Team VIOs End of the Year Celebration Proposal

Client: Department of Communication at SUNY Geneseo

Team VIO: Genna Amick, Joe Chiara, Peter Donlon, Dayner Hackshaw, Kim Hatfield

Executive Summary
The specific purpose of this report is to propose Team VIOs approach to bettering the
end of the year celebration within the Communications department at State University of New
York at Geneseo. Throughout this report, you will be able to view our teams research tactics
and the results associated with these, as well as the program that was designed after evaluation
of the gathered research. Our team was contacted by the Department of Communication and
asked to determine the best possible way to celebrate students and their academic
accomplishments at the end of the school year. Currently, there is a celebration held at the end
of the spring semester, in which the format has changed a few times over the years. The
department feels the current event they are holding isnt as successful in attendance as it
should be, and wish for our team to determine an alternative format that is more favorable to a
larger population of people. The type of research that was conducted was through face-to-face
interviews with both a teacher and a student of the Communication department. For
confidentiality purposes, their names have been stricken from this final proposal and instead will
be referred to as Teacher Z and Student M, respectively. Another research method that was
utilized was an online survey sent out to the students of the Communications department. Vios
survey was distributed to a sample population of about 1/8th of the departments students, and
other similar surveys were sent by other firms to the remaining students. The results of these
interviews and surveys were used to determine appropriate action for future events. The goals
determined to be a focus for Team VIO were to create and increase connection between
students and the department, instill pride of accomplishment in both parties, motivate students
to achieve feats within the realm of Communication, and create a comfortable means and
setting to reward student achievement. Our goals focus a lot on the connection between the
department and students, which are our two main publics for this project. These two groups
were selected because they represent important individuals who attend the event and play a
vital role in the level of attendance that is received. The overarching goal is to have an
enjoyable event with as many people as possible from the department, so focusing on both
teachers and students who are involved is the best way to gain an understanding of what is
actually wanted in order to celebrate accomplishments. After our goals were determined, more
specific objectives were developed in order to measure the success of our proposed event. Our
objectives include: Achieve 60% of student attendance of those invited to the event, achieve
70% of faculty attendance during the event, increase the number of students eligible to be
invited to the event by 10 students by time invitations are sent, Increase positive feelings
towards department from students by 5% by date of event through survey responses, increase
the number of students who bring guests by 30% by the event, increase awareness of the event
and possible awards the students may achieve by 50% by 1 week before Lambda application
deadline, and obtain 60% positive responses concerning the event by 3 days following the event
through survey. If these objectives can be obtained then we feel the event will be much more
successful than recent years. As for our program strategies, it was determined that the students
needed to feel a closeness with the department as a whole, as well as being aware of the
specific opportunities that are available to students of the department. In doing so, we thought it
best that the department makes several announcements throughout the school year to inform
students about the event, and the types of achievements that could be recognized to spark

