Evaluation of the Use of Technology and Space in Student Groups and Organizations

Knox College

Galesburg, Illinois

Spring 2002

Evaluator

Vicky Romano

Instructional Technology Specialist, Masters Degree Candidate, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Office of Student Development

Trisha Hurst

Director of Student Activities

Craig Southern

Assistant Dean of Students for Campus Life

Xavier E. Romano

Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students

Executive Summary of the Evaluation

Participation in student groups and organizations is an integral part of the experience of a liberal arts education at Knox College. Many student groups and organizations have space allocated for conducting business on campus and have begun to purchase computers and other hardware for the exclusive use of the club or organization. Student groups may have office space in campus buildings, residential facilities/theme housing, or may conduct their business utilizing hardware in any of the computer labs or on their own personal machines. It is important to look at how groups are using both technology and space on campus in order to plan for efficient use of space in the future and for effective purchasing of equipment that will work efficiently for conducting club business. Evaluating the use of technology in conducting the business of clubs and organizations also aids in meeting the North Central Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges technology standards and the residential campus culture portion of the mission statement of the college.

Students representing different clubs and organizations were surveyed via campus mail in order to determine the use of technology and space utilized by groups and organizations on campus. Students are the consumers of the technology so a consumer approach was used in order to begin to understand what technologies are being utilized in conducting club business. Though only a third of students responding conduct business in designated campus space, all of those responding use some type of technology for conducting business, mostly email communications, word processing, spreadsheets, and desktop design software applications. Many students sometimes use the internet (world wide web) to access materials but very few students use telephone conferencing in real time to conduct the business of the club or organization. In addition, only half of those responding have created or use a web page to conduct club business.

Forty-two percent of those responding do not conduct business in a designated club space with group purchased equipment, but space was not listed as an issue for conducting business in later sections of the survey.

There are some perceived barriers to the use of technology for conducting the business of clubs and organizations on campus. One student did cite that “When you go on the web (the Knox College official website-www.knox.edu) it is difficult to find the link to the actual club web page, the browser takes you to the description of the club, not the actual link”. Another student noted that being able to have software to create a simple creating card would help to address creativity and the ability to personalize the correspondence.

From the comments received from students responding, other materials are still very important to conducting business; markers, poster board, paint, pens, pencils, chalk, and construction paper. More than half of those who responded listed these materials as supplies used by the club or organization.

Working to continue to understand the use of materials and space that is allocated for groups is important for promoting successful work of clubs and organizations. In the fall term, another survey can be distributed via email as part of registering to participate in the club and organization fair held each fall. At this event, almost all clubs and organizations have a booth and recruit new members. Depending on the information that is gathered, technology training can be arranged for members of groups and organizations on applications such as Pagemaker for making posters and HTML coding for website design. Training sessions can be led by student lab assistants in the late evenings and on the weekends, convenient times for students outside the class schedule. This training will help students use the existing technology to transact club business while gaining valuable experience with technology, leadership, and organizational skills.

Introduction

Evaluation Purpose

The purpose of this evaluation is to look at and to learn how students are using technology for conducting business in various clubs and organizations. Students can learn and can apply technology skills to experiential learning areas such as conducting community service or researching and bringing a distinguished speaker to campus. Students are a large consumer group of technology on our campus, and providing hardware, software, and the space to utilize equipment effectively is part of the mission of the residential goals of the college. Future purchasing and requests for hardware, software, and office space on campus can be made with more information in understanding how students use technology and other materials to conduct the business of the various clubs and organizations.

Audiences

The current Director of Student Activities is actively working with student groups and organizations to provide quality programming on campus to promote the residential campus culture. To perform this duty, it is necessary to assess and to evaluate how students are using space and equipment to conduct club business in order to plan for future space needs and for future purchasing needs of the clubs and organizations.

Craig Southern, Assistant Dean for Campus Life and Director of Residential Learning oversees the Director of Student Activities and is also interested in utilizing equipment efficiently and effectively.

Xavier Romano, Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students, approves requests from student groups and organizations for equipments that is purchased with monies from the Dean of Students discretionary fund. These monies are available to student groups in addition to their group budgets that are set by the Student Senate.

