Memo

Date:
To:
From:
Subject:

March 16, 2015

Katie Reichner, Assistant Director, OSA
Nathan Whipple, Student
New Programming for The Compass

The Compass, while useful on paper, is not viewed in the highest regard at
Christopher Newport University. Many students feel that the Compass has little to
no use for them, and those who do use the Compass find that they have a poor
understanding of how to navigate the site. This proposal investigates overall
satisfaction and understanding of the Compass by CNU students, while providing
potential solutions for generating interest and strengthening the services overall
perception.
First, I examined the Compass to find where its strengths and weaknesses lie. While
the Compass does provide numerous links to Help sections provided by both
CollegiateLink (the parent website of the Compass) and the CNU website, both are
lacking in various aspects. For example, the CollegiateLink Help section tends to be
far too broad to address the individual needs of CNU students, and while the CNU
website is markedly more tailored in this regard, it still struggles in promoting the
usefulness of the Compass to non-PLP or Leadership students. In addition to this, I
determined that there was little information on the Compass that could not be
already accessible from a larger and more established medium, like Facebook. As is
such, I collected survey responses from CNU students that provide insight into
Internet usage habits, individual use of the Compass, and feelings towards proposed
programming for the service.
Based on the information gathered from the survey, many of the students either lack
knowledge or are dissatisfied with the Compass, with all but one student claiming
that they do not use the Compass on a weekly basis. Furthermore, a majority of the
students said that they would participate in incentive based programs that involve
the Compass, while also expressing interest in text and video based FAQs. I
recommend creating Compass scavenger hunts, in which students would be
presented with a series of questions through Google Forms, with the person who
finishes with the highest percentage of correct answers in the least amount of time
to receive Captains Cash as compensation. This would accompany the creation of
both text and video based FAQs that would cover topics more relevant to the
average CNU student.
The Compass is a program that has a ton of potential, but simply hasnt found the
audience it is looking for. With the addition of these programs, the Compass will
hopefully become a key component in the daily lives of CNU students.

Abstract
Study on Student Perception and Potential Programming for the Compass
Prepared by: Nathan Whipple
It is no secret that the Compass isnt held in the highest regard here at CNU. This
study aims to not only highlight where the Compass needs improvement, but to also
propose new programming while advocating for the creation of both a text and
video based FAQ. The data was collected via a Google Forms survey, which was
distributed via email and social media (Facebook), and through the Office of Student
Activities. After analyzing and visualizing the data, I recommend both the creation of
a text and video based FAQ, as well as a Compass Scavenger Hunt, which would
entail the completion of a short survey for Captains Cash. By implementing all of the
above suggestions, the Compass will receive greater site traffic in addition to a more
positive public view.
Keywords: Compass, programming, text, video, FAQ, creation, survey

Executive Summary
CNU has always prided itself on growth and innovation, from the buildings on
campus to the programming and services offered to students. While this model is
often met with great acclaim, there have also been areas in which it has fallen flat,
notably in the online services department. Canvas, the potential replacement for
Blackboard, failed to receive full academic implementation, and while the Compass
has managed to reach that level, it has since fallen by the wayside.
The problem lies in how the Compass is perceived by the student body. Many
students use the Compass for matters pertaining to organizations that they are
members of, as well tracking PLP and Leadership hours. However, many students
feel that the Compass serves no purpose in regards to their lives, both academic and
social. This dissatisfaction ultimately results in fewer site views and less content for
the Compass, thereby lowing the overall quality of the site itself. In order to place
the Compass at the forefront of students minds, action must be taken to ensure that
students feel that they can benefit from the service.
I collected and analyzed data provided by a group of CNU students via an informal
survey, and discovered that the majority of students polled felt that they would
benefit from not only the creation of a text and video based FAQ guide, but also from
incentive based programs involving the Compass. This data was then graphed into
pie charts and a diverging stacked bar graph to represent student involvement and
academic standing among other variables.
My recommendation is to create a text and video based FAQ for the Compass, which
would provide information as to why students should use the Compass, and how the
Compass can benefit them during their time as a CNU student. These guides would
coincide with the creation of a Compass wide Scavenger Hunt, which would
provide an incentive of Captains Cash to the first student who completes a short
survey centered around the information and content hosted by the service. This
incentive would cost $5 dollars per round of surveys, and would continue for as long
as the administration feels is necessary. These additions should help to generate a
more positive reception to the service as a whole, and would potentially be the
initial step in a larger embrace of the Compass.

