverse group of people like Danny had. This could be an opportunity provided by Cal Poly if there were more programs and initiatives to get students across campus involved with each other.

Bryn Backerach also gave some valuable information in her interview. Coming to Cal Poly as a transfer she mentioned that her decision was influenced by Cal Poly’s intensive interaction they offer with faculty and staff.(see Quote 4). Bryn however as a transfer student was limited to meeting other students outside of her major as she automatically did not attend the WOWI program, which connect,inform, and welcome all new freshmen. The University tennis team at Cal Poly did help her to get connected with other athletes from different educational fields.(See Quote 3) and when asked she mentioned that she does feel the need to connect with others outside of her field.(See Quote 4)

During Jessica’s interview, networking wasn’t specifically broughten up until an added question at the end of the sequence was asked. The purpose of this was not to persuade her into talking about it, but rather to get reinforcement from her on whether or not it was something she would be interested in. For the most part, networking is a huge part in the decision to join a group for most students. (See Quote 6) When interviewing Brooke St. Denis she had a hard time relating OUDI to her personal life. She thought that since she was in the majority at the school that she couldn't utilize the benefits that the organization provided. After an explanation of how OUDI is for everyone at the school she talked about how it could help build relationships with her teachers which she would really like (see quote 7)

Interviewee # Quote

Danny Shellworth 1 “I could see how an engineer or something specific like that who’s not really that involved could say Cal Poly’s not diverse.”

2 “It is cool because you can meet people from other grades. It’s nice to have an in with people who know more what they’re doing.”

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Bryn Backerach 3 “ ...through the sport you meet so many other people and athletes”

4 “...the staff and professors really cared about you”

5 “I would love to get to know more students in different fields than just within my major and sport”

Jessica Krtek 6 “Yeah that’d be cool. It would probably be beneficial for other people to interact with people from different majors. Like I know entrepreneurs here would probably like that because in order to start a business they might need a chemist or an engineer. So just making those connections would be really beneficial because it’s not just a natural connection. We are all kind of forced into our own major environments.”

Brooke St. Denis 7 “... Building a more intimate relationship with my teachers could help my education and learning processes. I feel like I would be more inclined to go to classes if I knew my teachers more personally.”

Theme #3: Advertising for OUDI should involve word of mouth.

When looking at all of the ways clubs and organizations advertised themselves and their events, we found one major theme. Word of mouth is one of the most effective ways to get students involved. Flyers, posters and emails seem to be overused in trying to reach the student body. We found that many students are completely numb to those attempts. What’s interesting though is that when information is heard first hand from someone who is passionate and informed on the subject, it peaks interest for students who would have been on the fence otherwise.

Many groups and clubs already use this method to gain attendance to meetings and events they hold. They send representatives to large classrooms to make sure

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students hear about what’s going on. During the interview with Danny Shellworth, he was aware of a couple programs on campus that he had never attended any events for. When asked about why these programs were memorable, he replied that they had events that were advertised to him mostly by representatives. (See Quote 1) Even though Danny was uninterested in these presentations, he was still able to recall their existence. If the peers that heard the presentation alongside him had any interest in the topics, there is a much greater chance they would attend compared to a campus wide email.

Also, during observation of an OUDI event, there seemed to lack an advertising presence. The event was the Campus Climate Results Presentation, which OUDI sent out campus wide emails to invite students, faculty, and staff. The turnout was very poor for students, with the majority of those attending being faculty and staff. One reason was the inability to take advantage of the student foot traffic around the location. The University Union is full of students, if OUDI had advertising for the event, it could have drawn some of them in. This advertisement could come in the form of a banner, sign, or a representative going around and telling students about the presentation. Instead, there was just an open door on a wood paneled wall, with no way of telling what, or if, something was going on inside.

As previously stated, many groups and clubs get the most attention by using this form of advertising. In the interview with Jessica, she stated this as the thing that drew her to clubs during club showcase. But of course, the loudest people are the ones with the most people involved in them. (See Quote 3 and 4) One way for OUDI to get more people involved, would be to hire interns that are willing to work for free and do some advertising for them.

Another observation made during the Diversity at MS Economics information event is that they successfully succeed in advertising by using flyers, standing posters on campus, emails, business cards, and using techniques such as free pizza.Follow up emails were also send out to strengthen the connection between the client and customer.Advertising is crucial and if student are informed they will make sure that the news spreads(see Bryn Bacharach's Quote 5)

When interviewing Brooke St. Denis she explains a time of when she went to club fair after she transferred to Cal Poly. The clubs that really caught her attention were the ones that tried to communicate and have genuine conversation with her (see quote 8). Although she didn't end up joining, she appreciated how they interacted with her and almost caused her to join. She liked the fact that they took an interest into her

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personal life and tried to connect with her on a deeper level than just asking everyone to join.