interest. Multiple emails will be distributed throughout the department by means of the
departments secretary, and in class announcements will be made by teachers at various times
throughout both the fall and spring semester leading up to the event. Overall, it was determined
that an event will be held in the Hunt Room on SUNY Geneseos campus. This will be a casual
event where students are free to mingle and circulate around the room, conversing with other
members of the department who are being recognized. Small finger-foods will be provided as
well to those in attendance. Name tags will also be provided to all those in attendance so
others can associate your name with the specific accomplishment you are being recognized for.
Situational Analysis and Research Findings
In trying to develop our program proposal, the first step was conducting and interpreting
relevant research. With our preliminary research, our team focused on compiling information
that was already publicized. We used information given to us by our client, as well as the
Geneseo Communication department and Geneseo as a whole in order to analyze the situation,
the organization, and the stakeholders.
Our primary research was more in depth and focused on obtaining information that was
not already well known. In order to gather this information, we conducted both faculty and
student interviews, as well as created a survey for Geneseo communication majors. Due to the
broad scope of the information we were interested in, we focused both our interviews and
survey on helping to answer the questions created by our research goals: if students of the
communication department wanted to be recognized in general, if the communication
department should hold an organized celebration, and how communication students felt about
their relationship with the department as a whole. Our subjects for both the faculty interview and
the survey were chosen for us at random. Our professor chosen for the faculty interview is new
to the school, which gives her the unique perspective of being unbiased, but also may prevent
her from knowing the culture of the department. Our participant in the student interview was
chosen by our team because as a junior communication major, she had experience within the
department, but because she will be at Geneseo for another year, is invested enough to care
about the future of the program. For our informal interviews, we emailed our potential
participants, giving them an idea of what the interview was generally about, about how long it
would take, and encouraging them to reach out to us with any questions. We sat down with
each of the participants in a location of their choice during a time that worked best for them.
They both signed consent forms letting them know their participation was voluntary and they
could choose to stop the interview at any point they wanted. We then had one researcher
conducting the actual interview by asking questions and taking notes, and the other recording
the interview while taking notes of their own. After the interview was concluded, members of the
group then replayed the interview that was recorded and transcribed the information.
The findings of our preliminary research were mainly empirical and focused on the
logistics of the situation. For instance, we learned there was a $500 budget for any event that
were to take place. We found there are approximately 400 students within the communication
major, and of those students, only 59 were invited to participate in the celebrate during the 2015
school year. Some information hinted towards answering our research goals (ie: low attendance
may be attributed to poor attitudes toward the department as a whole), but did little to help us
get a firm grasp on the attitudes of communication students.

The findings of the primary research were more grounded in the thoughts and feelings of
students within the communication department. The key findings in this report were that
students and faculty alike found it was important to celebrate student accomplishments, but the
degree to which they thought they should be celebrated differed. Faculty felt that an event was a
sufficient way to recognize students and their achievements, whereas students as a whole felt
events were a nice gesture, though not necessary. In the survey, it was found that 67% of
students felt a formal letter of acknowledgement would suffice. In both the interview and survey
students identified some sort of public recognition as being a suitable alternative for an event. In
regards to our other research goal, surprisingly the majority of students did not feel
overwhelmingly part of a larger communication community. 37% of those that responded to the
survey said they definitely or probably felt part of a larger communication community, whereas
26% were on the fence, and 37% said they probably or definitely didnt.
Through this research, we were able to conduct a SWOT analysis in which we identified
the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the issue at hand. Strengths in trying to
gain both higher attendance and overall attitudes towards the department includes not only the
increasing of the number of students in the department, but the increase in tangible
opportunities for communication majors to demonstrate their work. According to faculty
interactions, each year more communication students from Geneseo participate in these
conferences and continue to receive top awards. On the other hand, a weakness would be that
as the major grows, students may become more disconnected from the faculty and this may
disrupt their ability to feel part of a larger communication community. Even though more
students are being recognized, only about 15% of students are included in this demographic,
and holding an exclusive event may leave some students feeling left out. Further weaknesses
may stem from students not feeling an event is necessary. If a student already feels recognized
for merely doing the work they have done, they may be less inclined to attend an event as well.
Opportunities exist, however, in the fact that there are a great number of students who feel
somewhere in the middle about many of the aspects the communication department is working
on. For example, an equal number of people feel they are part of a larger community as those
who do not. There are still a significant chunk of students who responded that they may or may
not feel part of such a community. If the department can execute its tactics to the best of its
ability, there is the potential to converting those students who are on the fence to becoming
more involved members of the department. A threat may be that those who have participated in
such events in the past and did not feel that it was worthwhile would be less likely to not attend
in the future, and more likely to convince their peers it is not worth their time. Peer influence
often has a far greater reach than that of any department, and student attitudes of the past can
potentially have a negative impact on attitudes in the future.