Introduction
The Compass was adopted by CNU in early 2014, and primarily serves as a tool for
student organizations to share and post upcoming events. In addition, the Compass
exists as a means for students to discover and learn more about the different
student organizations on campus, all in one convenient, electronic home. However,
the average student who has experience with the system finds that the Compass can
be clunky and difficult to use. This information, coupled with the fact that many
students have never even used the Compass, warrants a change. As is such, I have
researched various possibilities for revamping and revitalizing the Compass.
The primary concern that I have studied is that many students feel that the Compass
serves little to no purpose in their lives, as it accomplishes what many other sources
(cnu.com, social media) already handle. The students who do use the Compass also
express concern over the service, citing problems with site navigation, server
crashes, and an overall ignorance to the workings and uses of the system. This
project attempts to reverse these viewpoints through the implementation of
interactive programs, video and text FAQs, and the development of a more
positive mentality regarding the service.

Research Methods
To gain a better understanding of the student bodys view on the Compass, I created
a ten-question Google Forms survey that was then distributed via email and
Facebook. The questions in this survey served two purposes: the first four questions
determined the participants academic standing, online habits, student organization
involvement, and whether or not the participants were student organization
leaders. The following six questions implemented the use of a Likert scale to
evaluate student opinion on how comfortable they felt with using the Compass, how
often they used the Compass, if they felt that the Compass was a useful resource, if
they would benefit from the creation of a video and text based FAQ, and if they
would participate in incentive based programming regarding the Compass.
In addition to this, I reached out to the Office of Student Activities to see if they
could provide me with any data about the site itself. Through talks with Katie
Reichner, who is the Assistant Director of the OSA, I was able to gather information
pertaining to the number of users currently on the Compass, as well as how those
users are utilizing the site.

Results
The results presented in this section will detail both the background questions
presented to the participants as well as the questions directly addressing their use
and opinion of the Compass.
1. Determining the Backgrounds of the Participants
In order to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the
Compass, I opted to ask a series of background questions to the participants.
These questions were chosen in order to show a healthy diversification
between the students, while simultaneously highlighting some of the
similarities they share. For example, three of the four grades provided were
represented by at least 27% of participants (see Figure 1), but a two-thirds
majority use the Internet for more than three hours a day (see Figure 2).
Additionally, a majority of the students polled currently hold a leadership
position in a student organization on campus (see Figure 3), while every
participant belongs to at least one organization (see Figure 4).

Figure 2

Figure 1
1
5
4

Freshman
Sophomore

2--3
3--4

Junior

>4

Senior
4

Figure 4

Figure 3
3
6

1
2

Yes
9

No
5

3
4 or more

2. Assessing Opinions and Viewpoints of the Compass

In order to best gauge public opinion of the Compass, I opted to implement a
Likert scale for the survey responses, ranging from Strongly Disagree to Strongly
Agree, with a neutral option available in the form of Neither Agree nor Disagree.
The questions were as follows:

I feel that the Compass is a useful resource.

I am confident in my abilities to navigate and use the Compass.
I use the Compass on a weekly basis.
I would participate in incentive based programs involving the Compass.
I would benefit from a text based FAQ created by CNU students.
I would benefit from a video based FAQ created by CNU students.

The first three questions all deal with how students feel about and interact with
the Compass, and all three questions ended up being weighted towards the side of
disagreement. Many students felt undecided when it came to determining if the
Compass was a useful resource or not, while a majority of those surveyed claimed that
they were not confident in their abilities to navigate and use the Compass. This trend
of negative voting reaches a peak when the question was posed I use the Compass on
a weekly basis. Every participant either strongly disagreed or disagreed with this
statement, showing that no student surveyed used the Compass on a weekly basis at a
minimum.
Next, I asked a series of questions as to how students felt about the
introduction of incentive based programs involving the Compass, in addition to their
feelings on the creation of a video and text based FAQ guide created by CNU students.
The answers for all three questions received positive replies, with the total amount of
answers on the agreement side of the scale outnumbering the total number of
answers on the disagreement side of the scale. Although many students did not have
an opinion one way or another on the creation of a video based FAQ, the amount of
positive replies still outnumbered the amount of negative replies, and for the question
of whether or not students would benefit from a text based FAQ, a majority of
students surveyed believed that they would benefit from the creation of such a guide.
In addition, more students expressed a willingness to participate in incentive based
programming involving the Compass than not participating. Although the sample size
could be larger to provide a healthier diversification of answers, I believe that based
on the findings reported, CNU should begin to implement the above recommendations
to the Compass.
3. Site Data
I approached Katie Reichner in the Office of Student Activities to see if she could
provide me with website traffic about the Compass. While I was not able to determine the
amount of traffic that the Compass received, I was able to uncover data on the number of
users that have registered accounts, including the amount of organizations registered on the
Compass. In total, there are 202 student organizations listed on the Compass, with 3,318
users in the system. Of those students, only 2,042 students have associated themselves with
one of the groups on the Compass.

Figure 5

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree

-20

-15

-10

-5

10

15

References
Whipple, Nathan. Compass Survey. Survey. March 18, 2015