Interviewee # Quote

Danny Shellworth 1 “Mostly through representatives coming to class and giving an informational thing on it.” (When asked about how he gets information about on campus events)

Jessica Krtek 3 “The Greek life sticks out a lot because they’re kinda in your face, and ski club. Basically, just the clubs that contain a lot of people that are really really outgoing, which tend to be like Fraternities and social clubs. They stick out more so than other clubs.”

4 “Word of mouth, and if you go to club rush the loudest people there are gonna be the Fraternities or ski club.”

Bryn Bacherack 5 “The WOW program.. it is advertised a lot… a lot of students at Cal Poly has attended it, there is always poster around campus and there is always good feedback about it”

Jordan 6 “Emails and posters are only good to the extent at which students don’t ignore them. I know people who never use their Cal Poly emails, so I think something forceful like an in class announcement that’s in your face is good. Definitely.”

7 “I don’t actively look for information about them, but if its in front of me, I would know about it. Otherwise, I learn about most of the programs and clubs from friends and roommates.”

Brooke St. Denis 8 They were asking questions starting conversation with me which almost

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encouraged me to join. I felt as if they had a genuine interest in me.”

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Full Interview Transcripts Dane’s Interview with Bryn COLOR represents: Interviewer and Primary Questions COLOR represents: Interviewee Opening Interviewer(X): Hi (Y), thanks for coming, how are you doing today? Interviewee(Y): Hi, I am very good thank you, I love the weather out there today Interviewer(X): Me two, so (Y) can you tell me a little about yourself Interviewee(Y) : My name is (Y), I am a fourth year English major, I am a transfer a transfer student, I was at UCLA before, umm... and so I will be staying a fifth year and I am also hoping to pursue a Biology minor and work with some education classes Interviewer(X): O okay, that is very broad and interesting.If you don’t mind me asking from where are you? Interviewee(Y): Thanks, I am from NewCastle Interviewer(X): Another question that I have for you is why did you decide to transfer to Cal Poly instead to any other universities? Interviewee(Y): Humm, I looked at Cal Poly when I was applying for schools and I really liked it a lot, after going to UCLA for two years I decided that I really didn't like the city life, I didn't like how big of a school it was, and I didn't like that I was just a number, and that the teachers and the staff did not care about me, (nudging probe), Uh­huh when I was coming to Cal Poly the tennis team played a huge influence on it but always felt at home when I came to visit Cal Poly and it was just a great environment, and everyone seemed very welcoming Interviewer(X): Yeah Interviewee(Y): ...and the staff and professors really cared about you Interviewer(X): So you felt it was more like a family here? Interviewee(Y): Yeah Interviewer(X): Oh Okay, so are you part of any clubs or organizations within Cal Poly? Interviewee(Y): Yes, I am part of the women's tennis team, Sprout Up which is a teaching organization for students, it is a volunteering program, and the student athletes club, which is called Blockp.

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Interviewer(X): Do you meet up often with each clubs? Interviewee(Y): Uh, SproutUp is usually once a week, tennis is everyday (giggle), BlockP is 3 times a quarter. Interviewer(X): Oh okay, that is not too bad,do you get a lot of money” Interviewee(Y): Do I get money? not from that, this is for free. Interviewer(X): Volunteering? Interviewee(Y): For fun. Introduction Interviewer(X): Okay, next one; what does diversity mean to you, what connectations pop up in your head when you think of diversity? Interviewee(Y): Okay, humm I think of different types of people, whether that be how they grew up, whether it’s the city, the difference in environment that they are in, the different class that they’ve been in. ummm... or even different cultures. Interviewer(X): Do you mean cultures such as religion or race? Interviewee(Y): Yea, everything; the place that you been living and how that differs and everything that factors into that and how that differs from other people.So your religion, your politics, your ethnic background, your practices and background Interviewer(X): Do you feel welcome on campus? Interviewee(Y): Yes, very welcome. Interviewer(X): “Was there ever an incident where you felt unwelcome? Interviewee(Y): No. Transition Interviewer(X): Are there any programs on campus that have assisted with you feeling welcome? If so can you describe how. Interviewee(Y): Yes, the womens tennis team did. Well being in a team you already have that support and friendship and through the sport you meet so many other people and athletes. Interviewer(X): Dont you just love the soccer players? Interviewee(Y): Yes they are so sweet and so much fun.

Primary Interviewer(X): What programs have you heard the most about on campus? Interviewee(Y): The WOW program.

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Interviewer(X): Why would you say so? Interviewee(Y): Because it is advertised a lot and it targets freshmen as soon as they get to the school so the first thing they learn about Cal Poly and get involved in is WOW. Interviewer(X): How are you familiar with WOW? Interviewee(Y): Because a lot of students at Cal Poly has attended it, there is always poster around campus and there is always good feedback about it. Key Interviewer(X): Have you heard of the Office of University Diversity and Inclusivity? Interviewee(Y): No. Interviewer(X): (Brief statement of OUDI given to interviewee) Does this sound like something you would be interested in learning about? Interviewee(Y): Yes, definitely Ending Interviewer(X): As a fourth year, do you think Cal Poly is diverse? Interviewee(Y): No. Interviewer(X): Why so? Interviewee(Y): I think there are lots of white people here, I think there are a lot of people of upper class which is difficult to get rid of because college is expensive and it is also difficult because it is a CSU so a lot of people within California is going to want to come here and most of them are from certain areas that is nice too” Interviewer(X): If you could change Cal Poly would you make it more diverse? Interviewee(Y): Yes, just certain aspects of it, such as fill the student population with students from different states and countries Interviewer(X): Okay, thank you, that was very good. I appreciate your time and I hope you enjoy your rest of your day. Chelsea’s Interview with Jessica Opening [Chelsea] Can you tell me about yourself?

