The Student Affairs Blog

Stumbling on Creativity and Building Rapport at the Same Time

In an earlier post on creativity I was talking about using RSS readers to make more time for creativity.

That's one approach. It's methodical, consistent, and sustainable. Another approach is the web stumble. It's been accused of being a time waster, and sometimes that's true, but other times . . .

Here's the process.

1) Go to stumbleupon.com

2) Sign up (it takes two seconds)

3) Download and install the stumble upon browser application.

4) Fill out your preferences (a quick pick list)

5) Click "stumble!"

The stumble system will then show you sites that match your preferences that are recommended by people like you. This is hugely important and if you read much from Swift Kick you'll know we are all about recommendation engines based on collaborative intelligence - that this is the core of what we think is the future of education, but that's not what this post is about.

What happens when I clicked "Stumble!" was an immediate get: it showed me something cool.

First it was incredible pictures of storms:

Then it was chalk art.

On the third click came pictures of installations by Mark Jenkins.

They made me laugh:

And they had a little commentary built in, that made me think:

And this is the creativity. We talk about pattern interrupts and apathetic detournement and here it is - simple, effective and engaging.

Wouldn't the next programming meeting be a little more fun with images like these as a starting place?

(Maybe, just maybe, someone would be inspired to find the distinction between "guerilla marketing" (which I loathe) and viral memes (which I love) and this would be incredible education. A hint: Free Hugs would be completely crap with a Nike Swoosh on it. But I digress.)

So stumble as a catalyst for creativity, but don't stop there.

As an advisor, you have an opportunity to build rapport, credibility, and influence by sharing cool things. If you're on Facebook, you can do this with one click. Just install the "Share On Facebook" button (on the right hand side in the grey box):

(Get to this page by clicking "Posted Items" in your upper left hand navigation.)

Then when see something that really strikes you, something profound, something funny, something meaningful, share it with all of your friends (probably your students) on Facebook. Your contribution of obscureness to the social network a) makes you more interesting / cooler b) adds to their horizons c) opens up dialogue:

Notice how Jyn actually says she's going to repost what I found and try to claim her own cool points (the same points she had to give me.)

So stumble away! (And be my friend on Facebook so that when you find cool stuff, I can repost it and claim cool points : )

Facebook Market Place Fundraising

The new features in Facebook make for some interesting fundraising opportunities. I just haven't figured them out yet.

For those of you not on Facebook everyday, there are two major changes that just came up rapidly. The first was the launch of the Facebook Marketplace. Easiest way to think about it is Craigslist for Facebookers.

The main differences being that 1) more people still use Craigslist so it is a more efficient marketplace and 2) items sold through Facebook will be tracked along social lines (i.e. you can see you are buying a car from a 4th degree friend and ask for a reference . . .)


Maybe it is time for a new fangled bake sale:

I haven't heard of any new models using Craigslist, but they must be out there. Who has got one? Then we can talk about how something similar can be ported into Facebook's new marketplace . . .

Never Enough: Fundraising

Money is one of the great ways to introduce your student leaders to the "real world". You want something amazing to happen? You'll probably need some money. Don't have any? You'll need to do a fundraiser . . . that's where the fun begins.

Everything starts with google, right?

The industry around college fundraising is well established. Just look at all the advertisers paying top dollar to advertise:

When you see things like "proven" "guaranteed" and "free" in an advertising run that costs a bundle, put your dukes up, someone thinks you are a sucker.

Don't let your students fall into one of these pyramid marketing scams.

Encourage them to use these sites for a starting place with ideas, and then go out and put together the packages and materials on their own. They will be saving, and profiting, from skipping the broker in the middle. This is the age of the web, it is not hard to find a cup manufacturer, a t-shirt printer, or any other material source.

Great entrepreneurialism is often simple. Find a "pain" on campus and solve it - almost no one needs another plastic cup, even if it does have their fraternity on it.

Smoothing Out the Rough Spots: Contracts (Part 1)

How contracts are handled varies from school, but there are a few common rough spots that could be smoothed out with some effort on both sides.

The simple goal, of course, is to have the artist work and the school get programming and have both of them covered with reasonable protection.

It's always the reasonable protection that gets lawyers in a tizzy. One person's idea of reasonable might be different from someone else's.

