College of Engineering At Boise State University Research Report

Prepared and Presented by:

Parallel Public Relations, Boise State University

Nate Haderlie, Gina Hampton, Derek Antoine, Sam Romney, and Tyler Richelieu

Date: 11/11/2012

Table of Contents
Introduction Executive Summary College of Engineering Overview Relevant Publics
Relationships with Publics Relationships with Stakeholders Concerns of the Publics Social Audit Readability Survey of Men Readability Survey of Women Media Audit Analysis and Recommendations Conclusion Work Cited

3 4 5 7
9 11 12 13 15 17 19 22 23 24

Introduction
The following report is a public relations audit of the College of Engineering (COEN) at Boise State University, located in Boise, Idaho. The intent of this report is to help COEN understand their current communication efforts and outcomes. This report includes an analysis of COENs publics and stakeholders, as well as current relationships and concerns of those publics. Media and social audits were conducted to understand what those on campus know of the college. Concluding the report are recommendations of where and how to focus communication and relationship building.

Executive Summary
The College of Engineering Overview includes the Mission Statement, and information regarding the makeup of the department. Overview also includes some notes on the accomplishments and notorieties associated with COEN Relevant Publics primarily discusses the statistics associated with COEN, includes statistics on both the Boise community and BSU students. Also makes note of important collaborations with fellow universities. Relevant stakeholders has a brief overview of each of the principle stakeholders associated with the COEN. Relationships with Publics why each of the publics associated with the university are important. This section also discusses why and each has power with the university Relationships with Stakeholders discuss where each has power, be it economically or politically. Also talks about what each stakeholder is concerned about in COEN Concerns of the publics talks about the primary concerns of each public and what COEN is doing to address these concerns The Social Audit includes the information from our survey, displayed as statistics. The readability survey information is displayed through pie charts The Communication Audit has a detailed list of all things that the COEN has been mentioned in media for. The most prominently featured news is the many grants and donations that COEN has received. The Analysis and Recommendations have a brief overview of what COEN is doing well and what they could improve on. COEN has been advised to try to promote them better, and work with PRSSA to get more notoriety for them.

College of Engineering Overview

Mission Statement The College of Engineering provides an excellent and accessible education where every student explores real world challenges. We foster innovative research and practical solutions. We promote creativity, lifelong learning and community engagement. EXPLORE Purposefully venture into unknown territory to discover and create new pathways to innovation in education and research EXCEL Continually work at the boundaries of expertise to nurture passion, creativity and ingenuity ENGAGE Actively cultivate community partnerships and connections to foster dynamic solutions of local impact and global importance How Programs success relies heavily on five major entities:

Dedicated students who are motivated by the desire to succeed and who demand quality education Faculty who have come to Boise State University (BSU) with a wide range and a variety of industry and academic experience and the desire to teach and conduct research An administration which places a high value on quality of education and scholarly activity Advisory boards from industry which provide invaluable support and guidance Idaho taxpayers who recognize both the value and cost of high quality, professional education

What The College of Engineering is made up of six distinct Departments with eight individual degrees offered through the program:

Civil Engineering Construction Management Computer Science Electrical & Computer Engineering Materials Science & Engineering Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering

When

6 Boise States College of Engineering (COEN) was created in 1996, and opened in 1997

So What A few achievements:

In 2011, COEN ranked 15th on U.S. News & World Reports list of best engineering colleges among public universities without PhD. programs. 2173 students are currently enrolled in engineering majors, up from the 656 students when the College was opened in 1997. The college partners with dozens of Idaho and national companies to provide co-op and internship opportunities for engineering students. Plans are underway to create faculty and student exchanges with universities in Guadalajara, Mexico and Seoul, South Korea. U.S. NEWS AGAIN, in 2012, Ranked Boise State among top undergraduate engineering programs NASA projects and the student affiliation The enrollment of engineering majors at Boise State University is up nearly 60% since 2005

Who The College of Engineering is made up of approximately 2, 200 students, and has approximately 150 faculty and staff that work within it. Where The college located in its new building at: College of Engineering Boise State University 1910 University Dr. Boise, Idaho 83725-2100 Economic standing/ Budget A $10 million budget for the school that has been supplemented by a $13 million gift from Micron Technology Inc. to launch the colleges new materials-science doctorate. $700,000 the schools computer-science program will receive from the Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission

Communication Internally The school chooses to utilize, the internet for much of its information, using Broncomail and the college of engineering homepage, to get information about to the college to the students within the program.

