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Organizational Strengths

Office of Multicultural Affairs Communication Audit

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Based upon Everest Communication’s findings through interviews, surveys and observations, our team found that the Office of the Multicultural Affairs seeks to promote diversity and awareness throughout Longwood University’s campus. Our research team gathered information based upon survey responses from Longwood University student, staff and faculty, interviews with members of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and observations recorded during meetings and interviews. The following is a summary of the organizational strengths in communication found within the Office of Multicultural Affairs:

Strong commitment and passion and willingness to communicate openly

Optimism for change and the need for innovative ideas

Commitment, Passion, and WillingnessOur research indicated that they have a strong commitment and

passion for intercultural communication and spreading diversity on campus. As stated by Director Lonnie Calhoun, “Diversity is as American as apple pie. That’s how we were founded.” Mr. Calhoun understands that diversity on a university campus is natural and needed, and he sets goals each year in order to achieve this. When asked what the organization’s goals are for the year, Ms. Denise Harris said, “to make sure that their programs are well attended and well advertised.”

Their success is supported through their openness to communicate with anyone, anywhere and anytime. Mr. Calhoun said the strengths of his organization are “the willingness to communicate with anybody about anything, their ability to be nonjudgmental and to be an active listener.” Of the nineteen participants, made up of students, faculty and staff, who completed the survey, 94.7% responded as representing or being affiliated with one or more organizations on campus. This demonstrates the office’s willingness to cooperate with any organization on campus.


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Appendix A, Figure 1 - % of Survey Participants Representing/Affiliated with One or More OrganizationsSurvey results show that 63.2% of participants communicate with the

Office of Multicultural Affairs on at least a monthly basis. Six reported that they communicate with the office on a monthly basis, two reported a bi-weekly basis, three reported a weekly basis, and one reported a daily basis. 36.8% of survey participants reported that they communicate with the office on a sporadic basis.

Appendix B, Figure 1 – Survey Responses to Question 2-1

Survey results showed that the Office of Multicultural Affairs not only communicates with student organizations, they also interact and communicate with faculty and staff from numerous departments on


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campus. Participants who reported being a member of faculty or staff at the university represent a total of two colleges.

A cross-reference of two survey questions indicated that the Office of Multicultural Affairs is willing to communicate with any member of an organization, regardless of their position (See Question 2-1 and Question 3-1 in Appendix A). As all nineteen survey participants responded to Question 3-1, the conclusion can be drawn that all participants have personally interacted with the Office of Multicultural Affairs at some point in time. The Office of Multicultural affairs interacts with numerous organizations on campus. Survey respondents identified themselves as representing or being affiliated with more than fifteen on-campus organizations. (See Appendix D for a detailed list of the organizations represented.)

Innovation and ChangeThe Office of Multicultural Affairs understands the need for innovative

ideas in order to promote diversity and expand awareness. Their enthusiasm to participate in a communication audit demonstrates their desire for innovation regarding their office’s interaction with the campus community. Being willing to welcome Communication Studies students into their office in order to develop a communication audit is indicative of their readiness for increased success.

Calhoun says, “The challenge is making the monumental breakthrough of getting diversity to the entire campus. Parents ask me if the campus is visually diverse. We are trying to get the message to all that the office can serve the needs of the campus.” This demonstrates the continued need for face-to-face interaction between the office and outside organizations and individuals. Face-to-face interactions are currently the office’s most preferred and strongest channel of communication. Mr. Calhoun stated in his interview that he preferred using face-to-face interactions, and 66.7% of survey participants responded that face-to-face interactions successfully meet the needs of their organization (See Graph __-__, Appendix A).

This office continually looks for ways to gain feedback from students. One way the office currently measures the climate and perceptions of the student body is by conducting surveys following each program. For example, the Office of Multicultural Affairs offers a survey at the end of each program. These surveys allow the office to gain a better understanding of the student body’s perspective surrounding diversity on campus and their willingness to participate in future programs. This office is also looking forward to new ways for students to gain a better understanding of


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diversity. Mr. Calhoun stated that Longwood’s campus “[Doesn’t] currently have a themed space for people to go to where international people are “accessible.” He discussed the multi-cultural space Longwood’s new student union is planned to have and stated that he is “looking forward to when that is created.”