I need to start this with the lovely acronym, IANAL, which stands for I am not a lawyer. Meaning I'm going to use normal language and talk about interests in general terms.

Let's start with sticky spot number one, the dreaded Termination Clause:

This is the current language in the standard Swift Kick contract. This is the "no hard feelings" version of a termination clause, where, basically, either party can walk out on the contract at anytime and only be on the hook for money paid. If the flights are purchased, and a down payment was made, whoever canceled is out the money.

This clause assumes that both parties want to make it work, and that if it doesn't something serious must have come up.

This clause, by implication, also assumes the parties want to maintain a positive relationship and that both sides will be reasonable in the event of a cancellation. Lawyers don't like to make this assumption, and will sometimes want to write contracts adversarially.

They would prefer to write in something to the effect of "if the performer cancels the contract for any reason other than an act of God, the performer shall reimburse the school for all expenses incurred including room expenses, promotional material and all labor."

This, in the lawyer view, gives the school the right to collect what they want in the rare egregious case of a negligent performer, while also allowing the school to not collect the money in the more normal, "let's reschedule", the cancellation was regrettable but reasonable and unavoidable, scenario.

I've received a few contracts with wording like this and this is where it becomes sticky. We want the best relationship with a school possible and want to work with them and their legal needs, but it does not make economic sense for us to sign a contract that has potential liability far exceeding the revenue generated.

While I understand that a school could have been burned once or twice and would therefore want the most options, experienced performers will have similar experiences (99% positive, 1% difficult) and, once the conversation starts assuming conflict, they may want maximum protection as well. Then we get stuck in the tug-of-war.

We feel that it is best to meet in the middle right away. We'll give the school the right to cancel whenever and only be out a down payment, if applicable, in exchange for the right to reschedule without having to discuss labor costs of students.

So let's get the war stories. Who has a termination clause they like and why? What's the win-win framework? Should rescheduling be made explicit in the contract?

Time for Tasty Stews: Borrowed and Stolen

Creativity is combining things in new ways. It's making tasty stews: just take lots of raw materials, chop them up, add your special spice and let them cook.

The game for advisors, and us at Swift Kick, is where do you get the raw materials, and then, importantly, where do you get the time to cook.

An RSS Reader goes a long ways towards helping both of these challenges.

It automates most of the process of raw material acquisition - delivering raw material directly to me. The time I save getting my raw material delivered helps free up time to cook - or play with how the ideas I see might be applied to my work.

The idea for this collaborative blog - a new thing to this student affairs, came from a mashup of
Marketingprofs.com and some thinking about relevancy and education.

For anyone that clicks over to marketing professors from the newsletter, you may be surprised to see that the design for Marketing Professors is very similar to the design for this blog and the Activities + Affairs Newsletter:

This is one of the ways we make time for creativity - we borrow lots. We use other's recipes and tweak them so they fit our needs.

In making stews, we "steal" non-copyrighted methods and designs every where we can. This way, we can focus on the creative value - a peer driven learning community for activities professionals - rather than on the details - the color scheme of the newsletter.

This process is very digital - software, music, movies, pictures, once digital, are great for mashing together in new and interesting ways. It's where the world is at now.

So here's the prescription:

1) Get an RSS reader, find some folks both in and out of academia who are interesting and thought provoking and who write blogs - subscribe to those blogs.

2) Focus on the ideas, not the how. Know that you can borrow most of the how.

This is how two non-designer, non-programmer folks were able to launch this community platform.

What "new" is waiting for you?

Cornell University Moves Event Planning to the Web

Posted By: Tom Krieglstein, Swift Kick

The web is filled with articles related to Student Life. The hardest part is finding the content. Here is an article I stumbled on from a company called United Educators,which provides liability insurance and risk   management services to universities. While normally too much lawyer talks scares me, this one is interesting because they are using the internet to make risk management more...well...manageable.

Cornell University, in partnership with United Educators, has developed a new, high-tech   solution to the dilemma of how to make campus events safer.   The Ithaca, NY institution has harnessed the speed and   convenience of the World Wide Web to connect campus groups   that organize events with the administrators who must   approve each activity.