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[Jessica] “My name is Jessica, I’m a 3rd year, and I’m originally from San Diego, California.” [Chelsea] What’s your major? Are you interested in other classes/minoring in something? [Jessica] “I’m a business administration major, with a concentration in consumer packaging solutions, and a minor in psychology, and I’m interested in going to grad school directly after my undergrad is complete.” [Chelsea] Why grad school? What do you want to get from that? [Jessica] “Honestly, I knew I was gonna go to grad school at some point in my life and my dad was injured in the war so I get benefits, so my tuition is free but only if I’m making under the poverty line. So I can’t complete my undergrad, get a full time job, and come back and have it still be paid for. So I have to do it right after.” [Chelsea] Why did you come to Cal Poly over other schools? [Jessica] “It was funny, I actually went on two back to back college tours and I came to Cal Poly and I hated it, it was terrible. We didn’t have a tour cause it was raining and everything. I came back the next week and I just fell in love with it cause some random girl just like gave us a tour around the campus. It just seemed like everyone was so laidback. I applied early and I got in and I was happy, and confused.” [Chelsea] So what were the main things you liked about it? [Jessica] “The location, the people, and the mix between city and country. Since I’m from a big city, it’s kinda nice coming here and having like everything within walking distance and just a really laid back environment.” [Chelsea] Are you involved in any clubs on campus? [Jessica] “Yes, I am in Delta Sigma Pi, the business Fraternity on campus, and I’m also a peer mentor for the college of business, and I’m the staff leader for that so I run the meetings.” Intro: [Chelsea] What does diversity mean to you? [Jessica] “Diversity to me... I feel like a lot of people generally view diversity as like gender or age or race, but to me diversity is diversity of mindset, so it doesn’t matter what gender you are or color you are, or how old you are. Rather it’s how your experiences and the culture that you come from shapes your viewpoint, and I feel like that’s very important to have.” [Chelsea] Do you feel welcome on campus? [Jessica] “Yeah definitely, I feel like my first year, my first quarter was definitely a struggle finding my place, but um I feel like that happens at that time of your life. I think that um there’s a place for everyone here, you just need to kinda take it upon yourself to get involved early.”

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[Chelsea] Did you take it upon yourself to get involved early? [Jessica] “Yeah, after my first quarter I struggled a lot and then I kind of turned everything around and asked myself like why am I here? What do I want out of this? I didn’t want to look back and have any regrets.” [Chelsea] Was there ever an incident where you felt unwelcome? [Jessica] “No, I don’t think so. I mean unwelcome in the sense that I said my first quarter it was hard to get used to it [Cal Poly]. But there was never anything that like Cal Poly or anyone at Cal Poly that did something in particular. It was just kinda like a mindset that I had to adjust.” Transition: [Chelsea] Are there any programs on campus that have assisted with you feeling welcome? [Jessica] “Yeah I would definitely say the Fraternity because we all have similar interests and we’re all driven and outgoing, etc. And the peer mentor program too, has really kind of given me a place cause it’s given me the opportunity to give back to other students who are in need and um everyone in the program is just such a kind person and I feel like that’s something that I can really connect with, just being a very like genuine individual.” Primary [Chelsea] What programs have you heard the most about on campus? [Jessica] “The Greek life sticks out a lot because they’re kinda in your face, and ski club. Basically, just the clubs that contain a lot of people that are really really outgoing, which tend to be like Fraternities and social clubs. They stick out more so than other clubs.” [Chelsea] What type of advertising do you think it is? [Jessica] “Word of mouth, and if you go to club rush the loudest people there are gonna be the Fraternities or ski club.” [Jessica] “They are the clubs that get the most attention because they are the loudest and the most in your face, where as like the wildlife club is just like hanging out on the side.” Key [Chelsea] Have you heard of the Office of University Diversity and Inclusivity? [Jessica] “I feel like I have but not specifically, like I’ve heard of it but I couldn’t tell you specific details.” [Chelsea] (interviewer gave brief description) [Chelsea] Does this sound like something you would be interested in learning about?