Through our observations during meetings, our research team directly observed Mr. Calhoun stating that he desired a solution for their weekly e-mail. Mr. Calhoun believes that the weekly e-mails are overloaded with campus announcements and information, and there is a lack of focus on any one organization. Mr. Calhoun’s proactive acknowledgment of this problem is evidence of this office’s awareness of their need for improvement.

Despite recent budget cuts, employees of the organization still possess optimism for change. Calhoun says he would like to improve communication through a structural redefinition of the job and more access to resources and prospective partners.


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OrganizationalOpportunities for Growth


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Among the many strengths of the organization, suggested areas of improvement can advance the goals and outcomes of the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

Increased program variety, student input, and student outreach Alternative Public Relations and Marketing forms

Program Variety, Student Input and OutreachA change in publicity and advertising efforts of the office could

increase awareness and student involvement. 73.7 % of survey participants responded that they wish to see different types of programs, events and topics offered on campus in the future. Ms. Denise Harris stated in her interview that she “would like to see more student involvement and more students’ input… [She] believes they might like something a little more interesting and interactive.” Among survey responses, the key themes are programs that involve:

International foods and beverages Racism today, racism in Greek life More social, interactive programs Co-sponsorship of eventsIn regards to student input, of the fourteen students who participated in

the survey, ten responded to Question 3-3 that they would like to see improved publicity and marketing in the area of social-networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.). Nine responded that they would like to see improved publicity and marketing in banners, flyers and posters. Eight would like to see improvement in word-of-mouth publicity and marketing. Six responded that they would like to see improvement in e-mails and newsletters. Five stated that they would like to see publicity and marketing improvement in newspaper articles and advertisements. Lastly, three responded that they would like to see improvement in webpage posts.


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Appendix B, Figure 2 – Survey Responses to Question 3-3Another idea that supports the need for increased student input was

stated by Lonnie Calhoun during his interview. Mr. Calhoun stated that he tries hard to communicate with all groups on campus, but the key is “getting people to understand that this office can only be as good as the input it can receive from outside help.”

The research survey did not accumulate any freshman participation which indicates a possibility of very limited awareness for first-year students. This is important to address because gaining the interest and involvement of students in their first year can potentially lead to prolonged involvement and cooperation with an organization.


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Appendix A, Figure 5 - % of Each Student Classification that Completed Survey

During office functions and meetings, our research team observed little to no freshmen involvement in the committee and council meetings as well as within the office in general. Ms. Denise Harris stated that the organization’s goals include making “sure that their programs are… more student-friendly so that students will come out to the programs and go away and have learned something as a result.” This relates back to our previous statement that early interaction with an organization may lead to prolonged commitment and cooperation with that organization, which essentially results in higher attendance of events.


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Awareness of people not related or involved in an on-campus organization is also very limited. 94.7% of survey participants represented or are affiliated with one or more organizations on campus.

Appendix A, Figure 1 - % of Survey Participants Representing/Affiliated with One or More Organizations

Ms. Denise Harris, Administrative Assistant for The Office of Multicultural Affairs, stated that one of her personal objectives is to “make [the Office of Multicultural Affairs] an inviting office so that students will feel comfortable coming here to ask for help when they need it… We should get the word out that we’re here. Many students don’t even know we’re here.”

Another suggestion that was generated from survey responses was to increase interaction and cooperation between the Office of Multicultural Affairs and other organizations on campus. Specifically, one survey respondent stated that “It would be good if there could be more programs that involved doing something or coordinated with an existing popular program to increase attendance.” This was a common theme throughout survey response analysis. One way to start this process would be to cooperate and interact with committee or council members who are currently part of another on-campus organization.


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Alternative Public Relations and Marketing FormsCurrent forms of outreach and advertisements do not adequately

inform the desired amount of students about the office’s contributions. Both employees of the office say the weekly announcement e-mail is an overload of information for students with Mr. Calhoun stating that, “We don’t feel like it’s an effective way of getting our message out.”

