The Stateuniversity of New York

The StateUniversity of New York

Council of Chief Student Affairs Officers

and

The Office of University Life & Enrollment Management

Outstanding Student Affairs Program Awards Application Form 2011

COLLEGE INFORMATION

Name of Campus:Binghamton University

APPLICATION INFORMATION

First/Last Name:Dr. Allison Alden

Title:Director

Department:Center for Civic Engagement, Division of Student Affairs

E-mail Address:

AWARD CATEGORY (please check one):

______Student Affairs/Academic Affairs Collaborations

______Campus Safety

_X__Innovative Use of Social Networking

______Career Development Programs

______Programs that Support the Education Pipeline

TITLE OF PROGRAM:
New Marketing & Social Network Initiatives for the Center for Civic Engagement

Part I Program Objectives
The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) was opened in September 2010 and has made significant progress on its charge to connect with and engage students, faculty, and staff in community-based activities and projects. The focus of CCE’smarketing and social media initiatives is twofold: to raise awareness of CCE’s services and offerings among Binghamton University (BU) students; as well as to stimulate and support campus-wide interest in service and engagement activities. Driving these efforts is the implementation of various information and communication technology (ICT) tools designed to inform students through methods they prefer, to promote interaction, ease student participation, and expand CCE’s digital visibility across various platforms. These new initiatives:

• Address evolving student preferences for information by providing services and offerings across various online and mobile platforms,
• Increase interest and make it easier for students to participate in meaningful service activities,
• Foster a spirit of service and community among students through online networks and collaborative events on and off campus,
• Present new and unique opportunities for students to interact with CCE’s offerings, and
• Raise awareness of the newly-formed CCE office and expand its reach among students

Part II Program Design

Students are vital to fulfill CCE's mission to strengthen relationships between BU and the community. As a new office, engaging and fostering support amongst students and instituting effective means of reaching them is anessential component for establishing a viable center.
The ways students make use of the internet inside and outside the university setting and think about technology is constantly changing.A recent nationwide study indicated that young people (ages 12-33) are most active in social activities across the web, while displaying an increased propensity for using mobile technologies. Moreover, text messaging and the use of social network websites constitute the most prevalent forms of ICT use among students (EDUCAUSE, 2010).

An important indicator that student needs for obtaining information online about BU services, research, and community-based academic opportunities were not being met came via focus groups conducted in April 2010 by the CCE Director. The outcomes of the focus groups, as well as individual meetings between students and the CCE Director, collectively pointed toward a preference for online interaction, the need for an improved virtual presence and the adoption of new marketing initiatives to reach a student demographic that is continually evolving.

Additionally, positive relationshipsbetween the use of IT and social networking sites and student engagement have found support in recent research (Laird & Kuh, 2005; Heiberger & Harper, 2008). The use of the internet as a resource and interactive forum has also been shown to spur civic engagement, at times more so than traditional means of media and communications (Shah, Cho, Eveland, & Kwak, 2005).

CCE is utilizing a multi-faceted online and offline marketing approach to disseminate information about its offerings and promote events and opportunities to students. It has established and is maintaining a presence across a multitude of social network sites (SNS), including Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, Flickr, and LinkedIn, to ensure that students can receive information and engage with the office through their preferred medium.

With more than 500 million active users, Facebook serves as the office’s social media hub for CCE. For this reason, CCE utilizes a “social plug-in” that displays the content of its Facebook page on its official BU website. This allows CCE site visitors to access its Facebook offerings without having to be a member of the site. This is an important vehicle not only to drive traffic to the CCE website, but to feature additional content, as well as to communicate and interact directly with students. Additionally, the CCE Facebook page has been customized to display updates from the CCE Twitter feed, as well as to view Foursquare updates – once again syncing content to help ease consumption. The content promoted via the Twitter account is used in a similar vein to Facebook, but is also used as a PR outreach tool to promote CCE initiatives and events. For example, CCE reached out to the Boys & Girls Club of America via Twitter and had the national organization share a YouTube video to its following detailing a unique collaboration between a Binghamton student group and the Binghamton chapter of the Boys & Girls Club (which was just awarded $15,000 in a competition held by the Newman’s Own Foundation).

Foursquare is a location-based social networking service, mostly used via smartphones. By “checking in” via a mobile phone application or text message, users share their location with friends. There is also a gaming component to it, where users earn points for their activity. CCE is leveraging this platform to drive traffic and encourage repeat visitors to the office and CCE-sponsored events. Currently, CCE has verified its office as a location on the service, making it visible to all users on campus. It has also created a “special” which notifies Foursquare users of an incentive (free CCE t-shirt) if they visit the office and use the program to record the visit.