Program Goals and Objectives

Our client, the Communication Department of SUNY Geneseo, came to VIO with a
concern with the recent drop in attendance in last years award ceremony, resulting in the
question if current methods were necessary. In particular, Vio was assigned To determine an
effective method for celebrating Geneseo Communication students variety of academic

achievement (Harrigan, 2016). Other than this criteria, the client had given our organization
little specific instruction within our research and program. While we were tempted at first to
immediately assume that the drop in attendance was the main goal, we have since found larger
concerns that must be addressed. We find that the main concern is the lack of connection
students feel towards our client. We may assume, for example, that students who are closer to
the department would feel more motivated and would be more likely to attend these kinds of
events. As we noted in our preliminary research, these students seemed to be the ones invited
to the awards ceremony. While those of us who made it to this years event believed the turn
out to be moderate, we felt the shift towards building a connection with the larger student body
would solve the problem and its resulting symptoms. Still, we also seek to attain our goal to
implement a method that will match the wishes of our client while also meeting the following
goals and objectives.
Goals:
1.
Create and increase connection between
students and the department
-We believe the main problem to be addressed is the lack of connection between the
department and its students. If students were to feel more connected, then we believe that the
other concerns and goals would be met
.
2. Instill pride of accomplishment in both publics
-One of the most cited concerns about the Communication Major is the lack of respect it
receives among other Geneseo students. People often quote it as the easy major, which may
detract from the connection and motivation students would feel toward the department and any
possible awards. Yet, the department has proven its validity through top paper awards,
conferences, and a stream of published works. We believe students are not particularly aware
of the recognition the department and its students are receiving. Our organization, for example,
was unaware of the significance of the trophy in Noreens office. By increasing pride
3. Motivate students to achieve feats within the realm of communication
The purpose of the recognition is to provide connection and motivation for students. Yet,
the number of students who apply for and receive awards and recognition remains small,
leading to issues of low attendance and low overall connection. If students were to feel
motivated, we believe connection and attendance will rise.
4. Create a comfortable means and setting to reward student achievement
Our research, as well as personal experience of some of our members in the
latest event, would seem to suggest that students prefer a more informal and comfortable style
of recognition. Admittedly, there was still a sizeable number of students who preferred a formal
setting, but the majority preferred an informal setting.
Objectives:
1. Achieve 60% of student attendance of those invited during the event.

While no longer our main focus, a lack of students at the event is a good
indicator of student connection and motivation. If low attendance, then our other
objectives and goals have probably not been reached.
2. Achieve 70% of faculty attendance during the event.
While faculty attendance was not an issue during this years event, faculty
presence is important to student connection and motivation, as well as perception of the
department.
3. Increase number of students eligible to be invited to event by 10
students by time invitations are sent.
This objective would indicate that students are not only becoming aware of
possible awards and opportunities, but are also increasingly motivated to do so.
4. Increase positive feelings towards department from students by 5% by
Date of Event through survey responses.
Due to low connection towards the department, this objective will show if we are
increasing this connection.
5. Increase number of students who bring guests by 30% by the event.
During this years event, the number of guests were remarkably low. However,
the expectation of guests would show both connection and motivation from the students
invited, as they feel comfortable and excited enough to share this recognition with
friends or family.
6. Increase awareness of the event and possible awards the students may
achieve by 50% by 1 week before Lambda application deadline.
Regardless if a student is motivated or connected to the department, they cannot
be recognized for an award if they are unaware of any awards or opportunities exist.
7. Obtain 60% positive responses concerning the event by 3 days following
the event through survey.
This objective would determine how successful the event would be in regards to
motivating and connecting students with the department. Additionally, any information
provided could be used in future recognition.
Strategic Publics
Students
As we noted within our primary research, one of the two integral publics is the student
body. Earlier, we identified our specific public to be those who had achieved academic feats that
were considered by the department as of recognition, which was a considerably smaller
segment of communication majors. We have identified this subgroup to be highly motivated and
better connected to the department than their peers. While we will continue to focus on this