Appendix A, Figure 4 – Survey Participants’ Perception of the Success of Event Marketing & Publicity

While 52.7% of survey participants felt that the Office of Multicultural Affair’s publicity and marketing was “Successful” or “Very Successful”, 47.4% of survey participants felt “Neutral” about the marketing and publicity or they felt that it was “Not Successful at All”. Survey respondents’ belief that the marketing was unsuccessful may be due to the lack of alternative, modern forms of marketing and publicity currently being used. More than 65% of survey respondents stated that they believe the Office of Multicultural Affairs does not currently utilize social-networking sites to their greatest benefit.

Survey participants’ responses discussed other areas of publicity and marketing that they felt did not meet their organization’s needs. One respondent stated “There was a lot of information placed in small print on the bottom of the poster, which was topped by a rather grainy picture.” This opinion was supported by another respondent who said, “The publicity materials did not provide [an] adequate description of what the program entailed.” One survey respondent discussed using a uniform or unique style of dress as an alternate way to gain recognition and publicity for the


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Office of Multicultural Affairs. These comments, overall, demonstrate the dissatisfaction of participants with the publicity and marketing of events and activities from the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

The organizational strengths of the Multicultural Affairs Office indicate the ability for the organization to develop their areas of improvement with optimism, innovation and determination.

Recommendations


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Increased Awareness of the Office

We believe this is the most important recommendation we achieved from our audit research and analysis. As is, the Office of Multicultural Affairs is aware of the need for an increased awareness on campus of their organization and the activities and events they put on. We believe an increased awareness can be achieved through the following tactics.

Increased Recognition of the Office of Multicultural Affairs

Our survey and interview analyses emphasized the need for increased recognition of the Office of Multicultural Affairs on campus. We believe that there is currently a lack of recognition of the office and its purpose on campus among the students of Longwood University. Brand recognition is an important component of successful Public Relations and Marketing because it results in an audience’s ability to identify a brand or group without the name of the group present. We believe increased recognition of this office will increase general knowledge of its purpose and, potentially, increase attendance of its events. As stated by one survey participant stated, “It would be nice to see folks associated with Multicultural Affairs wearing something that helps them stand out.” To do this, we recommend some unified form of identification that can be shared among the members of this office as well as members of other organizations that communicate and coordinate events with this office. For example, we suggest the creation of a logo that represents the office, as well as the members and groups associated with the office, which can visually represent the office and its mission. This logo could be designed by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, or, possibly, a contest could be held that would allow students to submit designs or templates. This would provide the office with a variety of options and ideas, and it would also increase student involvement. The contest would provide the office with a wide variety of choices at little to no cost to the office.

Increase Awareness among the Freshmen Class and Students not Associated with an Organization

Through our research, we discovered that the bulk of communication about events and activities from the Office of Multicultural Affairs is received by students, staff, and faculty that are part of a multicultural organization or that are already involved with the client (See figure 1). We believe that this is the result of communication information under-load, and a lack of downward and horizontal communication flow. Communication load


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relates directly to whether the audience is receiving the amount of information they need to understand an idea, event, program, etc (Downs & Adrian, 2004). A lack of such can result in the audience not understanding the importance of a program, and thus, a lack of attendance results. We believe there is an under-load of information being communicated, first and foremost, to the freshmen class at Longwood University. While we did not receive any survey responses from an individual from the freshman class (See figure 5), our audit group also noted that there are currently no programs or events sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs that are specifically aimed at capturing the attention of the freshmen class. Communication flow relates to communication in terms of the direction in which it flows. Downward communication, specifically, is communication that flows vertically down, from the top of a chain of command to the bottom. Horizontal communication is communication that flows back and forth between peers, colleagues or fellow workers that do not maintain a hierarchical relationship (Downs & Adrian, 2004). We believe that students are currently not receiving an adequate amount of information from this office to be aware of the events and activities being hosted by this office. More importantly, we believe students on and off campus are not exchanging information about events and activities as much as they could be. Our recommendation here is that your office increases the amount of communication about upcoming events and activities to students, and also, that your office increases communication and dialogue about upcoming events and activities between students and peer groups, especially those not associated with an organization. We detail recommended strategies for increased downward and horizontal communication in the following section.