One example of how CCE has leveraged its presence on social networking sites is in its promotion of its newService On the Spot (S.O.S.) initiative focused on involving students in spontaneous acts of service on and offcampus. This program helps to address community and campus needs by incorporating the ideals of viral marketing and the recent popularity of flash mobs (a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform some act for a brief time, then disperse). CCE puts out a “call for help” in the days and hours leading up to an event, sending out details about the specific service project via its social network sites, and recruiting individuals to participate in meaningful activities. Students who participate receive free food, free S.O.S. t-shirts, and have the opportunity to contribute to the community in a convenient, fun, and unique manner – with the hope of drawing increased student interest in CCE and in this important realm of activity.
Mobile tagging is a technique being utilized to engage an increasingly tech-savvy generation of students. This “call to action” is used to engage students in CCE’s online offerings through a mobile device or smart phone. It involves the process of providing data on mobile devices, commonly through the use of a URL encoded in a two-dimensional barcode, known as a QR or “quick response” code. These QR codes can be scanned by a smartphone or the click of a camera phone. You simply point the camera phone or QR reader at the barcode, and the phone links them directly to a designated URL in a matter of seconds.CCE is currently utilizing QR codes in several of its promotional materials, including its student brochure, on-campus flyers, and t-shirts. Moreover, embedded in each code is a link tracking mechanism which provides analytics to track how the materials are being utilized, including information on the date, time, and totalscans which have taken place.

TheCCE student brochure features a series of four QR codes which direct users to unique mobile-optimized websites with functionality tailored to the student audience and application. A student can use his/her smartphone to scan or photograph these codes and instantly visit the CCE website, join the CCE Facebook fan page, explore CCE’s online event calendar to learn about upcoming events on campus, or sign up for CCE’s weekly e-newsletter. In this respect, the brochure transcends its utility as a traditional print piece and becomes a mechanism to foster student interaction with CCE. This technique has also been utilized on marketing flyers with direct links to CCE online offerings, as well as specific event information. Students can instantly RSVP for an event by scanning a QR code directly connected to an “event” created on CCE’s Facebook fan page.The use of mobile tagging is also featured prominently on CCE t-shirts printed in support of S.O.S. (the new initiative promoting spontaneous acts of service on and offcampus). These t-shirts are given away to participants, as well as individuals who have worked with CCE, as a means to raise awareness across campus. The backs of the shirts include a large QR code which can be scanned and link directly to the CCE Facebook fan page, allowing students who learn about CCE to instantly use their phone to opt-in and begin receiving the office’s social media offerings.
Based on student request, CCE has created atext or short message service (SMS) alert system that is used to notify students of upcoming CCE events and provide details for the S.O.S. initiative via text message to student phones, whether or not they are smartphones. Students opt-in to receive text updates by sending a text message to a designated phone number with their name and a message that reads “Add me”. Upon sending that message, individualsreceive an automated notice thanking them for signing up and providing details on the S.O.S. program, as well as information on how to unsubscribe. CCE utilizes Google Voice to host the designated phone number and send out the text message/SMS updates. This is a quick and easy means of communicating with students.
To aid in the management of these offerings, CCE utilizes Hootsuite, a free online brand and multimedia management service, to operate its multiple social network offerings. Hootsuite allows CCE to perform simultaneous updates across its Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare pages, which significantly reduces the staff time necessary to oversee these pages and ensuring that the office has a consistent presence and message across each medium.

Part III Program Implementation and Effectiveness

All of the strategies described above have been fully implemented and continue to expand and evolve, based on student feedback, suggestions, and usage metrics. With such a small staff (full time Coordinator of Community Involvement and the Director), CCE relies heavily on its student assistants, interns, and student volunteers to carry out its marketing strategies, programs and other initiatives. The key person responsible for proposing and developing the interactive social media methods overthe last six months is Anthony Naglieri, a graduate assistant. In addition to his assistantship, last semester Anthony completed an internship with CCE focused on exploring new directions in utilizing social media for marketing purposes. In addition, he is conducting student focus groups this semester as his Capstone Project, to fulfill the final requirement for his Masters in Public Administration. The groups will help him investigate the degree to which students are satisfied with current CCE outreach methods and additional strategies for mobilizing students.