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[Jessica] “Yeah, yeah definitely.” [Chelsea] What are the best ways for this program to reach you? [Jessica] “I would definitely say email is a good way, of course social media… everyone’s on it when they shouldn’t be. Flyers too cause they stick out.” Ending [Chelsea] As a 3rd year, how do you feel about Cal Poly’s diversity overall? [Jessica] “I don’t necessarily feel like it’s a very diverse campus, not only because everyone is primarily caucasian but just because they are mostly from sheltered white backgrounds. And I feel like the people who are diverse don’t really stand out as much because they are a minority.” [Chelsea] Do you think it would be helpful if we had events for different majors to be able to connect? [Jessica] “Yeah that’d be cool. It would probably be beneficial for other people to interact with people from different majors. Like I know entrepreneurs here would probably like that because in order to start a business they might need a chemist or an engineer. So just making those connections would be really beneficial because it’s not just a natural connection. We are all kind of forced into our own major environments.” Madison’s Interview with Brooke Madi: Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down and talk to me. Just to let you know I will be recording this interview I hope that is fine with you. It is just so that I will be able to remember your comments fully and correctly. I am not looking for any specific answers from you so feel free to say whatever comes to mind. Brooke: Yes, that is totally fine with me and okay I will. Madi: To start off I would like to know a little bit of background on you. Your name, hometown, major anything else you may want to share.. Brooke: My name is Brooke St. Denis, I grew up in a small town called Arroyo Grande and my major is Liberal Arts. Madi: Arroyo Grande? Brooke: Super close! About 15 minutes south where the nearest In­N­Out is.

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Madi: Oh okay I’ve definitely been there then! Did the closeness of Cal Poly’s campus to your home­town influence your decision in coming here? Brooke: Well actually I started at San Diego State and went there for 2 years before I transferred back to Cal Poly to finish off my schooling. I love this area which definitely influenced my decision in coming back to go to school. Madi: So you mainly missed the area? Brooke: I missed my family as well! And I had a lot of friends go to Cal Poly so I thought it would be fun to go to school with them again. I feel like I have spent enough time with my 2 years at SDSU to experience something different than the Central Coast but when it comes down to it I just enjoy my life more closer to home with my friends and family. I don’t feel like I am missing out on anything living here, I am completely satisfied and much happier here. Madi: Oh good! This is a beautiful area… But back to your experiences here at Cal Poly, are you involved in any clubs? Brooke: I am not, since I am a transfer student I didn’t decide to join any clubs. I kind of felt like it was too late for me to get involved in any organizations and clubs Madi: What do you mean when you say too late? Brooke: I feel like I was too old to just be joining any clubs. When I heard about clubs at SDSU I was a freshman so I assume it’s the same here meaning that most people joining would be freshman. The age gap for me prevented that. Madi: Did you feel welcomed when you came to Cal Poly? Brooke: Yes! The reason I didn’t join any clubs had nothing to do with Cal Poly not making me feel welcomed. When I transferred they offered all kinds of opportunities to meet people and get in touch with the Cal Poly community. I actually made a really good girlfriend during my orientation and we take at least one class together every quarter because we have the same major. Madi: Oh good, were there any organizations that you were introduced to you that made you feel welcome?

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Brooke: I went to club showcase and all of the sororities were extremely welcoming. They were asking questions starting conversation with me which almost encouraged me to join. I felt as if they had a genuine interest in me. Madi: But you never joined? Brooke: No, I didn’t join because I know its a very big time commitment. Because of my transfer not all of my classes count here at Cal Poly so I’ve had to retake a lot of things. I still want to graduate in 4 years so I am just really focusing on academics. I didn’t think that I would have been able to put the required time and effort into each aspect [academics and sorority] without being too overwhelmed. Madi: I can understand that, would you be interested in other programs that help welcoming? Brooke: Yes, it is always great to be aware of the many different clubs on campus even if I don’t end up using them. It is nice to have the option of using it but not feel too pressured. Madi: What other campus programs have you heard of and how did you hear of them? Brooke: ASI (Associated Students Inc.) is the main program that I have heard of. I first remember seeing an ASI poster in the UU and after that I noticed they had posters everywhere on campus advertising events they were putting on. They always play commercials in the REC center as well. Madi: So you know about them through campus advertising? Brooke: Yes, they have a very big presence on campus, I am constantly reminded of them almost anywhere I go because of their posters. Madi: Since you haven’t mentioned OUDI before now is it safe to assume you have never heard of them? Brooke: Yeah, I have never heard of that organization, what is it? Madi: I’m glad you asked, it is a Cal Poly organization dedicated to enhancing our campus’ climate. They focus on embedding diversity and inclusivity into all aspects of our university including student population and faculty. Their goal is to make every