subsection in regards to recognition and invitation to the event we believe that in order to meet
the goal of the department, we should expand the public to include all communication majors in
regards to the awareness of awards and recognition. It was identified by Dr. Harrigan that one
of the goals of this recognition is to motivate other students and to draw them closer to the
department (Harrigan, 2016).. Yet,the majority of students are not invited to the event, and
there are many who claim that they were not aware that such an event existed. Additionally,
most members of VIO stated they were unaware of most of the awards given, despite
awareness of emails sent (Personal Communication March 2, 2016). While we are limited by
not directly addressing this in the survey, we do believe this to be true for the larger
communication body. Clearly, if motivation and awareness are to be addressed, then the
student public must be expanded in some way.
Information of value of this public includes a desire for recognition (Primary Research,
2016). Yet, desires a more casual experience in receiving this recognition (Primary Research,
2016). We found that despite the complaints in class and our assumption that emails are
avoided, most students cite email as the best way for the department to reach them (primary
Research, 2016). However, we believe from personal experience as students and personal
communication that emphasis of reaching this group would be best enacted through class
announcements, the second highest approach (Primary Research, 2016). Finally, while we
assume that students who are already invited to the recognition ceremonies are closer to the
department, our primary research showed that overall connection was rather low.
Department
Our other major public continues to be our client, the Communication Department of
SUNY Geneseo. As previously mentioned, our client is composed of 8 members of faculty and
Noreen Mazurowski as secretary, led by Dr. Andrew Herman as department chair . Following
our research, while we do believe this group is entirely important, there is not much uniformity
into how students should be recognized. While some argued for more informal means, others
wanted something more formal and respectful. However, the general consensus does seem to
indicate that recognition should be provided. A minor issue that was mentioned was the lack of
faculty attendance in last years event, as well. This years event held a total of seven faculty
attending and Noreens attendance as well. This could suggest that faculty attendance may not
be a concern.
However, we would emphasize their importance in all goals. We believe that faculty are
the key to addressing the lack of connection and knowledge the students currently harbor. In
regards to knowledge and pride, Faculty can start classes with announcements of various
awards, the event, lambda application, or any research they are looking for assistance in. One
member in VIO admitted that they had applied for Lambda solely because of an in-class
announcement (Personal Communication, May 9, 2016). Likewise, faculty can share
information that can instill pride, like the recently acquired trophy. In regards to connection and
motivation, faculty are the face of the department to students, and the announcement and
prodding from a respected professor is a powerful motivator. While the students are the main
public of this event, it is only through this public that our goals could possibly be reached.

Program Strategies
Content Component
Key Messages
The Communication department cares about the academic achievements of its students
Always informs of students of multiple ways to get involved and celebrates these achievements
as well.
The communication department is closely connected to student success and fulfillment
Professors are able to tell students about different academic opportunities available
Rationale of the Key Messages: The company believes that these key messages will help
promote awareness in the students of the department. With that there will be a strong group that
can have their achievements celebrated at the end of spring semester. Overall this will hopefully
create a stronger relationship between the students and the department.
Audience of key message: Students of the communication department
Delivery Component
Delivery
Time Period of Delivery
Fall Semester - Half way through
Spring Semester - Beginning of the semester
Location of Delivery
Fall Semester - Email, Communication classes announcements, Department website
Spring Semester - Email, Communication classes announcements(first month), Department
website
Delivery Method
Fall Semester - Students will be emailed by secretary Noreen Mazurowski, Professors will give
announcements about different academic opportunities in class, the department website will be
updated frequently with opportunities for the students
Spring Semester - Students will be emailed by secretary Noreen Mazurowski about academic
opportunities as well as deadlines, Professors will give announcements about academic
opportunities in class as well as deadlines, the department websites will have direct links to
applications or websites with academic opportunities.
Rationale of Delivery
The company believes that telling students in the fall semester about different academic
opportunities would give students incentive to strive for more academic achievements. If the
students know about the different opportunities, they will be able to think about the achievement
celebration as an important event as well. This would also just be a better way for students to
learn more about tangible forms of communication that they can show proof of their knowledge
and skills.
Audience of Delivery
Communication department students
Program Tactics
The solution our team has come up with is a small get together in the Hunt Room in the
union. This satisfies the wants of the department to acknowledge student academic
achievement in the form of a celebration, while at the same time keeping the type of casual
environment that students said they preferred. Students would be notified of the event one to