Students are the consumers of much of the technology on campus. Although the work students do with clubs and organizations are wonderful experiences to gain skills in leadership and organization, students do not have the time to evaluate the use of technology in conducting club business. Their academics are still the main arena for their experience on campus. This consumer-oriented approach to evaluating the use of technology and of space on campus will help give students the information necessary to make decisions on how to use technology to improve the work they do with clubs and organizations. In addition, they will have information of how technology has worked with other groups to make more informed decisions in selecting all types of materials for future purchases. Furthermore, the information can be made available to the budget committee of the Knox Student Senate. Since this group sets all budgets for student groups and organizations on campus, the information on technology could help guide the budgeting process for supporting the technology which is already being used.

Limitations

There were certain limitations to conducting this evaluation during the end of winter and the beginning of spring term. Many students groups and organizations are composed of members who are part of many clubs and organizations and their roles in these groups are fluid. It is during this time of year that many groups have a change in leadership to allow for a time of transition in which Seniors can still be available to answer questions and provide a mentoring role to younger classmates taking over leadership roles. In addition, for the purposes of anonymity, the data from the survey was collected via campus mail and not via email. More students may have responded to the electronic media rather than the paper media.

Overview of report

This report is a beginning to understanding what technologies and what campus office space are useful to students in conducting the business of clubs and organizations. The Focus of the evaluation is an explanation of the evaluand (student groups and organizations) and the evaluation questions that were developed with Trisha Hurst, Director of Student Activities. The Evaluation Plan and procedure provides background information on the mission of the college, the structure of the Office of Student Development within the college, and the Standards of the accrediting agency, the North Central Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges. The Results of the evaluation will then be presented in the management plan of the evaluation plan and later in a results section. A table form and graph form will all be presented in the results section. Next, conclusions and recommendations will be presented based on the criteria included in the mission statement of the college, technology goals of the college, and the standards set forth by the North Central Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges. Finally, the letter of consent, a copy of the survey, and a coy of the original survey responses will be in the appendix section of the report.

Evaluation Plan and Procedures

Knox College is a four-year liberal arts institution located in Galesburg, Illinois. The College was chartered as Knox Manual Labor College in 1837 and is the last remaining site of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. In addition to the College’s historical roots in the community, Knox maintains a liberal arts curriculum that promotes inquiry into traditional as well as newer disciplines. The mission of Knox College includes a commitment to the curriculum, a commitment to the character of the learning environment and community, and a commitment to a residential campus culture. The residential campus culture includes personal, cultural, and intellectual growth through numerous student organizations, cultural programming, and both intercollegiate and recreational sports. The Office of Student Development is responsible for many aspects of campus life. The Vice President for student development is one of four college Vice Presidents, the others being Academic Affairs, Finance, and Development. With Academic Affairs and Student Development representing the largest organizational units within the college. The Office of Student Development oversees residential facilities, career development, counseling, intercultural life, student activities, and other students services. The duties of the Director or Student Activities include planning campus events and assisting student groups and organizations with programming and with managing the business of clubs and organizations. As more groups have organized on campus, more space has been allocated for groups to conduct business. Over the past years, space has been allocated in campus buildings and in student interest housing for groups to meet and to conduct business. Space has been assigned as it has become available. With a shortage of space for groups to store materials and conduct business, space is at a premium on campus. Groups are fortunate to have designated office space.

In addition to space constraints, there is often frequent turn over in leadership of clubs and organizations as students generally complete their degrees in four years. Many take on leadership roles without knowledge of historical perspectives on space or on the equipment and materials purchased by former leaders. Groups have control of their budgets and have the ability to purchase equipment such as computer hardware and software for club purposes. Students will be able to work cooperatively in an experiential way to learn from each other about how technology is working in the realm of clubs and organizations and which equipment and software is the most effective for completing club business effectively and efficiently.