Cornell's "On-line Event Planning and Risk Management   System," created using FileMaker Pro 4.0 for Macintosh OS,   the leading database software and Home Page 3.0, a web   authoring tool both from FileMaker, Inc. enables university   officials to identify all the factors that can create   event-planning risk, says Allen Bova, the university's   director of risk management. He says the system helps alert   administrators to a host of problems - everything from   potentially overcrowded dance halls, gridlocked parking   lots, and noise violations, to the threat of food-borne   illness, the possibility of underage drinking, and the need   for emergency medical technicians at club rugby matches.

The system, made possible in part by funding from United   Educators' General Liability Grant Program, has made   Cornell's campus a safer place. "Since we put the system   online, we've seen about a 20 percent increase in event   planners and campus groups giving advance notice of their   events" says Bova. "The result has been faster, more   complete, and more comprehensive decision making on campus   event-planning issues," he says. "We have found that we can   better assess the impact and the risks of special   events."

The on-line system also makes campus events more   successful by prompting student groups to think carefully   about how they plan and run their events.

The Old Way, the Slow Way

Event planning can be especially difficult at a large   institution such as Cornell. With a student body numbering   over 19,000, the university hosted more than 1,000 events   during the 1997-98 academic year. The On-Line Event Planning   and Risk Management System has been bringing order to that   potential chaos since September, 1998.

The system computerizes what used to be a paper- and   time-intensive process. The new system - essentially a   series of interactive Web pages - works because everyone on   Cornell's campus has access to e-mail and the World Wide   Web. The entire process "lives" on a computer in the Student   Activities Office, but anyone can access the system via the   Web.

I would add here that using just the world wide web and e-mail is a bit outdated at this point. Communication channels are evolving all the time and this system would be wise to keep up.

It's a far cry from the old days. Since the early 1990s,   Cornell has required officially registered student   organizations to fill out a lengthy form for each campus   event they sponsor. But the number of student organizations   has grown dramatically in recent years, increasing from 450   to more than 580 between 1996 and 1998 alone. Those groups   now sponsor dozens of activities each week, including   meetings of student clubs and support groups, academic   gatherings, cultural events such as dance recitals and   concerts, and athletic events.

"Along with the increase in student organizations came an   increase in the number of events taking place on campus,"   says Joseph Scaffido, the assistant director of student   activities who was instrumental in developing the program.   "As more and more events were registered using campus   facilities, the ability to keep track of events became much   more difficult."

Creating a Campus-Wide Resource

Before the on-line system existed, the event planning and   approval process required plenty of time, endless patience,   and sometimes, comfortable shoes.

In my days as a student leader, the registration process to host an event was extremly intimidatating. There were pages of instructions on what fors to fill out and who needed to sign off on it

Event planners had to complete an official form and then   gather as many as 10 approval signatures from administrators   throughout the university. "After completing the form, they   would meet with a representative from the Student Activities   Office, who would indicate various university officials who   the event planner would have to notify," Scaffido says.   Trekking from office to office, "the event planner would   then meet with and get signatures from the approvers. This   was a tedious and sometimes frustrating process and could   take weeks to complete."

The On-Line Event Planning and Risk Management System   changed all that. Now that it is up and running:

• Event planners can register the details of their    proposed event without having to submit paperwork.
• Student Activities Office staff use e-mail to notify    all administrators who need to review the event    information.
• University officials can grant approval or submit    comments and questions on-line, without having to sign    papers or return phone calls.
• Administrators have the ability to conveniently    search for and review all scheduled events that need    their approval.
• In most cases, event planners can have their    activities approved in less than one working day.

Streamlining the Process

The on-line system has made event planning faster, more   convenient, and more efficient. At one time, a member of the   Student Activities Office staff was dedicated full-time to   collecting event forms, inputting the information into a   database, and serving as the primary campus contact for   event planning matters.

In contrast, the new system requires only a few hours a   week for routine record keeping. Events are still approved   by a team of campus administrators, but they now handle most   event planning issues by routine e-mail, not   hard-to-schedule meetings or rounds of telephone tag.

Most event approvals happen entirely electronically.   Event planners go to a special Student Activities Web page   and choose between two on-line forms: one for events where   alcoholic beverages will be served and another for "dry"   events. They fill in the blanks, providing all logistical   information, and then click on a "submit" button. That   automatically sends the information to Student Activities,   where a staff member reviews the form and then sends it   electronically to the various departments that need to give   their approval.