7 Because the student, do in fact attend Boise State, much of the internal communication amongst the students, happens inside and outside of the classroom, on campus. Externally Those who may not be as involved, or familiar with the college, receives there information in different way, but very similar ways as well, such as word of mouth and the internet. Most of the information that is learned or heard externally would be mainly from sources like the Internet, but also the news. Because Boise State is becoming such a well-known school, When the College of Engineering does something recognizable, such as its work with NASA or it standing, nationally, news sources pick it up. Because of this the many people can and do become familiar with the Program and the college its name is synonymous with.

Relevant Publics
International students
Make up 1% of BSU students.

Peer institutions
Penn State, University of Maryland, Stanford, and University of California state are a few of the peer institutions that Boise State collaborates with. A Boise State University research team along with a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was honored as a runner-up in the 2009 Lunar Outpost Student Design Competition sponsored by the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES).

Alumni and Students

In 2011, the alumni association donated $267,600 to the legacy scholarship fund. 20,000 students enrolled to date 1% international students 54% women 46% men .34% of undergraduates over age 25 69% retention rate

Boise Community
Metropolitan population of 616,500 according to the 2010 census. Largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon. 91.5% Caucasian 6.9% Hispanic 3.0% Asian 1.3% Black 0.1% Indigenous American 2.3% Multiracial 49.53% Male 50.47% Female

NASA
Boise State has been accepted the past four years into NASAs competitive Microgravity University program. They join 13 other teams, including those from MIT, Yale, and Purdue. (News BSU webpage, June 1, 2012)

Stakeholders
(Those who have donated $50,000 or more since Jan. 1, 2012) Micron Technology Foundation Inc.: Produces semiconductor devices, which include flash memory, SSD, DRAM, SDRAM, and CMOS. In 1978 Micron was headquartered in Boise, Idaho. International Society Technology in Education & Hewlett-Packard, Inc. (HP). HP is a computer company that produces computer hardware and software. Founded in 1947,HP merged with Compaq in 2002. HP was ranked 9th in a Fortune 500 ranking in 2009. MetaGeek, LLC specializes in detecting and fixing wireless interference for Internet networks. Founded in 2005

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Relationships with Publics

Peer institutions The Boise State University College of Engineering (COEN) maintains working relationships with Penn State, University of Maryland, Stanford, and University of California state A point of concern to peer institutions is COENs rankings among other higher learning institutes in the United States. Hold moderate social power since they can influence public perception of the quality of education provided by COEN Alumni and Students Alumni and Students are of high value to COEN since they help to establish COEN as a distinguished school and as a leader in college engineering programs Concerned about the continued excellence of the program, and opportunities for careers in the engineering field that the university can help lead them to Have some economic and social power over COEN, students help to fund the university, and as alumni it is their accomplishments, which can be attributed to the university and will help the universitys reputation Boise Community Benefits directly from the colleges research and outreach programs. The communitys support of the college helps the college look appealing to potential students who want a community that will help them and back them up Helps to fund the college through tax dollars, and is concerned about where their money goes Has a high amount of social, political, and economic power since they help pay the taxes that fund the university. If the Boise community becomes upset with the university the community can help to cut funding to the college NASA Help provide internship and job opportunities for students. They hold competitions in which COEN can distinguish themselves and their students Concerned about the quality of education and research provided by COEN, NASA looks for COEN to continue to provide a high standard of excellence and competition in their programs, such as the Microgravity university program As a government funded program, they receive a large amount of money annually which they can distribute as they see fit. They also influence government policy since they are closely connected to the federal government

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Relationships with Stakeholders