In addition to meeting the needs of students, Knox College is accredited by the North Central Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges (NCASSC). There are certain criteria that Knox College must meet to be an accredited institution. The Office of Student Development is a venue for making sure several of the criteria are being met. These criteria include academic resources and equipment (e.g., libraries, electronic services and products, learning resource centers, laboratories and studios, computers) adequate to support the institution’s purposes. These groups should have resources (hardware, software, space) that help them accomplish their purposes. Another criteria is that the institution is accomplishing its educational and other purposes. Part of the institutional mission is “our residential campus”; personal reflective growth through “numerous student organizations, a wide array of creative activities and cultural programming”. Supporting student groups and organizations through providing technology and space would be items that meet this criteria. Another criteria that the support of students groups and organizations meets is proficiency in skills and competencies essential for all college-educated adults. College students must have skills and knowledge about information systems and technology in today’s world to critical users of information. In addition, many of the leadership experiences acquired in participating in student groups and organizations are a way to acquire job skills. For instance, planning an event and advertising that event by creating posters in design applications are organizational and marketing skills.

There are also Knox College technology standards that can be met through the use of technology in conducting the business of clubs and organizations;

· familiarity with at least one of the standard operating systems (Windows and Macintosh systems are commonly used and supported throughout the campus)

· word processing techniques, including document formatting and editing

· use of the campus network and e-mail system to store and transmit documents

· ability to effectively locate, assess, and use information resources on the World Wide Web

All of the skills listed above can be learned and practiced in the experiential situation of conducting the business and programming of student clubs and organizations.

Students are the consumers of the technology and space in many areas of campus life. There are benefits for knowing what technologies are being used by members of student groups and organizations on campus. The Director of Student Activities will be able to provide guidance in knowing what hardware, software, and other materials that are being used by groups. In understanding the diverse needs of a number of organizations, the Director of Student Activities will be able to work with the Administrative Services office and provide space on campus to enhance the work place of all clubs and organizations. The Director of Students Activities will also be able to plan for better advising of groups in understanding not only what is available on campus but how it works for other groups and organizations on campus. Evaluation questions were developed in a meeting with the Director of Student Activities. She is concerned not only in learning which technologies are being used by clubs and organizations, but which technologies are being used effectively. In addition, we determined it was also important to find out what other materials groups use to see if there could be ways to provide a pool of general materials for all groups to use to operate efficiently and in a fiscally sound manner.

Evaluation Question	Management Plan	Analysis	Results Summary of Results-see Appendix C for graph and spreadsheets with full results
Is the campus office space assigned to the club or organization being used for meetings of the club and for conducting club business?	March 25-April 1 Vicky will create survey, distribute survey, and analyze survey from students with the answer to this question	Number of participants for this question will be noted then the percentage of each response. This will note if students use the office space they are assigned.	n=19 26%-always 32%-sometimes 42%-never
What hardware do clubs and organizations use in conducting their business?	March 25-April 1 Vicky will create survey, distribute survey, and analyze survey from students with the answer to this question	Number of participants for this question will be noted then the percentage of each response. This will note if students use technology for conducting club business.	Campus Network Computers Phones Digital cameras Media reader and cards for photos Printers
What software applications do clubs and organizations use in conducting their business?	March 25-April 1 Vicky will create survey, distribute survey, and analyze survey from students with the answer to this question	Number of participants for this question will be noted then the software applications listed.	Word processing (Word), desktop design (Pagemaker), Spreadsheet (Excel), Quickbooks
What budget (general fund money from the college, club budget, Dean’s discretionary fund) was used to purchased the hardware and/or software that clubs or organizations use?	April 2-9 Craig Southern and Trish Hurst will check past budget reports and details of the source of funding from the campus database.	Number of participants for each category will be noted then the percentage of each group will be listed. (ie Club purchase own equipment n=8 43% purchase with own funds)	n=19 26%-always 32%-sometimes 42%-never Hardware purchase for Bladu, and Lo Nuestro-Dean of Students Discretionary fund
What other materials do clubs and organizations use in conducting business?	March 25-April 1 Vicky will create survey, distribute survey, and analyze survey from students with the answer to this question	Number of participants for this question will be noted then the responses will be listed by club.	n=15 Pi Beta Phi-paint, construction paper Alpha Phi Omega-paper posterboard,markers Delta Delta Delta-paper,posterboard,markers,pens/pencils,floppy disks, chalk Harambee-purchase as needed, paper,markers Lo Nuestro-paper,pens,pencils,posterboard,markers chalk,print cartridges DARE-markers, construction paper Anthropology/Sociology-paper, markers,movies,postage stamps,envelopes International Club-paper,posterboard,markers,paint,chalk,staplers, glue,scissors Honor Board-paper,posterboard,markers,paint,thumbtacks Union Board-too extensive of a list
What barriers are there to implementing technology into conducting business for clubs and organizations?	March 25-April 1 Vicky will create survey, distribute survey, and analyze survey from students with the answer to this question	Number of participants for this question will be noted then the responses will be listed by club.	Lo Nuestro-“When you go on the web (the Knox College official website-www.knox.edu) it is difficult to find the link to the actual club web page, the browser takes you to the description of the club, not the actual link”. International-“For a more creative way of presenting club information a variety of software could be used. Need to create a card and not purchase one. It works out much cheaper and with more personalization and creativity