At the same time, the system sends an e-mail message to   the event planner stating that the approval process has   begun and providing a password that enables access to a Web   page reporting on the status of their event.

These departments typically need to approve events:

• Student Activities has overall responsibility    for coordinating on-campus events.
• Athletic Facilities approves events taking    place on athletic fields, in gyms, or at other buildings    and areas that the athletic department is responsible    for.
• Community Relations/Sales makes sure the    Cornell name and logo are used properly and oversees    events where merchandise of any kind is sold or given    away.
• Cornell Police track where and when events are    taking place for campus security, traffic control, and    occasional crowd control purposes.
• Risk Management and Insurance evaluates the    liability factors an event may present.
• Transportation Services considers events'    traffic, transit, and parking implications.
• Environmental Health and Safety must approve    events that involve an array of vital campus services,    enforcing building occupancy limits and providing    emergency medical response and fire prevention    services.

Administrators in each appropriate office receive an   e-mail with a link to a unique Web address where they can   find the event's approval form. They can then look at the   information that applies to their departments and either   approve it or not.

The system lets them ask questions or add comments, which   are sent automatically by e-mail to the event planner. A   club rugby tournament this fall illustrates the importance   of this feature. Although all necessary administrators   approved the event, several took the opportunity to advise   the organizer of key considerations. Risk Management and   Insurance noted that players needed to sign and file waivers   before participating. Environmental Health and Safety   reminded the organizer to make sure the campus emergency   medical services staff knew about the event. Once all   administrators have signed off and all comments or questions   have been addressed, an email message is automatically sent   to the planner stating that the event has received final   approval, and can go forward. Only if issues remain   unresolved will the event planner be invited to meet with   administrators to iron out details.

Bova says the Risk Management and Insurance Department   has ultimate authority to approve or disapprove an event. "I   consider our department the final check," he says. "If one   of the event planning team members isn't happy, then I'm not   happy."

Effects on Campus Operations

Once approved, the event information becomes a tool for   campus departments to use to plan their work and minimize   risk.

"The Cornell Police post all events that come through the   system so officers know all the details of the events that   are supposed to be taking place on their shift," Bova notes.   "If they come upon an event that wasn't listed, they can and   do shut it down." Campus police use event information to   help coordinate security when student groups invite   dignitaries to speak.

Environmental Health and Safety staff refer to the   approval information to issue burning permits for bonfires.   Food service staff check to make sure that caterers comply   with health and safety regulations.

The on-line system is not foolproof, Bova cautions.   Students, for example, can sometimes fail to tell the whole   truth about their events, just as they could before. A   student play produced last fall illustrates the problem.   "They had flash pots on stage to create explosion effects,"   Bova explains. "Well, they never told anyone about that   little detail or included it on the form. And of course,   some stage props caught fire during the performance.   Fortunately, they did have fire extinguishers, and no one   was injured, but the fact that they never told anyone about   this risk is cause for concern."

In the wake of that incident, Cornell officials have   begun conducting on-site inspections of student theater   sets. The university is also drawing up safety guidelines   that student troupes will have to follow.

Bova remains enthusiastic about the on-line system's   value as a planning tool. "It keeps all the members of our   event planning team on the same page, and helps us   anticipate and prevent problems and increase safety," he   says. That doesn't mean Cornell administrators are content   to rest on their laurels. For example, they made several   software upgrades within a month of rolling out the system   last fall.

Bova also believes there is room for improvement in who   must use the on-line system. Right now, only registered   student organizations are required to use it. Academic   departments and individual schools within the university can   and do opt out, sometimes with worrisome results.

"A number of Cornell units aren't using the system now,   and we want to encourage them to do so," Bova says. "One   school was the site of a wedding recently, but they did not   enter the event into the system. One of the caterer's   employees had a slip-and-fall accident, which raised   potential liability issues that my office, of course, was   concerned about." They have since agreed to begin using the   on-line event planning system. "I called the chief business   officer, who talked to the dean of the school. Between them,   they decided to get on the team," he says.

As more segments of the campus community begin to use the   on-line system, Bova envisions it becoming an even more   valuable resource.

