Aidan Lucey

November 19, 2018

Principles of Public Relations

Situational Analysis Introduction:

As students of Worcester State we are attempting to broaden our

campus student body through analyzing the functions of our

admissions department as well as other on campus influencers to

hopefully create a larger portion of residential students as well as

improving the process of selecting potential candidates that fit to

embody a unified school. Part One(Situational Analysis): Analysis of

the Issue: Trying to find cheaper schools, cheaper alternatives of

attending some schools, as well as figuring out how to finance all of

this is one of the toughest obstacles a high school graduate has to

deal with nowadays. It has recently become a popular decision

amongst college students to attend a college or university close to

home and commute to school everyday as opposed to paying for

room and board which exponentially increases the price of tuition. At

Worcester State, this form of attending school is the majority of the

school’s student body. Worcester state is made up of 70% commuters

 and only 30% residentialstudents and as one of these very few

resident students, this is very apparent on campus. This gapping

difference between residents and non-residents creates a large

disconnect throughout campus considering the majority of students

leave campus after classes. This lead us to

determining our topic which focused on improving prospective student

admissions by attempting to close that gap between our student

community. Through observing our situation, we determined that there

are probably multiple factors thatcontribute to this disconnect of

students such as understanding the quality of the on-campus dining

options, the struggles faced while trying to find parking and others. It is

our goal as students of Worcester State to create a unified campus in

terms of our student body. We see the role of the admissions team

and feel there can be improvements made on how we can increase

the amount of residential students in order to further strengthen the

student body and school pride. Admissions receives countless

applications from prospective residential students yet the school

remains predominantly commuter based meaning somewhere along

the lines those potential students either don’t get in or choose another
school over Worcester State. That being said our main focus is on the

challenge of pulling in more residential students to help lessen the

divide between students. Ultimately Analysis of the Organization:For

the focus of this paper, the quality of Admissions performance at

Worcester State is defeating, at the time, for potential residential

students and current residential students considering that the majority

of our student body consists of commuters. In terms of this wide gap,

we feel that there can be more effective ways to enhance the view of

life on campus toattract a more diverse community in the dormitories

and our facilities utilized by everyday students living on campus.

As of now the school spirit at Worcester State feels a bit missing in

comparison to the schools we both transferred from. Coming from

Westfield State and Norwich University we both agree that campus life

feels less connected than our previous Universities. Simple things like

knowledge of on campus facilities and events are what bring a school

together but with lack of good social media presence and a campus

life focus, Worcester State is missing out on the potential for a more

diverse student body and a better college experience for students. In

terms of budget the school is capable of making these changes, such

as having weekly events on campus for students to interact between

class. A more involved investment could be adding a new housing

area to further incorporate the sense of home at school and even

though Sheehan was recently added we feel more housing is

necessary. Though we know admissions does not hold the power to

make these decisions, they can collaborate with other departments to

help fill slots for residential students. As of now there is no denying the

Worcester State’s admission team has done a wonderful job of

gaining a better reputation for the university along with a higher quality

education and accessible commuter niche. However as for the

campus life here, there needs to be more liveliness and connection

with the entirety of students and staff.The admission team at

Worcester State has a well respected reputation and are greatly

appreciated for giving a lot of people the opportunity to receive an

affordable education. Although they have a good reputation, the

students are aware of the disconnect between each other.

Worcester is home to other colleges as well such as Assumption and

Clark University both well known schools in the area. Analysis of the

Key Publics:When analyzing a university as a whole and determining

 those who factor in to creating the cultural and the community itself,

there is a large public base that must be considered. Major publics of

this organization would include internal publics like the students,

faculty such as department heads, professors and other aids, and

then also staffing such as dining hall cooks and maintenance workers,

etc., people who may work here and deal with on-campus students

daily. As for this paper’s purpose, we think the administrative staff is a

major internal public as well as all of the surrounding departments who

may aid in the favor of the administration department. As for major

external publics associated with Worcester State and its community,

we say this accounts for all parents of students of and prior students

of Worcester State, as well as the alumni of the school themselves.

We also consider stakeholders as an external public in addition to

possible sponsors the university whom most likely are supporting their

development. We recognize these publics who clearly have a stake in

the institution but are not directly tied with creating a larger student

basis. To detail the key publics for this specific situation, like I’ve said

previously the administration department is who we are ideally

working with. They are the ones who have the ultimate power to
provide the product topotential/aspiring Worcester State students, the

product being their education. Admissions essentially is the producers

while the students are the consumers. The major opinion leaders we

considered were key figures, who provide

and create the diversity ofour student community essentially, like

Joseph DiCarlo mainly to provide a voice for the admissions

department, but other key figures may include head of residential life,

Adrian Gage and other staffing like those who control the social media

accounts. These opinion leaders have the voice and the final word

that is spread to the public, or the final decision that is consider

Worcester State’s decision. The nature and type of these specific

opinion leaders seem quite and subtle but still slightly effective at

there job. I see their work as behind the shadows and nothing that is

really above and beyond or nothing that shows they have passion to

make this school better. What we have seen thus far is that there does

not seem to be an urge to push for progressing the on-campus

environment, they may still be attracting students but the records

show that these students that they are attracting are mainly

commuters and that is what we want to change.