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student feel welcome in a diverse population. Does that sound like something that you would want to learn more about? Brooke: Maybe, I don’t see how it really relates to me since I am in the majority at the school. Madi: OUDI believes all people are diverse. They put on campus events such as opportunities to meet with faculty so that you could build relationships with them. Would that be something you would like to attend? Brooke: Ya actually I would really enjoy that. Building a more intimate relationship with my teachers could help my education and learning processes. I feel like I would be more inclined to go to classes if I knew my teachers more personally. Madi: Oh definitely. Just one final question before I let you go, As a 3rd year how do you feel about Cal Poly’s diversity as a whole? Brooke: I feel like focusing on people as a race shouldn’t be something that we focus on, we should just be looking at them as people. Compared to SDSU I see a lot more white people here. Racially I feel like we don’t have that much difference on campus. Madi: So it’s a racial thing for you? Brooke: Now that you mention it, I’ve never thought about diversity in other aspects on campus. In that case everywhere and everything is diverse. People have different thoughts and beliefs especially on a campus where so many people are residing in one spot. Madi: I’m glad you are able to see the different aspects of diversity. Well thank you so much for answering all of my questions I really appreciate it! Brooke: No problem it was my pleasure. Chris’ Interview with Danny

Chris Talking Danny Talking

Opening

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Thanks for sitting down with me Danny. I’m trying to find out some information for a project I’m doing. Is it alright it if I record our talk so I can type it out later?

Yeah sure. Awesome. Can you tell me about yourself to start off?

My name is Danny Shellworth. I’m a business major from Vacaville, California.

Cool, I’m a business major too. Do you know what you want to concentrate in? Marketing I think.

Interested in any other subjects or minors? Not really. I just chose business because there are a lot of option with all

the different concentrations and such. Not really too passionate about any other subjects.

Why did you come to Cal Poly over other schools? Well, track and athletics was a major reason. I was recruited because of

that, but had the option to go to other schools. I chose Cal Poly over those schools because the overall vibe was better.

The overall vibe? I don’t know. Uhhhh… Like all the people are really nice, everyone seems

laid back, and the location is perfect. Overall it was just what seemed like it was going to make me the happiest.

You said you were on track, are you involved in any other clubs or activities on campus?

Nope, just a high jumper on track.

Intro

Alright thanks. So let's switch topics a little bit and talk about diversity. What does diversity mean to you?

Diversity is not just color, although when you’re thinking about admissions that’s kind of what comes to mind. I think that diversity is every type of person that there is, whether that be color, attitude personality, physical appearance, intelligence, whatever.

With all those things considered, do you feel welcome on campus? Yes I do. I feel like Cal Poly may not have the highly diverse statistics

many look at to tell how much diversity a school has, I feel like were still diverse. We have the really smart majors like Architecture and Engineering…or all majors for that matter, but we have people that emphasize all parts of life, school, extracurriculars, etc.

Was there ever an incident where you felt unwelcome? No.

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Yeah not really. Track has made me feel really welcome. How has track made you feel welcome?

Well it’s cool because you can meet people from other grades. It’s nice to have an in with people who know more what they’re doing. I asked all my questions to them last year and now I have freshman texting me right now asking me questions about random things. We have get­togethers too, like team building exercises.

Transition

That’s great. Are there any other programs on campus that have assisted with you feeling welcome other than track?

WOW week helped me a lot. Same with SOAR. I met a lot of people that I’m still really good friends with.

So no other programs were helpful? No not really, I’m pretty busy with track so that’s been what helps the

most.

Primary

I see. So I know you’re super busy with track, but what programs have you heard the most about on campus?

I’ve heard a lot about PULSE and SAFER because safety’s a bug issue here at Poly and colleges in general. I think that’s really cool because people who really do need that stuff often wouldn’t try their hardest to find it, but it’s super prevalent so that’s awesome. I’ve heard about a lot of Greek life and intramural athletics too. The rec center and poly escapes is cool too.

You hear a lot about those? Yeah, probably because I’m there a lot.

Yeah that would make sense. How are you familiar with those programs you’re not around daily? Like PULSE and SAFER for example.

Mostly through like representatives coming to class and giving an informational thing on it. During WOW it was huge. Also during track meetings that I have to go to people come talk to us.

During WOW how did you hear about programs? Yeah just representatives and meetings. Big presentations on a bunch of

resources too.

Key

Interesting. One of those resources that gave a presentation was the Office of University Diversity and Inclusivity (OUD&I), have you ever heard of them?

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I’ve heard of a diversity club but that’s something different I think. Yeah that is. OUD&I is more of an official office that is trying to promote diversity

and inclusivity on campus. Have you ever seen an email inviting you to any of their events?

Oh yeah I have. I usually just forget about the emails though. So does OUD&I sound like something you would be interested in learning about?

Not really. I’m not really too concerned with the issue. I’m pretty busy all the time with track so I don’t know if that’s something I want that high up on my list of things to do.

Ending

As a second year, how do you feel about Cal Poly’s diversity overall? I feel like it is super diverse. That might just be me though because I’m on

the track team. My teammates are from all over and are all different types of people. We’re all athletic but that’s really the only thing in common that we all share. I could see how an engineer or something specific like that who’s not really that involved could say Cal Poly’s not diverse.

So do you think Cal Poly could be more diverse? Yeah I guess. But we definitely have the campus where you can find

diversity if you want it. Alright thanks for your time Danny! You’ve been a real help.