Advice for Other Schools

Other institutions can learn from Cornell's experience.   Bova offers three tips, whether a school seeks to   computerize an existing event planning and risk management   system or start one from scratch:

1. Get everyone involved. "Approach event planning as a    team effort," Bova counsels. "Risk management cannot do    it alone." He credits the success of Cornell's on-line    event planning system to the participation of    administrative departments from throughout the    institution.    
2. Anticipate resistance. "Be prepared for people to    complain that the process is too time-consuming or too    bureaucratic," Bova says. Managing risks through    systematic event planning is difficult, but it is easier    to plan ahead than deal with the adverse consequences of    a mishap that could have been prevented. "You have to be    able to communicate the benefits of systematizing the    event-planning process to get other departments to join    in the effort," he says.    
3. Be positive. Bova says it is easy but wrong to    approach event planning in a negative way. "Go into it    with the idea that you want to approve every event," he    says. "You are there to help the university community    safely host events that support its educational mission."    The On-Line Event Planning and Risk Management System has    "helped us be a resource to event planners, not a    hindrance," Bova says. "We've approached this conversion    very positively and proactively. That's the whole idea    behind our effort."

For More Information

For more information about Cornell's On-Line Event   Planning and Risk Management System, contact Joe Scaffido,   Assistant Director of Student Activities at jss44@cornell.edu,   or Allen Bova, Director of Risk Management and Insurance at   ajb4@cornell.edu. To   view the web site, go to http://www.activities.cornell.edu/EventReg

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Everyone's Talking: Emergency Text Messaging (Part 1)

The Virginia Tech shootings were a huge tragedy.

Like many tragedies, afterwards, many tried to put together cause and effect in a way that 1) makes the extraordinary understandable (justifying blame) and 2) can prescribe the necessary preventative so that it doesn't happen again.

The fear of blame leads to focus, focus leads to plans, and plans lead to money.

The process is normal and irrational. This type of tragedy is overwhelming and emotionally powerful precisely because it is rare.

It doesn't make sense to prioritize our spending on the rare and sensational over the commonplace and more statistically dangerous, but we do it any way. We waste tremendous amounts of time and money worrying about terrorism when we should worry about driving and heart disease.

With the help of the news, and "security consultants", schools are under "pressure" to do something to prevent another Virginia Tech.

The "low hanging fruit" in the conversation seems to have gelled into "emergency text messaging." The thinking, mostly by the media, goes - if only Virginia Tech could have warned everyone, lives would have been saved.

I'm starting here in a post about text messaging because it seems like schools are right in the middle of the reaction phase. "We have to get something . . . "

And the companies in the space are doing everything they can to attach their solutions to the irrational fear to close the sale. This is one of the more egregious examples from the home page of e2campus:

Just pay one dollar per student and "prevent another tragedy". If only it were that simple. Of course it is not.

This may or may not be a conversation that you as a student affairs professional are involved in. Perhaps it's conversation in IT and security.

Communication, emergency or otherwise, should be a conversation that student affairs professionals get involved in - because communication and engagement go hand in hand. For every day of emergency, thousands and thousands of regular days with programming, learning, and community building will take place.

If student affairs can get in on the conversation, perhaps the money can go to a solution that actually works for the thousands of days, instead of trying to cover for the highly unlikely. Maybe the money can go towards a little more proactive instead of just reactive.

I'll post a part 2 with a roundup of some of the available solutions to help with the conversation.

Research/Publishing

Link: QuickPost | TypePad. I was curious does anyone do research or publish concerning the events and/or programming they do at their schools?

Ten Tangible and Practical Tips to Improve Student Participation in Web Surveys

Posted By: Tom Krieglstein, Swift Kick

William R. Molasso from Northern Illinois University wrote this article for the November issue of Student Affairs Online. The article contains so many good points it's worth a full reposting.

