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Focus Groups
Overview of Results |
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Student Focus Groups - February 27, 1999 This summary report provides excerpts and key findings captured during the focus groups. As such, there are contradictions and redundancies in the information provided, as each group had different priorities and issues. This report is supported by the detailed report, which includes all of the comments made during the first part of each focus group, which were automatically captured by the laptops. Also included in the detailed reports are the findings and notes captured by the moderators and the observers of the small group discussions. - All groups want informal space to hang out. Places for community to flourish, places to interact with others. These places need to appeal to graduates, undergraduates, faculty and alumni. - We have communities only within our diverse groups. - Traditions can generate themselves if there is enough structure to allow it to happen. - Faculty and students need places to go to continue discussions, ranging from small quiet places, to large communal places. Include food and beverages. - Students talk about wanting more communication between constituents of the university. - Students want more events on campus that bring people together. Many want BIG events. - The faculty and the staff feel under-appreciated and disenfranchised from the institution. - In order for new spaces to be welcoming to faculty, they need to have food. - Faculty feel the need for communication goes beyond just our on-campus constituents. Communication needs to extend to the local community as well. - Staff seem to want to have recognition from the University in a significant way, not with games, popcorn and dance contests. - Design into the campus more sculptures and fountains. Build on the beauty of the flowers and trees. Create sacred spaces. - Alumni want to be heard!!! They want to feel more a part of the institution. They want to know what is going on, and how they can help make the campus a better place. - EVERYONE states that the Village needs to be revitalized. Themes: 2. Develop Emory Village, including shops and hang-out places. 3. Increase in communication – INCREASE IN COMMUNICATION. 4. Invite participation from Alumni, students, staff, faculty. People feel separated from the institution – they feel like visitors, and they want to feel like this is a surrogate home. 5. Emory History course for everyone early in their time here, students, faculty, administrators and staff. Top Ten Ideas Regarding Building Traditions & Community Ties At Emory The following lists were developed by each of the focus groups and represent the top 10 ranked ideas in order of importance. Students – First Session 8.60 1. I think that building a "space" for community that is comfortable and sociologically helps interaction would really be awesome. 8.52 2. More communication between grads and undergrads, and faculty and students. 8.50 3. Symposiums linking Profs. and students which will allow opportunities for them to interact with one another. 8.38 4. Identify the "traditions" we're actually talking about. 8.08 5. A better communication system. 8.00 6. Central hang-outs on campus that are more enticing to both grads and undergrads. 7.92 7. More publicity/advertising for events on campus. 7.88 8. Place for everyone to hang out. 7.81 9. Less segregation. 7.46 10. More inter-department interaction. Students – Second Session 8.41 1. Hang-out area that fosters interaction between different/diverse people. 8.38 2. We need more campus-wide events like Bid Day, Heritage, Dooley's Week, etc. The administration needs to stop wasting money on useless flowers and construction and give it to student programming!! 8.32 3. The faculty/student bond needs to grow. Along with the student/student bond. This will create a better place for teachers to teach, students to learn, and students to socialize with a stronger feeling of trust and respect for one another. 8.10 4. Keep current Emory Traditions alive (i.e. Dooley's), and bring popular traditions back to campus, like Bid Day, where the entire student body can get involved. More activities for ALL students!!! 7.93 5. Establish a tradition/activity/event, that can be seen regularly on the Emory campus. 7.93 6. Rebuild Emory Village to foster a true community feel on this campus. 7.86 7. As individuals we need to go beyond our comfort zone to mix and mingle, and we need to encourage our friends to do the same. 7.83 8. I feel that traditions seem to be a main issue as far as creating a community, but in reality, I feel that the Greek system uses that same concept too...and it does work. However, I feel that the true sense of community should come from within, students should understand the infinite amount of knowledge that they can receive by getting to know other people outside of their comfortable circle, that they will be a better person.... 7.79 9. Better communication of what goes on at Emory and more participation in those activities. 7.54 10. Recognize that diversity and community can be complementary. Today at Emory they are divisive. We have communities only within our diverse groups. Faculty, Administrators & Staff Session 8.47 1. Take data from programs such as this and form an action plan and follow it instead of releasing a report that gets buried. 