Hussain’s Interview with Jordan ­­Opening­­ [Hussain] Can you tell me about yourself? year, name, from? [Jordan] “My name is Jordan, I am a senior. I was born and raised in San Francisco, California.” [Hussain] What’s your major? Are you interested in other classes/minoring in something? [Jordan] “I am a Business major. I am very interested in Statistics, and I am actually getting a minor in it.” [Hussain] Why did you come to Cal Poly over other schools? [Jordan] “Well, I applied to quite a few schools in California and honestly I was originally going to go to UCLA, I mean that was my first choice. But actually a really close friend got into Cal Poly and we decided to both go here.”

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[Hussain] Are you involved in any clubs on campus? [Jordan] “I was during my first two years, pushing three. Towards the end of junior year I stopped going to the meetings. I was mostly involved in both the CP Accounting Club and the Financial Management Association. I also golfed a lot with the CP Gold Club.” ­­Intro­­ [Hussain] What does diversity mean to you? [Jordan] *pause* “um well, I think diversity means essentially a large mix of people or anything really. I mean when were talking about a diverse school, it means that the student base is well represented as far as ethnicity, culture and background goes. Like, it’s not just one type of student everywhere you look.” [Hussain] Do you feel welcome on campus? [Jordan] “Sure. I mean I don’t really know what you mean by that but people are very nice here yes. I've never really felt anything negative towards the campus or its people.” [Hussain] Was there ever an incident where you felt unwelcome? [Jordan] “Not that I can recall to be honest.” ­­Transition­­ [Hussain]Are there any programs on campus that have assisted with you feeling welcome? [Jordan] “I would say mostly it was WOW week that really made me feel welcome and excited about being here. I think it does a really good job at making nervous young students feel welcomed and at home. Besides that, I can’t really say. I guess the fact that everyone being so nice and friendly is also what made/makes me feel welcome.” ­­Primary­­ [Hussain] What programs have you heard the most about on campus? [Jordan] “I would say I hear a lot about ASI stuff all the time, I guess it is because I’m always in the UU or something. Also the study abroad stuff sounds very interesting. I get lots of emails every quarter from professors talking about the classes they are going to teach abroad. I mean I don’t actively look for information about them, but if its in front of me, I would know about it. Otherwise, I learn about most of the programs and clubs from friends and roommates.”

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­­Key­­ [Hussain] Have you heard of the Office of University Diversity and Inclusivity? [Jordan] “Can’t say that I have, no.” If no, interviewer should give a brief statement about it. (described OUDI, their mission statement, and their recent climate survey) [Hussain] Is that something you would be interested in, Jordan? [Jordan] “Well, it sounds more to me like a administrative office, than a student club or organization. But I mean if they host events and gatherings, sure I would be interested in them. [Hussain] How would you like to be contacted about said events, if they were to happen? [Jordan] “I guess email would be the primary method of contact for me. Otherwise it would be posters around campus, which also I think are an good way.” [Hussain] How do you feel about students announcing events at the beginning of lectures? [Jordan] “Oh definitely! That’s actually exactly how I got involved in CPA and FMA. Emails and posters are only good to the extent at which students don’t ignore them. I know people who never use their Cal Poly emails, so I think something forceful like an in class announcement that’s in your face is good. Definitely ” ­­Ending­­ [Hussain]As a senior, how do you feel about Cal Poly’s diversity overall? [Jordan] “Well Hussain, I mean to be honest, look around you. I think if you mean culturally or ethnically diverse, Cal Poly is pretty bad. I mean I think we can agree Cal Poly is a white campus more than anything else. And all the other students are mostly Asian. For example, Hussain. You are literally the only person I have met on this campus so far with an Arabic name. Coming from San Francisco, which if you don’t know is super diverse, Cal Poly is one big loaf of white bread.” (both laughing).

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Sampling Strategy Criteria and Characteristics of Sample

Must be current undergrad student at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Achieve a good distribution of grade level in college Achieve a good distribution of different majors in college Include students that have high club involvement on campus and low club

involvement on campus Sampling Size

84 total respondents to our questionnaire 34 freshman, 25 sophomores, 4 juniors, 19 seniors, and 2 super seniors

with a mixture of all colleges

Data Collection Strategy of Questionnaire We utilized the following social media pages to reach our target market of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo students:

Cal Poly Financial Management Association Facebook Page Cal Poly American Marketing Association Facebook Page Cal Poly Class of 2015 Facebook Page Cal Poly Class of 2018 Facebook Page Cal Poly College of Business Facebook Page Cal Poly RPTA Facebook Page Cal Poly College of Agriculture Facebook Page Cal Poly College of Engineering Facebook Page Cal Poly Women’s Tennis Facebook Page Cal Poly Women’s & Men’s Soccer Facebook Page Cal Poly Internationals 2014­2015 Facebook Page Cal Poly Class of 2017 Facebook Page

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Instructions to Respondents On each of the Facebook pages, one of our group messages posted the following text to introduce the survey to respondents:

“My team and I have created a survey for our marketing class and we’d appreciate if you could fill it out! It deals with advertisement of on campus events and an organization called the Office of University Diversity and Inclusivity. We would love to hear what you have to say, every response helps us learn more about the campus climate and how to make it better for you. It is a quick 10 question survey, please answer honestly and all responses will be kept anonymous. We want to hear your voice!”