Micron Headquartered in Boise Former CEO, Steve Appleton, attended BSU. As CEO, Appleton made major contributions to BSU Primary concern is the continued development of new technology and research by COEN. They are also interested in students of COEN coming to work for them. They made a large donation to develop a Ph.D. program in Materials science The have major economic power, and they have shown this through their donations to BSU and COEN. They are a large source of additional funding for development and pursuit of projects within COEN International Society Technology in Education & Hewlett-Packard, Inc. (HP) A large well-known corporation that makes computer electronics Has large amounts of economic and political power; they have plenty of funds that they can donate to their interests. As a corporation they can provide funds to the political candidates who will support their interests MetaGeek, LLC Headquartered in Boise Specializes in detecting and fixing wireless interference for internet networks Wants COEN to continue to develop new technologies and research in the materials science field. Interested in the students graduating from COEN They have provided some funding to the university, but they are a smaller company. They have some political influence in local channels, because they have the ability to provide campaign funds to those candidates who will support them

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Concerns of the Publics

Alumni/ Students/ Faculty Effectively accessing and analyzing large amounts of data In the past, BSU Faculty has proposed using a computing cluster to support research projects as diverse as wind energy forecasting, modeling for threat reduction in chemical and biological defense, materials characterization and modeling, snow hydrology and remote sensing, and mechanisms of skeleton development in living systems. (This has been a concern for multiple departments, not just Engineering). Recently, BSU researchers received a $555,384 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Grant is going towards a visualization computer cluster that will support parallel computing and rendering, data storage, and high- resolution imaging. Amy Moll, dean of the College of Engineering, goes on to say that this grant will benefit multiple publics, not just the COEN. Publics beyond BSU: Regional community Grants go towards development of long-time desired research project Three years ago, researchers planned to develop a single pump that would be would be compatible with existing DNA profiling kits. BSU research team has developed a new type of micro pump that can be used in forensic DNA forensics. In DNA profiling, a large obstacle has been that pump technology has not been miniaturized the way that chemical and electronic components have. This single-crystal pump represents a giant leap in miniaturization, as stated by researcher and biology professor, Greg Hampikian. Research was funded by two State of Idaho Higher Education Research Council grants. Its successful development has led to several university patent applications and has attracted the attention of industry. Their results are being published in the journal, Smart Materials and Structures this month.

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Social Audit
The following are the results of a survey given to Boise State University students about their understanding of the College of Engineering. 60 surveys were given out across campus, to students with different majors. 50% men 50% women The average age surveyed was 20.46 years old. 46% freshman 19% sophomore 19% junior 15% senior 1% unknown These are the questions surveyed, with their results: 1) Are you familiar with the College of Engineering? 31% No 69% Yes 2) What have you heard about the college? 73% Nothing 12% Little, non-important 3) Where did you hear about them? 0% TV 39% Friends 8% Professors/ Advisors 0% Research 49% First Time Hearing 4% Other__Boise State Website____ 4) Have you ever used their services? Printing lab, attended classes, etc. 77% No 23% Yes 5) Do you know somebody who has used their services? 54% No 46% Yes

14 6) On a scale of 1-10, how valued do you think the College of Engineering is to BSU? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 with 7.5 being the average. 7) Did you know the College of Engineering is ranked 13th among public institutions, and 35th nationally according to U.S. News? 4% Yes 96% No 15% Something Positive

A readability survey was given to the same students, with the front page of the College of Engineerings website. The following is the data interpreted from that survey, and the picture of the website shown.