8.27 2. Value people over property. 8.06 3. Submit our ideas to those who have the power to start changing things. 7.94 4. Continue its efforts to establish a pedestrian campus. 7.86 5. Provide practical places for busy people to gather during the work day close to offices such as a cafeteria near Rollins Building. 7.79 6. Keep lines of communication open. It is important to listen to what people are saying and respond to them. 7.63 7. We need to not be afraid of revisiting our traditions. 7.44 8. Define Emory's role in the local community, make this position known, and let the community interact with Emory. 7.43 9. Fully utilize the "people power" already at Emory. Some groups are under-appreciated and will become disenfranchised if their ideas and energy are not tapped. 7.38 10. Try to expend more effort on faculty and staff. Remember that most students are only here for four years. Some faculty 30+ years. Alumni Session 8.18 2. For the university not to be afraid to take a position and lead on it 8.04 3. Continue to seek alumni input into university goals. 7.93 4. Enhance the traditions Emory has and include everyone in them - Dooley, sports, alumni university, Heritage Homecoming, Convocation. 7.92 5. Emory must embrace all of its members as important. Great students, staff , and alumni are all important to the success of Emory. 7.90 6. Work with Emory Village landlords (Bill Jagger?) to make the Village a gathering place for both students and the community – like the Virginia-Highlands. 7.89 7. Communicate, communicate, communicate between alumni/students/faculty/staff. 7.85 8. Keep alumni from other areas involved in the community. 7.83 9. Invite all of the Emory community to big events. 7.78 10. More casual functions at which to interact with others; regular gathering events. Shared Perspectives 1. Please describe how you would characterize Emory as a place to live and learn. Students – First Session - More options for non-Greeks. - More traditions. - More communal spaces for socializing. - Lack of unity- separation of groups, i.e. Greeks and non, and grad and undergrad. - More people living on campus, especially grad students. - Great academics, but more interaction between teachers and students outside the classroom. - General socializing, lack of activities. - Keep upperclassmen living on campus, and provide better access to Atlanta. - Upperclassmen are not satisfied with the housing opportunities provided by the university. - No integration among grads and non-grads, as well as among ethnic groups and Greeks and non-Greeks. - No real gathering place on campus for undergrads. - Great dissatisfaction with the food. - Desire better accessibility into Atlanta. - Not enough on-campus activities. - Housing problems. - Lack of communication about important events or social and intellectual outlets. - Bridging the gap between different groups of students (grads/undergrads, etc.). - Multiculturalism. - Bitter relationships between the different groups on campus, no sense of unity amongst students. Everyone is involved in their own circle. - Communications between students both in the undergrad and grad. - Don’t isolate the "NON-Groupies". - Improve publicity of campus events, make them known to all students, not just isolating to a certain type of department/area. On learnlink, maybe have an "Emory Today" icon stating all activities of the day (like on the Web page). Everyone should be on one system (i.e. Learnlink) What about an Emory Tomorrow? - Housing problem: better security, sanitation. Need to attract people to live on campus which may lead to more unity. Allows people to get to know each other better. Students – Second Session - Diverse, but separated. - Focused too much on academics. - Not enough casual interaction between students and professors. - People don't know how to get in touch with professors. - Not enough on-campus activities. - Very sheltered community. - Lack of vibrant, intellectual community. - Central hang-out and arts center are needed. - Emory Village needs fun, cheap, useful stores. - People need not to focus only on themselves and be nicer to others. - Apathy is a problem. - Too much political correctness. - Inaccessible and poorly publicized resources. - Not enough on campus social outlets. - Not taking advantage of available opportunity. - A stressed out, sterile, stifling, politically correct environment. - Not enough satisfactory faculty/student interaction. - Need for a campus hang-out. - Need a friendlier environment. - Center for arts/artistic expression is lacking. - There are events, but people don't attend them. Faculty, Administrators & Staff Session - A positive attitude about the plentiful resources and opportunities available, but a sense of disassociation for many. - Some comments on how important students are and how important they should be. - Emory is in its adolescence, questioning its identity and its direction, experiencing some growing pains. - Perception that Emory has a lot of resources but they are not equally accessible to all. - Culturally diverse community. - For me, Emory has a strong tradition. Alumni Session 2. In what ways do you envision Emory changing over the next few years? Students – First Session - Students also expressed concern over a lack of internship and research opportunities. - Students saw the need to foster spirit over the next few years, though disagreed on how to do so. Athletics was a topic of conversation. - There were a variety of other visions, including Emory continuing to be a fall-back school. Students – Second Session - More prestigious school elitists, too expensive for most people. - More diverse and international. - Want it to be a place that people will recognize and not ask where