Construction of Questionnaire We designed our questionnaire using Google Forms through Google Drive. Google Drive is free data storage platform offered by Google. We were able to all access this form simultaneously, therefore getting everyone’s input included on what questions we wanted to focus on. As students responded to our survey, responses were automatically recorded in a Spreadsheet created by our survey. Once we got enough responses, we closed the survey. After closing the survey, Google Form’s gave us a way to view our responses in charts and graphs that were already color coded and labeled neatly for us to view.

Questioning Sequence To determine the layout of our Questionnaire we followed the design provided for us. We started by giving the respondents an overview of the research assignment, identified the organization we are working for and then assured anonymity in our Introductory Section. Because we didn’t want to place any limitations on the types of students answering we didn’t believe that screening questions were necessary. Also, we only shared the survey to Cal Poly students so all respondents were our target audience. Questions 1­8 addressed our Research Questions so that we would receive relevant information to our study. We ended the survey with 2 demographic questions so that we would understand the general characteristics of our respondents. We kept our survey concise and to the point so that we would ensure a high response rate from our students and to avoid respondents getting bored in the middle and then not answering some of the questions.

Questions and Response Options Question 1

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The purpose of this question is to see if current students are at all familiar with or have heard of OUDI at all. This question gives the OUDI faculty an idea of how their advertising is working thus far and to further enhance their goal of promoting campus diversity and inclusivity. If students aren’t familiar with OUDI, then they probably won’t be familiar with their events and programs either. Question 2

The purpose of this question is to decipher which form of social media sites students enjoy receiving school related information on the most. Overall, social media may not be the best form of advertising, but it’s a huge part of our current society and should be used nonetheless. Question 3

The purpose of this question is to identify the best means of communication to Cal Poly Students. This relates to both of our research questions because utilizing the most effective forms of communication will better OUDI’s current advertising strategy while also meeting the needs of their audience because they will be using their favorite forms of receiving information. Question 4

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The purpose of this question is to discover who has the greatest impact on students joining clubs. This targets our second research question of how OUDI can better their advertising to increase student usage. Once we identify what influences our respondents into joining clubs OUDI can incorporate it into their advertising strategy and get more people involved. Question 5

We asked this question because we were curious about how students felt about on campus advertisements. Knowing what means of communication are most effective in reaching students, OUDI can focus their efforts there. Using the best advertising techniques on campus will hopefully lead to more student recognition of OUDI. Question 6

In order to find the appropriate method to advertise to students, we need to know what programs and events students want and feel a need to hear about, provided by Cal Poly. The question is asked with the intend of allow us to conclude which events are most useful among students to advertise. Therefore, we chose a “click all that apply” type of survey question for this one. Also, it informs us more about the students, emphasising the fields that most satisfies their personal interests (wants/needs).OUDI can effectively use these events or similar events to interact with students as they can take from the data that students have an interest in these fields of interaction.This question addresses both our research questions.

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Question 7

To support and help us gain more information about both our research questions:We asked this specific question in order to see the level of importance networking is to students.It will also informs us the level of needs and wants among a diverse group of students to be met.The question will allow us a diverse reading on students from different years, colleges, race, gender etc... and therefore the importance of networking would be spread more across different field and give a diverse reading about the student body feeling on the topic. Question 8

The purpose of this question is to gauge student’s interest in networking events and how likely it would be that they would attend such events. We wanted to know if networking was a good motivator for students to join clubs/organizations or attend events they wouldn’t have normally attended if it weren’t for the networking portion. If students want to attend these types of events, then OUDI should consider providing more of these throughout campus so that all majors can be involved. Question 9

We were interested in knowing about the different kinds of clubs/organizations the students were involved in so that we could learn more about how/why they joined them. We wanted information on how these clubs and organizations attracted and retained students. Further, we wanted to know which kind of groups most of the participants were a member of and why were they popular.

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Question 10

Our last question was designed to allow us to get a good idea of the demographics of respondents. With this question we can tell the year and major of each survey taker. Ideally there would be a fair representation of each group, making the questionnaire an accurate assumption of the thoughts of Cal Poly as a whole. Questionnaire Findings The purpose of posting our questionnaire findings is to analyze the results and find a relevant conclusion for OUDI. Each of our questionnaire questions was designed around our research questions and the results will specifically relate to them. Question 1

Question number 1 was created for us to have an introduction to what the survey is about. A very large portion of our respondents, nearly ¾ ‘s of them had never heard of the Office of University Diversity and Inclusivity (OUDI). With a relatively low number of respondents, this number is proportionate to what we expected people to know of OUDI. The good thing is, this number can greatly improve after implementing more advertising.

