Marketing Plan: Living, Learning Communities Shannon Fischer Siena Heights University August 2, 2015
Mentoring and Living Learning Communities 1. Executive Summary The Mentoring and Living, Learning Communities project will bring together the campus community by identifying shared interests among students, staff and faculty. The communities will participate in a philanthropic project outside of the campus community and create awareness initiatives within the campus community. The main objective is to engage students and create a network for them outside of those that they will develop within their educational cohorts. By engaging resident students, there are more opportunities for them to become engrained in their university and create a wholesome student experience outside of classroom learning. This opportunity will be different from some of the current initiatives on campus because it is designed around a theme and all efforts and activities will be related to that theme. One of the benefits of having the communities based on campus is their ability to cross over and assist each other. Some of the ideas within the communities are to develop study groups to assist students struggling in certain subjects. This will achieve two goals: Leadership and Learning. Students who are struggling can feel more comfortable participating in a group study session and those leading the sessions will gain the necessary leadership skills, regardless of their program of study. There will also be opportunities for students to belong to more than one group, if they so desire. They may wish to participate in the STEM group as it may relate to their major, but also participate in the Music, Drama and Performing Arts group because they are passionate about the arts and want to engage with students with a similar interest. Upper classmen students will be mentors in the groups and will complete a rigorous application process and training upon their selection to become a mentor. Additionally, while there will be structure within the groups, there will also be flexibility and the student participants will be those developing them. 2. Business Overview Studies have shown that there is a positive impact on student learning and student success when students are exposed to others with the same interests and they can
collaborate with each other on project development and completion. When students are introduced to those with like interests, they feel more embraced within the campus community and are more likely to engage with those around them. By introducing these communities, both resident and commuter students will have the opportunity to engage in activities that promote networking and leadership while creating lasting relationships with one another. The Mentoring and Living, Learning Communities will be themed in five major areas which can be tailored to either a student s program of study or something that students are passionate about or simply have an interest in as a hobby. There is no requirement that a student belong to a particular community, just that all resident students will be required to be a part of one community while living on campus. In year two, the communities will also be incorporated into the commuter student population to meet the objective of bringing together the entire student population through common interests. The themed communities will be: o Music, Drama and the Performing Arts o Leadership Through Service o Healthy Living, Sports and Fitness o Visual and Graphic Arts o Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Additional themed communities can also be added as the need arises or new interests are developed that do not fit into the existing communities. There is no cost to the student to be part of the community, as it will be funded 100% by the College Success Grant. Competition shall be other universities with similar communities, which may appeal to the student. On campus, competition will be limited to other groups and organizations which may hold similar events or be themed around similar interests. 3. Target Markets and Product/Service Positioning The target market will be new students. On campus competition may be intramural sports teams, fraternities/sororities, other clubs and service oriented groups although the main objective is to bring together the campus population so the hope is to incorporate objectives of those groups into the communities and create additional opportunities for socialization instead of creating only a single opportunity. This is the time that students need to find their niche and by becoming involved in as many opportunities on campus as possible, their education will be complemented with a multitude of experiences so the
students can embrace their skills and interests while giving back to both the on campus community and the greater community simultaneously. 4. Goals of the Marketing Program One of the goals of the program is to reach as many students as possible. In year one, all new students living on campus will be required to participate. In future years, resident students will still be required, but the opportunity will also be rolled out to non-resident students. Within the campus community, the goal will be to assist departments with any academic needs they may have or service needs they may have. Having the different interests in each sub-community can help meet other departmental needs at little or no cost while building upon the experiences of those participating. An example might be if the soccer team was holding a youth skills camp, the Visual and Graphic arts community might assist them with creation of promotional materials that they can distribute to local K-12 schools bringing awareness. Then once the camp commences, the Healthy Living, Sports and Fitness community may assist the players with running the camp. Another example might be the STEM community hosting a science or technology fair on campus and using the Visual and Graphic Arts group to help design posters advertising the event to the community and then also using the Leadership Through Service to assist with directing activities and planning the event. The crossover of the different communities, while serving their individual purpose, creates an opportunity for teamwork, brainstorming and problem solving, which are critical for success both during and after college. 5. Marketing Strategies With the target market will be incoming freshman students, the first exposure those students will have will be during new student orientation. During welcome week activities, each community will have the opportunity to present their goals and objectives to allow the student to make an informed decision as to which community they wish to be a part of. Initially, there will be two different marketing strategies. The first will be to encourage returning students to become mentors for the communities. This will be achieved by using an e-mail marketing campaign, print marketing and advertising through social media to bring awareness of the initiative. There will also be seminars and informational sessions offered on campus by the Director of Mentoring Communities to introduce the initiatives and explain the application process for potential mentors.