Method

Subjects will be selected from a directory obtained from the Director of Student Activities. Each member listed for a group will receive a survey via campus mail. The name of the group will be filled in at the top of the survey, but not individual names. Each member will receive via campus mail a paper survey about the use of technology and space for club purposes. Surveys will be placed in campus post boxes over Spring Break, the weeks of March 18 and March 25. The consent statement will be a separate page from the survey and no names will be associated when the forms are submitted. An envelope pre-addressed with my name and campus box will be available to the subjects to submit their replies.

A survey is being used to obtain descriptive data. It is a convenient method that is very cost effective. The survey has been designed to be easy to fill out and take very little time. The data obtained from the survey will be able to be meaningfully interpreted to gain a better understanding of how student clubs and organizations are using technology.

Data will be analyzed using an Excel spreadsheet during the first week of April. Each question will be listed in the first column. Subsequent columns will list the responses to each question and the percentage of students who selected that response in each question. Bar graphs will also be created for each question and the percentages of responses. All comments students write in the final two questions will be listed in a separate Excel spreadsheet. The data will be sent to the Director of Student Activities and the Dean of Students/Vice President for Student Development by April 12.

Reporting Plans

The Director of Student Activities and the Dean of Students/Vice President for Student Development will each receive a copy of the survey results via email and via campus mail. I will then meet with each one individually or together to discuss the results and answer any questions they may have about implementation of the survey or the survey results. I will also email the students involved in the survey and offer to meet with them on an individual basis to discuss the survey results. I can also meet with any student groups or organizations at one of their meetings if requested by participants or other students interested in the results.

Budget

Copying survey and consent letter- $10.00

Envelopes to send survey-------------$ 7.00

Return Envelopes and labels---------$28.00

Printing from computer-----------------$ 3.00

Evaluator’s fee------------------------- $500.00

Support personnel/secretarial------ $ 70.00

Total---------------------------------------$608.00

Results

Ninety surveys were sent out via campus mail during Spring Break. Paper surveys were used to insure anonymity of this survey. The participants were generated in a meeting with Craig Southern (while Trisha Hurst was away with a student group over spring break). Vicky Romano created, copied, and mailed all surveys out and collected all responses. 20 surveys were returned over the course of two weeks and the number of responses are noted by question. All comments were listed by group in the spreadsheet program which was converted to tables for the report.

Question	Responses	Always	Sometimes	Never
Club business is conducted in on-campus office space with group-purchased equipment	19	26%	32%	42%
Word processing is used to prepare club announcements, agendas, communications (such as a paper postings or posters on campus bulletin boards)	19	42%	53%	5%
Commercial computer applications other than a word processor (a spreadsheet program, desktop publishing software, etc. that were not specifically designed for club purposes) are used to complete club business.	19	11%	79%	11%
One or more members of the club has participated in the production of a multimedia presentation, text, or program (an interactive, computer-generated text, graphic, sound, and/or video presentation) for club activities.	18	11%	50%	39%
Members interact with an advisor or other students on campus by way of E-mail or other "time-delayed" electronic communication (such as bulletin boards or discussion lists).	19	63%	32%	5%
Members interact with someone outside the institution (such as a vendor, a former club member, a content expert, a peer) by way of E-mail or other “time-delayed" electronic communication (such as bulletin boards or discussion lists).	19	42%	53%	5%
Members participate in audio conferences (“real time” telephone conferencing).	18	6%	11%	83%
Members search the Internet/World Wide Web to access materials and/or conduct research for club purposes.	18	28%	67%	5%
One or more club members create or update a club home page on the Internet/World Wide Web hosted by the college network.	18	28%	50%	22%
The technology(ies) (hardware, printers, phones, etc) for club business do not work in the way they are supposed to.	15	7%	60%	33%