Increase Activity and Event Communication and Marketing On- and Off-Campus

Our survey results revealed that more than half of survey participants would like to see improve publicity and marketing in the following areas: E-mails, banners, flyers, posters, word of mouth and social-networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, etc) (See figure 2). We believe this is a very essential part of increasing awareness of the office and its events on- and off-campus. We recommend that this office participate in some form of technological marketing, such as the creation of a Facebook group or Facebook events. The use of social media outlets is often very effective at no cost to the user. We also recommend the increased use of banners or signs that can be posted on and around campus grounds. We believe an important part of this also includes posting banners and/or signs in off-campus, Longwood-


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owned housing. Currently, there is little to no advertising for any on-campus event at the off-campus residencies: Lancer Park, Longwood Village, and Longwood Landings. We feel that an increase in advertisement to off-campus students may increase attendance and involvement in this office’s events, as those students do not currently receive the amount of marketing or publicity that on-campus students receive. Finally, we suggest increased activity and event communication and marketing focused specifically at the freshmen class. We believe this can be achieved through a greater involvement by this office in New Lancer Days and Longwood Seminar classes. We recommend a pamphlet or flyer of information about and upcoming events from the Office of Multicultural Affairs. We also recommend a possible visit to each Longwood Seminar class for a short discussion about who the Office of Multicultural Affairs is and what their purpose is.

Formation of a Multicultural Club

As there are currently various clubs and organizations that have multicultural committees or liaisons, we strongly believe that there is a need for the creation of a Multicultural Club to be sponsored by the Multicultural Affairs Office and/or the University Diversity Council. As there is currently no club, students who do not wish to hold a multicultural committee or liaison position in another organization do not have a club or organization to associate with that simply allows them to be members of and participate in multicultural events. We believe this club could be immensely beneficial to the Multicultural Affairs Office, as they could apply for the use of a booth at both Oktoberfest and Spring Weekend. The participation in booths at these events would increase awareness of and involvement with this office by students from all over campus.

The Implementation of a Public Relations or Marketing Intern

Through an analysis of our interview material, it became evident that this office is in dire need of help, as it is trying to manage a large amount of activities, events and responsibilities with the employment of only a few people (See figure 3). To explain, we look back on Classical Management Theory which emphasizes increasing productivity of the individual and concentrates on the best organization of a group of individuals in order to increase efficiency and productivity (Griffin, 2003). The specific characteristic of Classical Management Theory that we wish to call attention to is the idea of “division of labor” (Shockley-Zalabak, 2009). We feel


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that the implementation of an intern would allow for a further division of labor within the organization. This would allow for certain tasks and procedures to be handled by the intern, and the director and secretary of the office could focus more on other tasks that may take priority over public relations or marketing tasks. As an internship is currently a requirement by the University for the completion of a bachelor’s degree, we believe that this office could work with the Academic & Career Advising Center to identify appropriate departments from which to recruit potential interns. Also, many internships currently on the university campus are unpaid, and therefore, at no cost to the office or organization.

Increase ‘Synergy’ and Variety of Interactive Programs

Defined as the comfort and energy group members feel in working together and the belief in the quality of their work, ‘synergy’ is an important aspect of collaboration among any organization. Especially among smaller organizations, synergy can help a group produce more creative ideas, a better quality product, and generally help the group be more effective (Shockley-Zalabak, 2009). Currently, this office achieves an excellent level of collaboration with numerous groups and organizations on campus. We believe that collaboration can be taken a step further. We recommend that this office make use of one of Longwood University’s natural resources: students. Partnering and collaborating with students and student groups from around campus would increase student involvement and interaction at events and activities. For example, the Office of Multicultural Affairs could partner with Longwood University’s Percussion Ensemble in order to organize a “Drums from Around the World” program that could display and teach the audience different beats and cadences popular in different cultures. We believe that increased student involvement and interaction such as this would decrease the amount of funding needed to put on diverse types of programs and activities. In this case, more funding could be put towards larger-scale speakers for future large events, for food and drinks to be used as an attendance enticement, or for the purchase of t-shirts, advertisements, etc. Also, we believe that the Office of Multicultural Affairs could collaborate with Longwood University courses based around “Citizen Leadership”, such as the EDUC 207-470 Project Success course, in order to increase diversity in how our students are becoming citizen leaders.