The second will be a print marketing campaign issued to new students when they receive their other informational materials surrounding new student orientation. There will also be an addition to the resident questionnaire that allows students to express their interests in a particular community or multiple communities, although this will be for projection purposes only and not considered a commitment. 6. Implementation Tactics Posters will be placed in all residence halls and on all campus bulletin boards announcing the development of the communities and an application process will be in place for mentors and faculty advisors to indicate interest. Once those items are in place, communication will take place by using campus email and social media informing prospective members that the communities exist. After the first year, it is our hope to incorporate the themed community model into all new student orientations and to encourage the resident advisors in each of the residence halls to communicate this to our resident students during their regular floor meetings. Additionally, incorporation into the first-year experience courses (FYE) is encouraged to bring awareness to the availability to all students, not just those residing on campus. The timeline for such activities will be: September 2015 October 2015: Recruitment of the Director of Mentoring Communities by advertising locally and through online job recruitment sites. November 2015 January 2016: Develop promotional materials for current students and hold informational sessions for prospective mentors. o Advertising the five different themed communities and baseline objectives o Advertising the qualities needed by prospective mentors o Incorporation into FYE curriculum for year 2 recruitment February 2016 April 2016: Open applications and interviews for prospective mentors o Application process shall include paper application, resume and writing sample titled Communities in Action: How Inclusion Creates a Recipe for Success and three letters of recommendation from the applicant s professors, advisors or community members. May 2016 July 2016: On campus mentor training sessions for selected mentors August 2016 September 2016: Development of welcome week activities within each community by the selected mentors
7. Budget First year Enrollment: The projection for first year participants is around 660, which includes 10 mentors per community, and 120 initial members in each group. The membership is projected to increase by 2-3% each year and additional mentors will be added as needed based upon student participation. This will be piloted and required for students living in the residence halls. Commuter students will be incorporated as the community structure is developed. Revenue: $150,000/year from the College Success Grant for development of mentoring communities in universities. The grant is renewable upon successful implementation of mentoring communities and outreach to the local community through philanthropic projects. Expenses: Director Salary: $53,000/year Director Benefits & Retirement: $19,000/year Mentor Training: $10,000/year (to be held twice per year) Office Supplies: $3,000/year ($600 per group) Printing Expenses: $15,000 Venue Admission: $10,000/group/year ($50,000 total) Total Expenses: $150,000 8. Communication Plan Internal Information: Usage of statistics on the success of similar initiatives at college and university campuses across the country. This will be researched and presented during informational sessions by the Director of Mentoring Communities and shall include the outline for the communities, the objectives of the communities and the timeline for implementation. The Director will be given an opportunity to present this information during the faculty learning days to also increase awareness of on campus initiatives outside of the classroom and faculty will be encouraged to participate during any phase of the development and implementation of the communities. Additional opportunities for awareness to the campus community at large shall be presented at the winter convocation in November, which will include all staff and administration and will be in an open forum for idea sharing and question and answer sessions. External Information: Press releases and social media blasts will be used to bring awareness to the external community and to foster relationships with organizations that may require assistance from the internal communities as part of their community service
project. Additionally, print advertisements and informational newsletters will be mailed to local organizations. Many community opportunities for project development exist, such as local theaters and groups, K-12 schools and preschools, churches, senior centers and the general community, YMCA programs and extra-curricular youth activities promoting physical activity and wellness. All of the aforementioned organizations may need assistance with projects or programs that they currently offer and each themed group would volunteer their time accordingly. These organizations will serve as valuable resources for the large project that the themed communities will engage in throughout the year. Additionally, the themed communities may seek donations of materials and services from local businesses depending upon the scope of their philanthropic project. 9. Monitoring and Evaluating Results Success Metrics: The success of the marketing efforts will be determined by the number of organizations that request services or assistance. Depending on the number of responses and requests, additional marketing efforts may be necessary to reach the desired number of organizations. Progress Reports: Reporting will be done by the Director to the leadership on a quarterly basis, with more frequent reporting depending upon the cycle of the community marketing plan. Initially, the information that will be reported will be number of outside community responses for help or donations along with the number of mentor applicants and the progress of the recruitment and training process. Once established, the progress monitoring reports will include the number of participants within each sub-community, the community service projects they have completed or are in process and the addition of themed communities as the program grows. Another progress reporting initiative will be a good news report out to the Board of Regents by the mentors of each community to keep them abreast of the many projects and initiatives that the themed communities will be involved in. In addition to the groups themselves reporting out, the Director of Mentoring Communities will report regularly to the Provost so that these initiatives can also be included in the overall strategic plan of the university.
References Coles, A., & Blacknall, T. (2011). The role of mentoring and college access success. Washington DC: Institute for Higher Education Policy. Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation. (2015, July 25). College Access Services. Retrieved from Community Investments: https://community.mygreatlakes.org/community/grants/college-success-grant.html Turner-White, D., & Hutchinson, W. (2012, February 10). University mentoring program responds to novice teacher sos. Innovation Abstracts, Volume XXXIV(4).