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Readability Survey
Information Received From Surveyed Men Not At All 0% Somewhat 12.50% Page Is Understandable Neutral Mostly 25% 37.50% Completely 25%

0% 12.50% 25% 37.50% 25%

Not At All Somewhat Neutral Mostly Completely

Not At All 0%

Page Contains Helpful Information Somewhat Neutral Mostly 12.50% 12.50% 12.50%
12.50% 0% 37.50% 12.50% Not At All Somewhat Neutral Mostly 12.50% Completely

Completely 37.50%

Not At All 12.50%

The Page Seems Easy to Navigate Somewhat Neutral Mostly 12.50% 37.50% 12.50%
12.50% 12.50% 25% 37.50% 12.50% Not At All Somewhat Neutral Mostly Completely

Completely 25%

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Not At All 12.50%

Page is Missing Information Infected to See Somewhat Neutral Mostly 50% 25% 12.50%

Completely 0%

12.50% 0% 12.50% 25% 50%

Not At All Somewhat Neutral Mostly Completely

Not At All 0%

Represents College in Positive Way Somewhat Neutral Mostly 12.50% 12.50% 0%

12.50% 0% 12.50% 0% Not At All Somewhat 75% Neutral Mostly Completely

Completely 75%

17 Information Received From Surveyed Women Page is Understandable Somewhat Neutral Mostly 18.18% 18.18% 18.18%
9.09% 36.36% 18.18% Not at All Somewhat Neutral Mostly 18.18% 18.18% Completely

Not at All 9.09%

Completely 36.36%

Not At All 9.09%

Page Contains Helpful Information Somewhat Neutral Mostly 27.27% 9.09% 18.18%
9.09% 36.36% 27.27% Neutral 9.09% Mostly Not At All Somewhat

Completely 36.36%

18.18%

Completely

The Page Seems Easy to Navigate Not At All 0% Somewhat 9.09% Neutral 0.00%
0.00% 9.09%

Mostly 36.36%

Completely 54.55%

0.00%

Not At All Somewhat Neutral Mostly

54.55%

36.36%

Completely

18 Page is Missing Information Infected to See Not At All 0% Somewhat 45.45% Neutral 18.18% Mostly 18.18%
Not At All 18.18% 0.00% 45.45% Somewhat Neutral Mostly 18.18% 18.18% Completely

Completely 18.18%

Not At All 0%

Represents College in Positive Way Somewhat Neutral Mostly 9.09% 27.27% 27.27%
Not At All Somewhat Neutral Mostly Completely

Completely 36.37%

0.00% 9.09% 36.37% 27.27%

27.27%

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Media Audit
The main issue covered by the media discussed concerns in the engineering workforce, mainly the lack of women. Throughout 2006, television and print media covered this concern every month. Most media outlets covered major donations and awards to the College of Engineering, especially donations from Micron and national foundations such as NASA and the National Science Foundation. Overall, no negative media coverage was found about the college. Media coverage showed the positive impact of the college on the community and university.

2000
The Idaho Statesman: Boise State gets masters degree in engineering 4 years after program is started, 50 students enroll in first courses of the new masters program. Set a goal to triple numbers to 150 students by 2005.

2001
Lewiston Morning: LCSC (Lewis-Clark State College) joins hands with BSU New program will let engineering students do 3 years at Lewiston and finish up at Boise.

2002
News Release: ISPE gives awards to outstanding engineering juniors at BSU 4 students were honored during the National Engineers Week. Nominees were chosen based on their GPA, class performance, and participation in professional organizations.

2003
News Release: Boise State receives NSF grant to enhance atomic force microscope National Science Foundation donated $234,000 to help researches purchase a new tool to study nanoscale materials.

2004
The Idaho Statesman: Workshop to focus on computer grids Workshop featured system architects, application developers and science practitioners from Universities across Idaho and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

2005
The Idaho Statesman: Micron gives BSU $320,00 challenge grant Money will go to engineering doctoral program. Used to hire faculty and graduate student positions.

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2006
The Idaho Statesman: Wanted: More women as engineers Boiseans take active role in promoting technical careers for other women. Seminar focused on exciting women about earning a degree in engineering, due to companies nationwide needing to fill engineering positions.

2007
KBOI Channel 2 News: MythBusters Come To Boise College of Engineering sponsors sold out event at Taco Bell Arena. Events goal was to make science fun and funny The Idaho Statesman: TVs MythBusters duo speaks in Boise Hosts of the show sat down with a sold out crowd at Taco Bell Arena. The highlight of the night was the outtakes from an episode where they used a high-speed camera to catch flatulence lighting the results of their experiment on fire.

