Transcript AG J Capstone Presentation

AG J Capstone Presentation
Jessica Petzel, Kyle Spradley,
Drew Stewart, Jena Thompson
Purpose
 Class composed of four Agricultural Journalism
students
 Aid from instructor Sharon Wood-Turley
 Survey the current status of communication within
the college and with alumni
 Find solutions on improving communication
 All students passed the IRB test to be certified to
work on research projects by the University of
Missouri
Outline
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Faculty Interviews
Focus Group
Survey Results
Newsletter
CAFNR Alumni Web Site
New Media Tools
New Class
Ties to Recruitment
Faculty Interviews
 Each student was given the task to interview
at least four CAFNR faculty members
 Purpose:
 Find out what they are currently doing as
means of communication
 Their opinion on what problems exist
 Find solutions to these problems
Faculty Interviews
 Kyle Spradley
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George Jesse
Mark Ryan
Bryan Garton
Ingolf Gruen
 Jessica Petzel:
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Mike Monson
Ken Schneeberger
Stephanie Chipman
Anna Ball
Leon Schumacher
 Drew Stewart
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Bruce Cutter
Roy Robinson
James Groves
David Vaught
 Jena Thompson
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CeCe Leslie
Mary Ann Gowdy
Tony Lupo
Dana Brown-Hayes
Faculty Interview summary
 Each department has been handling its own forms
of communication in-house and with alumni
 Problem with varied approaches to
communication, no uniformity
 No centralized groups or information pieces out to
alumni and hardly to faculty
 Want to see some sort of newsletter out to alumni
 Some discrepancies between SNR and CAFNR
alumni
Focus Groups
 Five CAFNR alums from the area
 They felt positive about their CAFNR experience
 Would like better ways to keep in contact with
fellow alums
 All agreed they would like to see more
information coming out of the college, specifically
out of their department
 Interested in info about research, current students,
activity of old classmates
 Want something like MoMentum to come back in
which the students create the content
Focus Group - New Media
 Most were on Facebook
 Mainly preferred to receive electronic
media and get news online
 Not really aware of all the new multimedia
tools made available
Focus Group Summary
 Don’t feel really connected to college
 Occasionally check in with departments or
college
 Would like to see some communication not
related to financial donations
 All agreed they would rather donate to
CAFNR than specifically to their department
or to all of MU
Survey
 Electronic survey sent out to 472 CAFNR alums
from 1990-Present
 122 replied (had 15 undeliverable addresses)
 Topics investigated:
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Experiences at CAFNR
If they are connected to CAFNR at all
Communication
How they receive news
Survey Results
 Almost all alums agreed they had a good
experience while at school in CAFNR
 Seeing problems with event attendance
within the college
 The Web site is rarely visited by alumni
 Alumni would like to have increased
communication from the college
I feel satisfied with my experience at CAFNR
Current Situation
 People enjoyed their time here, but we don’t
have alums coming to events
 Just over 3% said the CAFNR homecoming
tailgate is important to them
 Around 16% said they had attended a
CAFNR event in the past year
Possible Solution
 Use Facebook to advertise and invite alums
 Over 60% said they believe Facebook is a
positive way to connect to people
 70% said RSVP lists to events could
possibly prompt more attendance at events
 With Facebook events you now have an
RSVP list
Facebook
 Let’s encourage our alums to get on
Facebook and connect with all different
generations of alums
 Need to have a managed Alumni group
 Fan pages could also be made
 Can easily upload photos and post recent
happenings in people’s lives
I enjoy receiving info from the University
I look forward to receiving Mizzou Magazine
I have no interest in receiving a newsletter from CAFNR
eNewsletter
 From our research and findings from the survey, it
is apparent people want news and stories from us
 People subscribe to several eNewsletters, so why
not one from CAFNR?
 eNewsletters are fairly cheap and can draw more
traffic to site with links
 Archive all old issues along with all old stories on
Web site
Content of eNewsletter
 Stories linked to the CAFNR Web site
 Reader gets top bar story based on what
department they belong to or graduated from
 HTML based document sent to email so you can
click stories to lead into web address of story
 Decided to use MoMentum as the name due to
recognition by other alumni of the now dead print
newsletter
 Sent out three times a semester
Content Preferences
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Research - 70%
CAFNR events - 68%
Students - 67%
Classmate Updates - 65%
Career Opportunities - 62%
Faculty - 61%
Club Activities - 30%
Study Abroad - 23%
I get most of my news online
Email is my primary means of
communication
I subscribe to an eNewsletter
CAFNR Alumni Web Site
 The connector of all the “big ideas.”
 eNewsletter, blog, social media tools.
 Create more traffic to the Web site.
 Need to find specific ways (and reasons) for alums to
come to the site.
 Links from the eNewsletter to site.
 Regular updates of useful information.
 Greater emphasis on career development and
reconnecting with classmates.
CAFNR Alumni Web Site
 Transform “The Connecting Point” into Class Notes
section.
 Alums can quickly submit announcements they would like
included in the site, blog or Momentum.
 Alumni in the Spotlight Addition
 Highlight alums with major accomplishments.
 More user-friendly layout with emphasis placed on
important information.
 Suggestion: create a front door to both Ag Alumni and
SNR Alumni sites
Redesign of CAFNR Web site
CAFNR Community Blog
 More of an online bulletin of content
 Blog managed by students
 Content can be uploaded by students,
faculty, alumni
MizzouNet
 The MU Alumni Association already has an
online directory so no need to duplicate one
for CAFNR
 Need to encourage our alums to get on
 Would like to create a CAFNR sub-group
 Advertise MizzouNet on our CAFNR
Alumni Web site
I would feel comfortable sharing my contact
information through an online alumni directory
Class
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Essentially the PR Team
Create eNewsletter content and design
Moderate the blog
Manage the social networking sites
Help Genevieve with the Web site
Liaison with Career Services
Class: who
 Staff members
 Sophomore standing
 Instructor approval
 J2100 or writing sample
 Seniors as managing editors
 Perhaps a year-long Ag J capstone
 Co-facilitator from communications office
 Sharon Wood-Turley as a possible professor
Class: who
 2009-10: hire at least three interns
 2010-11: trial class
 Evaluate effectiveness
 2011-12: class in full swing
Class: challenges
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Timing
Overwhelmed faculty
Student awareness/interest in class
Grunt work versus valuable experience
Partnership with Recruitment
 Use positive CAFNR alumni stories to recruit
new students.
 Organize an alumni directory would help us
see where are alums are located, and allow us
to use them for recruitment in that area.
 Create ways for alumni to connect with
prospective students.
 More emphasis on the CAFNR Connections
mentorship program to students. Expand to include
prospective students?
 Facilitate online connections via email, Facebook
or the recruitment blog.
THE END
QUESTIONS?
Thanks for coming!