The cost to implement these new engagement initiatives has been minimal due to the influx of free online and technology tools available. Additionally, the utilization of the aforementioned multimedia management tool has reduced the amount of staff time that is needed to manage these campaigns. There were some costs associated with purchasing t-shirts and CCE’s printed marketing materials.

Based on student feedback and the number of new student participants, the objectives laid out in Part I have been successfully met. More specifically, 1) many new methods have been implemented to provide access to information through the online and mobile platforms that students have indicated they prefer; 2) student interest and participation has increased (as documented below), indicating that the engagement strategies have been successful; 3) many new students have joined the various networks, stopped by the office, and/or contacted CCE via phone or email;and 4) students have expressed approval of the community-building aspects of the strategies (supported by student comments and the number who have asked how they can get their student groups involved).

While launched and managed by CCE staff, the new marketing and social networking initiativesare executed in support of collaborative efforts with various on-campus offices, individual students and student groups. These marketing strategies have been employed to recruit for and promote events, programming, and services in conjunction with the following departments, groups, and community organizations among others: School of Education, Alumni Office, Career Development Center, Office of Residential Life, Student Volunteer Center (student-run student group), Binghamton University Boys & Girls Club Student Mentors (student group), Boys & Girls Club of Binghamton, the American Civic Association, Binghamton Housing Authority, OASIS After School Program, ACHIEVE Center, the Dream Youth Center, and Broome Community College.

Students and community members have been informed of the potential benefits of the S.O.S. spontaneous service activity approach and that it is available for their use. S.O.S. has apparently caught-on, since now we have students requesting that CCE use S.O.S. to help recruit groups of volunteers to execute their programs. For example, a student-initiated mural-painting project will be promoted using S.O.S. in two weeks. Following that, a BU resident assistant will run another S.O.S. project involving student volunteers to help maintain trails in the BU Nature Preserve and take local inner-city children on nature hikes and hunt for Geo-Caches hidden on the premises.

Part IV Outcomes Assessment

Considerable thought and planning have gone into investigating the degree to which the new CCE strategies have impacted student interest and engagement. It is particularly difficult to ascertain the number of students that social media are able to move to action. To investigate this, CCE tested the success of social media outreach through the first S.O.S. activity. It involved collecting studentsin the CCE office to be transported to Broome Community College so they could participate in a collaborative project between BU and BCC—Bridging the Digital Divide Project. This is a multi-year project which increases computer access to marginalized populations by refurbishing used computers that are then given to them through five local collaborating nonprofits, as well as providing computer literacy classes. For this particular S.O.S. activity, students unloaded, sorted, tested and then delivered equipment prior to the start of the refurbishing phase.

The only means utilized for recruiting students for the activities were online and mobile social media. Other tools were used to drive students to Facebook, Twitter,etc., but did not providethe details needed to engage. This way, we could be sure that those students who came seeking involvement only received the notification and information through our new strategies. Initially, ten students enteredthe office and were taken to the off-campus site. Then about another fifteen drifted in over a two hour period, indicating that they had been unable to participate due to their schedules but were curious to learn more about S.O.S. This demonstrates that in less than two weeks after targeted recruitment began, CCE was able to draw in about twenty-five students for its initialspontaneous activity using only social media. Determined to be successful, the strategy has sincebeen expanded and many more students are following CCE activities through their preferred social medium.

Online analytics have been set up to use as metrics on student connection levels and are summarized in brief here.

Since employing these new strategies, CCE has:

• Added over 250 individuals to its email listserv
• Added over 200 social media subscribers (Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare)
• Over a two-week period which involved the promotion and piloting of the first S.O.S. initiative, CCE gained 72 Facebook fans (or ‘Likes’) with its Facebook page garnering a total of 16,681 page impressions.
• During the month in which CCE debuted its social media offerings, its official website received record traffic with over 1,800 page views, including 1,350 unique page views (the number of sessions during which a page was viewed one or more times).
• Received 35 page views generated from QR code scans.

The relationship between the new CCE engagement strategies and student participation will be further explored through the administration of a survey to the entire student body in April 2011. A new NASPA-developed student survey on community involvement and interests will be tested at BU. Additional questions are being designed and added to address specific BU directions and methods. Several of the areas to be investigated include: 1) what methods were most successful in encouraging student participation, 2) how many students new to engagement became involved, and 3) how was the extent or quality of engagement impacted. One of the primary objectives throughout this year has been to mobilize students, who had little or no prior community involvement, to become more active.