The Student Affairs On-Line article You Still Need High Response Rates with Web Based Surveys (Malaney, 2002) reviewed the importance of obtaining a high rate of response among participants in Web surveys. One of the greatest risks in utilizing Web surveys in collecting data for assessment or research is the unknown influence Web based techniques may have on response rates of the participants (Crawford, Couper, & Lamias, 2001). There is a significant need for new and more robust data collection techniques, for as Krosnick (1999) observed, “response rates for most major national surveys have been falling during the past four decades” (p. 539). Crawford et al. believed that nonresponse represents the main challenge for Web based surveys. Because of the concern about response rates generally and with Web based methods specifically, a number of researchers have begun making significant suggestions on ways to improve response rates in this methodology. However, much of this contemporary literature is based on the larger issues of data collection on the Web. There is a lack of tangible and practical tips of increasing college student response to Web surveys. Based on my use of Web surveys to complete original research, and to conduct program evaluation and assessment, a number of practical methods have emerged to enhance the likelihood that students will respond to a Web survey. Following are ten tangible and practical lessons I have learned to improve Web survey response rates.

1. Immediately Identify Why the Student Is Getting the Email. With the rapid expansion of spam and junk email, students have become very used to quickly deciding to read or delete emails in their in-box. When the student first sees the email in the in-box or reads the first line of the email, it is important that he/she can immediately tell this is not spam. Use obvious cues that straightforwardly set the email apart from what could be junk mail. For example, use the name of your institution in the subject line. Or, if you are focusing on a particular group of students, let them know. Students are more likely to read an email with a first line of “As a fraternity member at XYZ University…” then “You have been randomly selected to participate in….” or worse, the typical junk email introduction of “You have been pre-selected for a fabulous prize.” The more closely you can connect the email with something with which the student identifies, the more likely the email won’t land up in the trash bin. Additionally, emails that begin with the name of the participant generally improve response rates (Cook, Heath, & Thompson, 2000). Personalization of emails requires that you start the email with the person’s name—”Dear Billy”—and then proceed to invite the person to participate in the study.

2. Survey Length and Number of Pages. It is important to be very conscious of the overall length and the number of different screens or pages of the survey. A basic rule of thumb is to design Web surveys the same way you would paper-and-pencil surveys. Few students would complete a 15-page survey, either online or in writing. Limit the scope of the project to something more manageable for participants, with 4-8 pages being a general upper limit. Use page or screen breaks where they would naturally fall in paper-and-pencil surveys.

3. Test the Web survey on Different Computers. Create very simple layouts for your Web survey. Don’t use flashy pictures or formats, unusual fonts, etc. Remember, users accessing the Web page via dial-up or with older computers and Web browsers may have difficulty downloading and using a survey that includes such elements. Once you have designed your Web survey, test the format on different computers and platforms. Different Web browsers (e.g., Netscape, Internet Explorer, or Safari) may show the same page differently. Variations in screen resolution, monitors, and settings may also change how things appear on different computers. Macs and PCs may show the same page in very distinctive ways.

4. Do Mini-Projects First. Become familiar with whatever software you are using in a mini-project before using it in a larger undertaking. For example, try an attitudes survey with a small number of students, or develop a quick and easy staff survey about end-of-the-year plans. Use these kinds of mini-projects to become comfortable with the design and function of the Web survey software. If you are going to learn from your mistakes, it is better to make the most obvious errors on smaller, less critical projects, not in a larger assessment endeavor.

5. Be Honest in How Long It Will Take. Invitations to participate in Web surveys often indicate it will take only 3-5 minutes. However, it frequently actually takes 15 minutes or more! In this circumstance, participants may stop in the middle of the survey because it was not what they expected. If the participant had known it would take 15 to 20 minutes, most of those responders probably still would have taken the survey. But, they would have planned for that time commitment and actually completed the whole thing. Be honest in the estimate of how long it will actually take the participant to complete the survey.

6. Use Three Email Invitations Only. Cook, et al. (2000) indicate that the greatest response rates are obtained when three emailed contacts are utilized; and that additional contacts did not necessarily increase response rates. In addition, contact after the third email could be considered intrusive.  Emails beyond three frequently result in a large number of participants replying back to the author in a fairly negative tone.

7. Consider Usage Patterns When Scheduling Emails. When scheduling the email invitations, remember to take into account the normal and differing usage patterns of students. In most studies I have completed using Web surveys, participants responded within a few hours of the emailed invitations, or not at all. Almost 97% of all responses for my dissertation study came in a 6-hour window after each of the three emailed invitations were sent. When you create your schedule of email distribution, do the first on a Thursday morning, the second on a Saturday afternoon, and the third on Monday late morning. Another option would be sending the first email invitation on Monday afternoon, with reminders to non-responders on Thursday morning and again on Saturday. This schedule accounts for different usage patterns due to week vs. weekend schedules, as well as users who check email only during particular times of the day.  It is also important to consider student time commitments and other influences on the outcomes of the study. Stay well away from end of the semester, holiday breaks, major events (football game weekends, concerts), and mid-terms. For institutions on semester systems, October through mid-November and mid-January through February are often the ideal times to collect data. It can be done at other times, but those periods seem to be the most likely to produce higher student participation.

