CO-DESIGNER PROJECT

Amanda Dever

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Introduction

Goals for Project

Process

Challenges/Findings

Summary

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INTRODUCTION

“So many different types of students. How do I know what will motivate them to be engaged?”

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Idea: interview students across campus to highlight trends and create different “persona” profiles based on the different types of engagement. Personas will be based on the diversity and large size of their student population, ranging from super engaged to apathetic, including student government/organizational leaders, regional campus, transfer students, first generation students, out of state students, etc.

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GOAL: ��HOW MIGHT WE IDENTIFY THE BEST USE OF ENGAGEMENT FOR DIFFERENT KINDS OF STUDENTS/STUDENT LEADERS?��STUDENT LEADERSHIP IS CENTRAL TO OUR CAMPUS��WHAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR EACH KIND OF STUDENT TO FOCUS ON?

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LEADING QUESTIONS

Understanding the different types of democratic engagement activities:

• What are the barriers?
• What are the opportunities?
• How does this student define their community?
• What support would be helpful to this student’s engagement?
• Does this student have any new ideas to promote engagement for both individuals and the community?

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PROCESS

Figure out how you want to host your interviews. I did 1:1 and group interviews

Reach out to key students and campus leaders to schedule interviews

I did around 10 interviews before I had to stop. The goal was to interview 40-50 students throughout the summer.

Review interview notes and begin to develop common trends/themes. Highlight key stories and quotes that could help develop personas

Are we asking the right questions? Are we interviewing a wide range of students? What voices are missing?

POTENTIAL QUESTIONS TO USE DURING INTERVIEWS

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• I created an “intake form” that could help collect responses during interviews. This form is probably best used for individual or smaller group interviews. The form included:
• Name of interviewee
• Location of interview
• Date and time of interview
• Questions:
• What is your involvement on campus?
• What do you define as your community and how would you describe it?
• How do you show up for community (voting, advocacy, activism, volunteering, etc).
• You could also ask folks to “tell me about a time when…”
• Why do you show up for your community?
• What challenges or barriers keep you from showing up for your community?
• What support do you need from your institution to best show up for your community?
• Significant quotes, stories, or trends in the interview

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CHALLENGES IN MY PROCESS

• Question development – what did I want to learn? What is the best structure for gathering information?

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• Personal challenges with COVID

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• Number of students on campus during the project

• IRB questions and re-direction
• What will this data be used for?
• Could we restructure the process?

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PERSONAS

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• If I would have been able to create the personas, I would have used this structure:

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Persona Name:

Role on Campus:

Motivations for Engagement:�Challenges/Barriers to Engagement:

Entry Points for Engagement:

Peer to Peer Engagement Strategies:

Staff Engagement Strategies:

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SUMMARY

Though I couldn’t fully complete my project in the way I wanted, I learned so much through this process about our students and what they care about. I plan to connect with faculty @ UCF to see if we can continue this work within the IRB process

Many thanks to Maddie who supported me through the ups and downs of this process!