two weeks before the celebration. We will allow each student being recognized to bring one
guest, and notifying them at this time will allow students to adjust their schedules accordingly if
they so please, as well as ask their guests in advance. We would invite students via email, and
those being acknowledged would be able to see the names of other students who were invited.
Our team feels that students operate under a group mentality, and if they see that other
individuals they know are attending, they would be more likely to also attend. In keeping with the
informal environment students said they wanted, the dress code would call for casual, everyday
clothes, but to keep in mind you are among your faculty and other well respected peers (ie: no
sweatpants). As far as who would be invited, we feel that members of Lambda Pi Eta should be
recognized, but that the induction ceremony should take place at a different time. A formal
induction in front of the room would not only be boring to those who are not being inducted, but
it creates the kind of divide between students that our proposed celebration is aiming to avoid.
Because students said they would be more likely to attend an event including free food, there
would be small, easy to eat and carry foods such as cheese, crackers, cookies, and sub
sandwiches cut into pieces. As it was mentioned that students sometimes do not eat the food
they say they want, these types of food would not strain the budget were they to go unused.
Having food to snack on would make it easy for people to eat and move around the room freely
at the same time. The room would be set up as an all inclusive environment. There would not be
any sort of stage or platform on which someone would go up to talk or be recognized. Our team
feels this encourages a division between faculty and students, as well as between students
themselves. Rather, the table of food would be placed in the front of the room along with a large
list of the students being recognized. There would be multiple round tables with chairs placed
around the rest of the room, all at the same level. We feel this sort of environment encourages
the type of unity and sense of community that the department is striving for. Students would
receive a nametag upon entering the event, which would not only help which tangibly
determining who was there, but it would also be a way for students to gain acknowledgement.
Faculty and students could associate the name on the name tag with that of the name on the list
at the front of the room, and this would be a way to initiate conversation between individuals,
and allow students to explain their accomplishments at a more personalized, in depth level than
if their name was just to be called out. Within the room there would also be a slideshow playing,
with photos of students and their accomplishments. This would play on loop and give all
attendees the chance to see what other students have done while still honoring everyone at the
same level. There would be no concrete schedule as there would be with an event, but students
would be free to come and go as they pleased throughout the hour. At the very start of the
ceremony a faculty member would welcome everyone for coming and encourage them to take a
look at the list of students being recognized, and the remainder of the time would be spent trying
to foster positive relations between those in the communication community. This sort of
environment and time frame would encourage students to mingle with each other, as well as
professors, and give them an opportunity to individually discuss their personal
accomplishments.

Timeline

We feel our services should begin during fall semester this way there is adequate time to
prepare everything and ensure the success of our program. During the beginning of fall
semester, a meeting should be called between all faculty to discuss the general plan to make
sure everyone is on the same page. After this meeting, a survey should be sent to all
communication students to gage how they feel about the department, positive/negative,
connected/distant, etc. The secretary of the communication department should send out an
email halfway through fall semester informing students of the opportunity to be recognized for
their communication related accomplishments in the spring. It is important that students are
informed early on this way they have adequate time to do something award-worthy if they so
desire. In class announcements about the opportunity should also be made by the professors
around this time. The next step occurs at the beginning of the spring semester. The secretary
should re-send the informative email and professors should make announcements in class
again. It should also be posted on the communication website. The faculty should reconvene
and ensure that all the planning for the ceremony has been taken care of, meaning, a date
should be chosen, the location (Hunt Room) should be booked, arrangements should be made
for the food, and roles should be assigned for jobs which still need to be done (such as making
the name tags after the list of invitees is decided upon). As the semester progresses, reminder
emails should be sent out about deadlines for applications. Invitations should be sent out a
week after the latest deadline. The invitation should include all the event details, for example,
date, time, location, informal attire, etc. The last step is sending out the response surveys one
hour after the event ends.
Evaluation
In order to evaluate our first objective of achieving 60% attendance, first we need to calculate
what 60% of the total number of invitees is. In order to figure out if 60% attend, name tags will
be made and left out on a table near a door, people will pick up their name tag as they come in.
We will be able to determine the number of students in attendance based on the number of
name tags that remain at the conclusion of the event. In order to obtain the objective of 70% of
faculty, at least 5 faculty members should be directly involved in the planning process to make
them more likely to attend the event. This 5, will be the 70% of faculty attendance. At the end of
the event, we will be able to figure out how many people did not come, by counting the number
of name tags which were not picked up (still on the table). In order to complete the next
objective, of increasing the number of invitees by 10 each year, we need to determine how
many were invited last year, and make sure this years total number of invitees is 10 people
higher. The next objective, increasing positive feelings towards the event by 5%, can be
measured through the use of response surveys. They will be sent out one hour after the event
ends, and the results of it should be compared to the results of the survey sent out in the
beginning of the fall semester. In order to increase the number of students who bring a friend by
30%, it should be included in the invitation email that students are allowed to bring friends.
Then, we would need to look back at past years and see how many people who werent being
honored attended, and calculate 30% of that number, and compare it to how many people show
up this year. In order to increase awareness by 50%, the secretary should send out emails and
professors should make in-class announcements. Obtaining 60% positive survey responses ties
into the objective of increasing the view of the department by 5%. In that same survey, there