As previously explained, an overwhelming number of survey participants stated that they desired to see more interactive and diverse types of programs sponsored by this office. We believe that an adequate way


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to address this is to use a concept from Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications theory. This theory is audience-centered, stating that media consumers have a free will to decide how they will use the media they consume and how it will affect them (http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/mass/ uses.htm). If we are to apply this theory to our recommendation, we would view the “media” as the programs that are offered by the Office of Multicultural Affairs. We find it immensely important for this office to create programs that students on campus will find useful and effective in their everyday university life. Students are independent, choice-driven individuals that will choose an event or activity that they feel satisfies their needs and desires. We believe that this office has the passion and the commitment to be able to offer those kinds of programs.


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SummaryAlthough the organization possesses the essential strengths needed for success, Everest Communications found that the Office of Multicultural Affairs faces its biggest challenge in increasing awareness of the office and its events on campus. Of our findings, we feel that the most important is the need for increased program variety, student input and student outreach. If the office can effectively address this challenge, it is our belief that the program attendance and awareness of the office on campus will be immensely increased. In order to achieve this, the office needs to implement the use of social media outlets to connect with students, reevaluate current program structure to increase student interaction, and consider the implementation of a public relations or marketing intern to aid with event promotion. Along with the aforementioned recommendations, the Office of Multicultural Affairs must continue with their standard of commitment and passion for diversity on Longwood University’s campus. Through the use of the office’s strengths, we believe that this office has the ability to address any challenges that may arise.


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APPENDIXES


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APPENDIXES INDEX

Appendix A: Charts & Graphs…………………………………………………………...…….18

Figure 1. % of Survey Participants Representing/Affiliated with One or More Organizations……………………………………………………………..………….…..18

Figure 2. Areas of Marketing/Publicity Survey Participants Would Like to See Improved…………………………………………………………………...…………….19

Figure 3. Survey Participants’ Willingness to Work with a Public Relations/Marketing Intern……………………………………………………………….……………………20

Figure 4. Survey Participants’ Perception of the Success of Event Marketing & Publicity………………………………………………………………………………….21

Figure 5. % of Each Student Classification That Completed Survey………………………………………………………...……………………..……22

Figure 6. % of Students, Staff, and Faculty Who Completed Survey………………………………………………………....………………………….23

Appendix B: Survey Response Charts…………………………………………....……………24

Figure 1.Survey Responses to Question 2-

1………………………………………………………24

Figure 2.Survey Responses to Question 3-

3…………………………………………..…………..24


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Appendix C: Survey Questions…………………………………………………….…………..25

Appendix D: List of Organizations Represented in Survey Responses……………..……..32


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Appendix A: Charts & Graphs

Figure 1


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Figure 2


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Figure 3

Figure 4


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Figure 5


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Figure 6


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Appendix B: Survey Response Charts

Figure 1 – Survey Responses to Question 2-1

Figure 2 – Survey Responses to Question 3-3


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Appendix C: Survey Questions


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Appendix D: List of Organizations Represented in Survey Responses

Alpha Delta PiAlpha Phi OmegaAlpha Sigma TauInternational BuddiesJoint Committee on Student Rights and EducationLancer ProductionsLongwood AmbassadorsLongwood Student VeteransPitch PerfectRelay for LifeResidential & Commuter Life (RCL) Advisory BoardResidential Assistants (RA)Student Educators for Active Leadership (S.E.A.L)Sigma Sigma SigmaStudent Government Association (SGA)Students Advocating a Fearless Environment (S.A.F.E.)Study Abroad AmbassadorsUnity AllianceUniversity Diversity Council


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Works Cited

Griffin, E. (2003). A first look at communication theory (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill

Shockley-Zalabak, P. S. (2009). Fundamentals of organizational communication: Knowledge, sensitivity, skills, values (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Downs, C. W. & Adrian, A., D. (2004). Assessing organizational communication: Strategic communication audits. New York, NY: The Guilford Press


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workstory.s3.amazonaws.com · Web view2014-06-27 · Eight would like to see improvement in word-of-mouth publicity and marketing. ... This was a common theme throughout survey