College Selection Essay

Introduction: In order for any business to succeed, that business needs to provide a good or service that will attract and satisfy a group of people. One of the most popular and profitable businesses in the United States is the college education business. Colleges compete annually in order to enroll the most qualified students and to provide a learning environment that will retain those students. Once the faculty senate understands how satisfied students are with the current operations, they can work to make improvements that are necessary to retain current students and attract new students. Research Dilemma: Students College of Pennsylvania are not satisfied with several of the current operations at the college. Research Question: What can the faculty senate improve on in order to increase satisfaction levels for students? Research Objective(s): The purpose of this research is to discover the level of satisfaction with the student body at College of Pennsylvania. This investigation explores the levels of student satisfaction with dining experience, athletics, classroom resources, and overall convenience at College. Through statistical analysis, we plan to prove that there are necessary improvements that the college needs to implement in order to compete in today’s economy. Importance/ benefits: In the current economic recession, College cannot afford to lose students to other colleges as a result of minor predicaments that can be easily changed. Before the faculty senate can improve college operations, they have to know which specific operations students are displeased with. We believe that the information contained through this investigation will decrease current student transfer rates. Moreover, we think that potential students, who visit College, will find the college to be more attractive if the problem areas in our investigation are corrected. Research Design: Communication Approach: Ten students were interviewed before the data collection process in order to investigate how these students feel about the operations at College. Through these interviews, our research group was able to determine which aspects of the college students considered to be most important. This was a vital step in this investigation because it allowed us to focus in on the four areas of operations that students considered most important. Data Collection Method: A survey was created to measure student satisfaction levels on dining experience, athletics, classroom resources, and overall convenience. The survey consisted of five investigative questions for each specific area of operation. Additionally, one more question was provided to measure which area of operation students were most displeased and satisfied with. Surveys were administered to a random sample of 43 students. Before the survey was given to the participant, the administrator explained that all of the information gained will only be used for school purposes. Once the survey was handed out the surveyor walked approximately 15 feet away from the student taking the survey to give the student proper privacy. We expected that this would reduce that amount of dishonesty recorded by each participant. Also, if the student had any issues regarding any of survey questions, then the surveyor would fully answer any problem the student might have on a question. This will assure our group that the student understands the survey completely which will eliminate any problems due to confusion to a survey question. Data analysis: Survey questions 1-20 applied an investigative scale ranging from satisfaction and usage levels of 1-5. If the participant selected a â€Å"1† that meant that the participant either did not gain any use out of the specific operation, or that the person was completely dissatisfied with the operation. However, if the participant selected a â€Å"5† on the survey this meant that the participant gained a significant amount of use from this operation, and was fully satisfied with it. These scales provided quantitative data that was then analyzed through statistical analysis.