should be questions regarding the event. These answers can be calculated to determine if 60%
of people had a positive reception of the event.
Budget
Our team has decided to charge the Communication department with a retainer fee. Our reason
for this is we feel that public relations is an ongoing process and it is important that our client
has continued access to us in order to handle whatever situations may arise. Further, we feel it
is important to monitor the situation over a period of time so we can make necessary
adjustments, rather than them paying a one time fee for our program and then being finished
with it. As far as significant cost items go, the main cost would be food from the CAS catering
service. CAS provides tablecloths and silverware along with the food therefore that would not be
an extra cost. We estimate this to be around $300 because the event is very casual. People will
be coming and going therefore we do not need an exact amount of food. The other costs would
be name tags which we could use part of the other $200 for. If in the spring, many students
RSVP to come to the event we would also have a safe amount of money left over to increase
the amount of food needed if necessary.
Appendices
Team Structure- Team VIO is structured as a group effort. Every member plays an equally vital
role in creating a public relations program for our clients. By working together, we ensure the
success of not only our program, but also our clients by brainstorming and bouncing ideas off of
each other. We collaborate our ideas to form the best possible proposal for our clients. All
projects were equally distributed among the members and everyone contributed to the final
papers and proposals that were submitted to our client.

Member BiosGenna Amick: Genna is a sophomore Communication and Political Science double major at the
State University of New York at Geneseo. She has been a member of the Communication major
for the past two years, as well as being very involved on campus. She has a lot of knowledge
about the overall campus opinion of the Communication major due to her involvement in
extracurricular activities as well as her involvement in other majors. She also has an
understanding of the feelings of people within the major due to the extensive number of
friendships she has formed through the major.
Joe Chiara: Joe is a senior Communication Major at the State University of New York at
Geneseo. He has been a member of this major for the last two years, as well as having
background in business and accounting practices. Joe has been enrolled in many of the
classes offered by the Communication department and has had the chance to form relationships
with many of the faculty members who teach within the department. Along with teachers, he
has become acquainted with many students of the department, and over time has been able to
reach an understanding of the general opinions and feelings held by them in regards to the
department and the end of the year celebration. Joe is also familiar with the inner workings of
the campus and the certain functions it serves, allowing him to make rational, appropriate

decisions in regards to a proposal for the end of the year celebration. In the future Joe is
interested in pursuing a career in public relations, specifically crisis management.
Peter Donlon: Peter is a senior communication major and history minor at the State University of
New York at Geneseo for the past two years. He has an associate degree from Genesee
Community College and is a member of Lambda Pi Eta. Peter has taken a number of
communication classes and maintains good relations with several members of faculty in the
Communication department. His recent attendance of this years recognition event has given
invaluable insight to the project. He seeks to use his communication skills as a counselor in
order to assist and motivate others.
Dayner Hackshaw: Dayner is a junior communication major and sociology minor at the State a
of New York at Geneseo. She has been a member of the Communication department for two
and a half years. Dayner is interested in health care and hopes to work as a consultant at a
skincare company. She is also a member of Lambda Pi Eta.

Kim Hatfield: Kim is a junior Communication and Political Science major at the State University
of New York at Geneseo. She has been a member of the Communication department for the
past three years. She has taken many classes within the Communication department, as well as
in a variety of other areas, which has allowed her to gain overall insight into the attitudes of
students on campus.

References
Harrigan,M. (2016). Student recognition assignment [Class handout]. Department of
Communication, State University of New York at Geneseo, Geneseo, NY.