Question	Responses	Strongly Agree	Agree	Somewhat Agree	Disagree	Stronly Disagree
The technology for club business is overrated.	14	0%	0%	29%	57%	14%
I would recommend this technology to other clubs and organizations.	14	0%	29%	64%	7%	0%

Please list all supplies, hardware, software applications that are exclusively for club use and the source of obtaining the materials (purchased with club funds, purchased by national organization, etc.). This would include paper, posterboard, markers, paint, etc.

markers, construction paper-club funds, word processors-club members, paper, postage stamps, envelopes, posterboard, paint, chalk, staplers, glue, scissors, tape, light bulbs,thumb tacks,books, floppy disks Pi Beta Phi-chapter provides computer,printer,quickbooks,phone,construction paper, and materials. Paint provided by school

Please list any other information about the use of technology for club purposes

For a more creative way of presenting club information a variety of software could be used. Eg.Need to create a card and not purchase one. It works out much cheaper and with more personalization and creativity.Everything else regarding technology is relatively satisfactory. Lo Nuestro Computer hardware and software purchased by OSD.Harambee purchase as needed. DDD We have an extensive craft cabinet with paint puffy paint, streamers, paper cardstock, posterboard, pens, pencils, markers chalk and much more. We have DDD national software.Union Board We are looking into getting a new computer(that is connected to the network)and a color printer for our office. Lo Nuestro When you go on the web it is difficult to find the link to the actual club web page, the browswer takes you to the description of the club not the actual link. This is ineffective and time consuming.Alpha Phi Omega we don't really have a set place for meetings so we don't really use a lot of technology besides email.Dare to be Different:WalMart markers,paper,posterboard.The Gale 2macs zip drive 2,2 digital cameras,memory cards and drive to read cards, programs from the server, photoshop,pagemaker.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Technology can be very helpful to students in conducting business for the clubs and organizations they participate in while they pursue their undergraduate degrees at a distinctive liberal arts institution. Participation in clubs and organization is an integral part of their experience at Knox and is recognized by the college in its mission statement. The residential campus of Knox College culture includes personal, cultural, and intellectual growth through numerous student organizations, cultural programming, and both intercollegiate and recreational sports. This goal is being met with the work of the Office of Student Development. In addition, the college must continue to meet the goals in the mission statement in order to meet the NCASSC criteria that the institution meets its goals. The Director of Student Activities is an extremely valuable resource to students participating in the numerous student organizations. The Director of Student Activities should also encourage continued use of the World Wide Web as a resource to research items that will be helpful to completing club business since it can also help meet the technology skill of using the World Wide Web.

E-mail and word processing are used widely by the members of groups who responded to the survey. For the future, training sessions can be arranged for members of different groups at the request of students or at the request of any member of the Office of Student Development. These trainings can be held on campus at the Computer Center and can include learning how to make posters to advertise events and how to create websites to announce club events and provide a place for members to post information. Students will then have a purpose for learning these technology skills.

Space is also allocated to student groups on campus, but groups do not seem to require space in order to conduct business. Traditional materials such as paper, pens, markers, paper, posterboard, paint, and chalk are still a very integral part of conducting business for clubs and organizations. As Trish Hurst has spoken of in the past, some kind of centrally located materials area that contains these types of materials for shared use seems appropriate and would be utilized by several different groups. It would also help to provide a recognized/standardized place for new student leaders to share experiences with others and to obtain materials quickly and efficiently.

In addition to shared space, there may be possibilities to use hardware and software already available on campus. Contacting the User Services division of the Computer Center before authorizing the purchase of new hardware and software would be a thoughtful approach to purchasing equipment. With this contact, staff and students can be aware of all current items that are available on a check-out basis from the Computer Center or the Audio-Visual department. Such items include laptop computers, digital still and digital video camera, and video cassette recorders.