2008
KBOI Channel 2 News: Astronaut Morgan joining Boise State University University, and College of Engineering create a position to provide leadership and vision on the State of Idaho science education.

2009
KBOI Channel 2 News: Pocatello charter school to tap wind power Todd Haynes, researcher from College of Engineering, teamed up with Pocatello charter school and set goal to have 20% of nations energy to be wind energy by 2030.

2010
KBOI Channel 2 News: BSU research team selected for NASAs Microgravity University Students studied the issues of bone density loss astronauts who endure long periods of weightlessness suffer.

2011
Boise Weekly: Micron Grants Boise State Largest Gift in University's History Micron commits $13 Million dollars to the college to develop a Ph.D. program.

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2012
USA Today: Boise State veggie-oil diesel tries for 215 mph College of Engineering Undergrads participate in an organization called Greenspeed and built a 1996 Chevy S-10 fitted with a vegetable oil engine. Greenspeed is trying to beat their previous world record.

Greenspeed Club standing next to their Chevy S-10 after they broke the world record for fastest vegetable oil fueled truck. http://greenspeed.me

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Analysis and Recommendations

Findings show that COEN could increase communication and self-promotion, using both internal and external communication, because students both in and out of COEN are still unaware of the colleges mission, and national rankings. Promotion of COENs work in the community would help to raise awareness to their publics and stakeholders; showing what COEN is capable of. In addition to self-promotion, hiring a new PR specialist, and working with Public Relations Student Society of America at BSU, can help achieve their communication and promotion goals. COENs webpage could also facilitate these improvements. There are things that COEN has done exceptionally well that should continue, such as job placement for their graduates. There have been drastic increases, both in students and to their funding, that can be used to show how COEN is progressing. The work done on making a vegetable oil powered car, and the strong finishes in NASA competitions and internships should be more public, to increase awareness and interest in the program.

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Conclusion
This report on the College of Engineering was to help the reader to understand the College of Engineering better. It informs the reader of what the college is all about, their mission, and how relevant publics view their services. This report has illustrated the demographics of one of the most important communities in Idaho, the students of the university, and has in depth data from those surveyed.

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Work Cited Page

College of Engineering. (2011). College of engineering. Retrieved from http://coen.boisestate.edu/ College of Engineering. (2011). Students College of engineering. Retrieved from http://coen.boisestate.edu/students Boise State University. (2012). College of engineering update. Retrieved from http://news.boisestate.edu/update/category/engineering/ Squires, S. (2012, 10 12). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://news.boisestate.edu/update/2012/10/12/boise-state-team-develops-single-crystalpump-for-miniaturized-dna-forensics/ Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce. (2009). Boise metro chamber of commerce. Retrieved from http://www.boisechamber.org/cwt/external/wcpages/index.aspx Area Connect. (2012). Boise population and demographics. Retrieved from http://boise.areaconnect.com/statistics.htm Charles Etlinger, The Idaho Statesman, Jan. 25, 2000 Heather Frye, Lewiston Morning Tribune, June 12, 2001 Nan Connolly, The Idaho Statesman, June 22, 2005 Ken Dey, The Idaho Statesman, Aug. 1, 2006 University Archives, RG 216.2, Box 19, Folder 23 University Archives, RG 216.2, Box 19, Folder 22 KBOI Web Team. (2010, 12 29). BSU research team selected for NASAs microgravity university. Retrieved from http://university.kboi2.com/content/bsu-research-teamselected-nasa-s-microgravity-university Healey, J. (2012, 01 26). Boise state veggie-oil diesel tries for 215 mph. Retrieved from http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2012/01/boise-state-200-mphvegetable-oil-diesel-/1

25 Prentice, G. (2011, 05 11). Micron grants Boise State largest gift in universitys history. Retrieved from http://www.boiseweekly.com/CityDesk/archives/2011/05/05/microngrants-boise-state- largest-gift-in-universitys-history Throndsen, K. (2007, 02 05). MythBusters come to Boise. Retrieved from http://www.kboi2.com/news/6073751.html