8. Make Sure You Know To Whom The Invitation is Sent. A recent clerical error in Web survey administered on a college campus resulted in the invitation to participate to be emailed to all students at the institution, multiple times in just a few days. While mistakes do happen, it is important to be conscious of what choices you have selected in your survey software, before you actually send the invitation. Send the email to participants on the sample list only. Send reminder emails only to those participants who have not yet responded. Verifying who, when and how often will minimize the number of negative replies you receive in your own in-box.

9. Provide Some Incentive to Participate. Dillman (2000), a well-respected expert in paper-and-pencil survey design, believes that providing incentives can increase response rates dramatically. Using the theory of social exchange, providing each respondent a token of appreciation to participate, such as a $1 bill or a pen, can have a remarkable impact on the choice to participate. Unlike paper-and-pencil surveys, providing a $1 bill or other token of appreciation is somewhat impractical in Web surveys, as well as rather costly. However, it is possible to enter respondents into a drawing that may entice participation. Try offering a drawing for a $150 gift certificate for a major retailer, the local bookstore, or any store in the local mall. In situations of very limited funding, it may be best to approach a local business for a donation—a new DVD player, membership in a health club, or some other item that will appeal to students. Find out what is considered “valuable” for your students, and figure out a way to offer that as the prize.

10. Pilot Test. It is critical that you test your Web survey with a small group of people prior to its wider use. Ask other staff members or a small set of students with whom you have regular contact to take the survey and provide feedback to you. Did it work? Did they understand what to do? Is there a question they did not understand or should be changed? Additionally, test the data analysis portion of the project from the pilot. Can you download the data and use it? Are you going to get what you thought you would get? As part of the Pilot Test, make sure to test the Web survey format on different computers and platforms. Different Web browsers (e.g., Netscape, Internet Explorer, or Safari) may show the same page differently. Variations in screen resolution, monitors, and settings may also change how things appear on different computers. Macs and PCs may show the same page in very distinctive ways.

Institutional Spam. What's Your Policy?

Posted by: Tom Krieglstein, Swift Kick

StudentAffairsOnline hosts an annual Virtual Case Study  Competition on hot topics related to campus life. 40 graduate teams submitted research on this year's topic of technology on campus. Institutional spam was a major issue reported by all the top winners.

Institutional spam is defined as mass communication by the institution to students and/or faculty/staff through any communication channel including email, IM, texting or smoke signal.

The University of Central Arkansas did two studies of freshman and faculty and the percentage of spam email they received. 68% of freshman reported receiving over 6 institutional spam emails per day. 71% of faculty reported receiving over 6 institutional spam emails per day. These are emails sent out by someone at the instituiton that the end user has no desire for.

On the flip side 61% of freshman reported they receive 1-5 useful institutional emails a day and 64% of faculty reported they receive 1-5 useful institutional emails a day.

So we have a situation where students and faculty at UCA are receiving more institutional spam they don't want then do. The repercussions from burning this channel with spam can include:

• Students checking thier email less
  
• Students moving to an outside email or another form of communication (i.e. Facebook)

Institutions are also concerned because the amount of spam is filling up the university servers which costs money.

Creating a policy for institutional spam is important in today's digital world. Florida State University, winners of the competition, offer several policy suggestions in their study. Here are some of the highlights:

• Similar guidelines should be followed by faculty, staff and student groups.
• Spam is reduced by a combination of spam filters and communication channel training. (i.e. survey, segment and deliver)
• Guidelines should follow the institutional mission and not work against it.
• Look to outside tools to assist in spam reduction.
• Review other university policies when crafting your own.

The end goal of an institution is to communicate with its users and the digital world provides many options to do so. However with each communication channel comes the challenge to not burn it with too much spam. Institutions need better tools and ongoing training for effective use of each new communication channel.