Learning about the resources that are already available and collaborating with individuals in other departments will help to continue to meet the technology standards set forth by the North Central Association of Secondary Schools and College. These technology standards are; having academic resources and equipment (e.g., libraries, electronic services and products, learning resource centers, laboratories and studios, computers) and adequate to support the institution’s purposes. The User Services division of the Computer Center is the resource for support of equipment and training on campus and communication with the members of this office should be made more formal with two scheduled meetings throughout the academic year and summer months.

Appendix

Appendix A

Survey

It is important that we have a sound idea of the technology groups use on campus to conduct business. This information will be used to plan for the space needs of clubs and organizations and for future software and hardware purchases that will be beneficial for student clubs and organizations.

By taking part in this survey you are giving consent for the results to be used by campus staff for the purpose of determining technology needs of student groups and organizations on campus.

List only the name of the club or organization you are referring to in this survey as no individual students would be identified in this survey:

.

To what extent do you utilize technology and club office space for conducting club business: (mark the appropriate circle, select only one response per question)

Always Sometimes Never

Club business is conducted in on-campus office space with group-purchased equipment

O O O

Word processing is used to prepare club announcements, agendas, communications (such as a paper postings or posters on campus bulletin boards)

O O O

Commercial computer applications other than a word processor (a spreadsheet program, desktop publishing software, etc. that were not specifically designed for club purposes) are used to complete club business.

O O O

One or more members of the club has participated in the production of a multimedia presentation, text, or program (an interactive, computer-generated text, graphic, sound, and/or video presentation) for club activities.

O O O

Members interact with an advisor or other students on campus by way of E-mail or other “time-delayed” electronic communication (such as bulletin boards or discussion lists).

O O O

Members interact with someone outside your institution (such as a vendor, a former club member, a content expert, a peer) by way of E-mail or other “time-delayed” electronic communication (such as bulletin boards or discussion lists).

O O O

Always Sometimes Never

Members participate in audio conferences (“real time” telephone conferencing).

O O O

Members search the Internet/World Wide Web to access materials and/or conduct research for club purposes.

O O O

One or more club members create or update a club home page on the Internet/World Wide Web hosted by the college network.

O O O

The technology(ies) (hardware, printers, phones, etc) for club business do not work in the way they are supposed to.

O O O

Please use the following scale for the next two questions:

Strongly Agree Agree Somewhat agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

The technology for club business is overrated.

O O O O O

I would recommend this technology to other clubs and organizations.

O O O O O

Please list all supplies, hardware, software applications that are exclusively for club use and the source of obtaining the materials (purchased with club funds, purchased by national organization, etc.). This would include paper, posterboard, markers, paint, etc.

Please list any other information about the use of technology for club purposes

Thank you so much for your time in helping us understand the use of technology in student clubs and organizations.

Appendix B

Consent Letter

Victoria Romano

Consent letter

March 1, 2002

You are invited to participate in a research project on the use of technology by student groups and organizations. This project will be conducted by Vicky Romano, Knox College Computer Center, and Masters candidate in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In this project, Mrs. Romano will survey members of student clubs and organizations to determine how technology and office space is utilized for club business. A survey that will take approximately 10 minutes to complete will be distributed via campus mail with a pre-addressed envelope for easy return of the survey.

All information obtained during this research project will be kept anonymous and confidential. Your participation in this project is completely voluntary and you are free to withdraw at any time and for any reason without penalty. You are also free to refuse to answer any questions on the survey that you do not wish to answer.

If you have any questions about this research project, please contact Mrs. Romano by telephone at 341-7805, by e-mail at vromano@knox.edu, or by campus mail-Campus Box K235. You may also contact Dr. Lizanne Destefano, Associate Dean for Research, Bureau of Educational Research, 236A Education Building, 1310 S. 6th St. MC 708, Champaign IL 61820; email: destefan@uiuc.edu telephone: 333-8520

I have read and understand the above information and voluntarily agree to participate in the research project described above, I have been offered a copy of this consent form.

Signature Date