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Question 2

In our previous research, we found that social media is not the best means of communication to reach current students, but it’s free and easily accessed. There is no reason for OUDI not to take advantage of it. This is why we wanted the respondents to answer this question, so we can prioritize what works best. Also, these results may be a bit biased, because of the way we distributed our survey via Facebook. Regardless, OUDI’s facebook page should definitely be utilized more for advertising events. Inviting students to like the page would be the first way to go about this. Question 3

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Mode of Communication Mean Score

Cal Poly Portal Notification 2.1

On Campus Advertisements 2.6

Representatives Speaking in Class 3.1

Poly Alert Text Messages 3.5

Email 3.7

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We measured the effectiveness of each of Cal Poly’s modes of communications to it’s students using a scale of 1­5 (least effective to most effective). We then gathered all of the data that we received and calculated the mean score of each type of communication. By doing this we identified the most effective means of communication by Cal Poly and also the least effective. The highest score was Email with a score of 3.7 and then closely followed by the Poly Alert Text Messages with a mean score of 3.5. The lowest rated mode of communication was the Cal Poly Portal Notifications with a mean score of 2.1. Students are interacting with technology constantly so communicating them through email and texting is a popular choice for our respondents. Question 4

Out of the 84 respondents, the majority (75%) stated that Peers have the greatest influence on them joining clubs, followed by Club Representatives (18%). The least effective influence was parents with a score of 1%. On campus individuals (peers, club rep, and faculty) had the highest rankings so focusing on those aspects will benefit OUDI the most. Peers having the greatest influence on students makes sense because people are likely to listen to people that they trust and have similar interests as them. Question 5

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There seemed to be agreeance between the respondents that posters, flyers, and representatives are the most effective way to grab students’ attention. We were surprised by the amount of people who answered that posters and flyers were the most effective, but knew representatives would be popular based on our focus group research. The key to posters and flyers on campus must be finding a way to make them stand out from the large amount that are out there. If OUDI increases posters and flyers around campus, it will hopefully attract people who are interested in their events. A more fool­proof way to make sure those who are interested in an event are made aware of the event is through representatives. If representatives from OUDI target classes and clubs that deal with diversity and inclusivity, the students listening to the presentation may be much more responsive. Spreading the word of an OUDI event in this fashion will not only increase student awareness, but also translate to greater attendance to the event. Question 6

The majority of students would want to hear more about On­Campus Concerts (83%). The second and third groups had a close rating; Sport events (58%) and Networking Events (52%) The question allows us to see what students needs and wants are. Students want to hear about events that sound fun and will achieve a large turnout. A cultural event sounds like there will be a lesser turnout of the general student body than the other events. We see that networking events are liked more because it provides students with an opportunity to make connections for their career, something that one may not think of as an aspect of a cultural event. In reality, a cultural event and networking event are synonymous, both take different types of people and provide a medium for them to interact.

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Question 7

Results shows that 73% of all student gave a rating that networking with other students/faculty/staff are above important (4). Knowing that students feel the need to connect we can conclude that advertising and other means of connecting will be effective and pleasing among the majority of students. Because there is a major need to be met, it allows OUDI to advertise and be recognized, because that is what majority of students are asking for. As seen by the result there is a big want and need to network to be filled by Cal Poly programs, organizations, employees, and etc. Only 7% of students indicated that they do not find it of major importance to engage in networking on campus. Question 8

With this question we wanted to find out if students would take advantage of networking events if ever offered the opportunity. The options given to the participants were 1 for “not very likely” and 5 was “very likely.” The responses given are quite mixed and not too surprising. The data tells us that roughly an equal amount of students surveyed fall into the “not likely” and “neutral” categories as they do in the “likely” and “most likely” categories. This could be interpreted as: roughly 50% of students surveyed would attend networking events. This gives us some insight into whether OUDI should or shouldn’t incorporate networking opportunities into its activities, or make networking the main selling point. Question 9

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What types of organizations are you involved in on campus: The aim of this question was to get a general overview at what clubs and organizations students are most active in. With this data, we had hoped to learn why students joined them and how these clubs/organizations attracted them. The results were quite varied, reflecting the broad interests and nature of the participants. The most common response given by participants were sororities and fraternities followed by sports clubs and clubs involving the student's major/discipline. Question 10

Overall we were very happy with the students we got to respond. 84 responses in total was great, and the distribution was not too lopsided. Our distribution is not perfectly representative of Cal Poly’s, but every demographic of the school had some response. Although there was less response from 3rd years and 5th+ years, we still got a few. It would have been nice to get an equal number from each class, but the distribution we achieved does its job in representing the student body as a whole. As far as majors go, we had the same problem. We had a great response from business, liberal arts, and engineering students; but only a few from science and math, AED, and CAFES students. The responses were not biased toward just one college, so the survey results are still effective in determining how the general student feels. Our goal was to get a general feel for how the average student would answer each question, and the diversity of respondents is more than enough to say we achieved that goal.

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