it is. - Envision a place capable of handling and making its own destiny. - Want a better education. - Do not want Emory to lose sight of learning through life, an interactive education is important for the future. - Hopefully it will be better at recognizing those people who are trying to make Emory a better place. Faculty, Administrators & Staff Session - Infrastructure: commuting problems and frustration, hope that Emory will facilitate commuting with regard for surrounding neighborhoods. New construction -- where and how will Emory's physical campus continue to grow? - Communication: how, with an expanding campus, will we get people together? Having no set of common practices is a set-back -- how will we move forward together? - Academic growth: Emory’s aspiration to Ivy league status will come at what cost? Alumni Session - More emphasis on undergraduate components, less on Med. School. - More emphasis on Humanities and Arts. - Increased access to the community for students. - More alumni support. - Pedestrian-friendly campus. - Higher visibility globally. - Increased support for Atlanta business community. - Increase diversity. - More diversity of programs and majors. - Expansion of Atlanta presence beyond the perimeter of campus. - Alum functions with more prominent speakers and activities. - More school-wide activities. - More intellectualism. - Increased communication between alumni and students! - Transportation: improved access to campus. - Pedestrian campus. - Greater emphasis on science and greater assistance for liberal arts majors entering job market. - Need for greater intellectual growth. - Strengthening of academic dissent, lessening of 'political correctness,' becoming more principled and honest in policy and decisions (examining how this relates to embracing diversity is a recurrent theme). - Emory students and alum are not sufficiently connected while in school or after graduation to the wider community. - Emory is primarily white, how can this group understand, accept, and embrace that the wider community is not primarily white? - Growing tension between desire to embrace cultural diversity while remaining a white upper-class college, particularly in light of growing demand for technical skills and the deficit of these skills by liberal arts majors. - Most comments reflect a desire for ways that respondents would like to see Emory change rather than how we expect Emory to change. 3. Please describe your vision of what it will be like at Emory if we succeed in establishing a friendlier and more affirming sense of community? Students – First Session - Promote a more international community. Internationals give such a different perspective. - Everyone retain your own identity but yet increase your awareness and tolerance different individuals. - There seems to be competing views on this idea; however, there needs to be something that ties individuals to their alma mater. - Religion - allowing more a sense of understanding - spirituality is important. - The comments in this discussion do not really apply to the question at hand...especially to what their vision would be. The comments are still valid. - In general it seem that the people think that it will be a better place (happier place) to live if we succeed and it would be more conducive to learning as well. Students – Second Session - Balance between sports and academic concerns. - Emory as a top ranking school instead of second choice for people who can't get into "better schools". - An attractive school for international students. - More concerns with academic issues, for there is a general impression than the school is run more like a business than like an academic institution. Faculty, Administrators & Staff Session - Increased intellectual atmosphere. - Support of local community- Emory Village, Druid Hills. - Regain Emory's prestige and reputation. - United experience of all students and staff, an increased feeling of belonging among everyone. - Emory will be pedestrian and a more open and inviting place to live and work. - Increased participation in Emory by students and the community. - The community around us will be happier with us - positive community relations. - Increase the number of human contacts--person to person interactions. - Allow students here to have a full life experience. - Decreased competition for resources. - Stronger lines of communication will be established. Alumni Session - More university involvement with alumni -- tapping into alumni expertise. - University involvement in public affairs -- reaching out to metro Atlanta. - Mentioned in same breath as Ivy League; recognition of accomplishment. - Maintain diversity. - Better Emory Village/immediate community relations. - Love of school; long-standing ties to university from students. - Losing exclusive image (rich white kids). - Recognition in Atlanta. 4. Would embracing traditions and building a greater sense of community at Emory be beneficial or detrimental to your personal objectives? Students – First Session - Some confusion exists around what tradition entails and how it would take form at Emory. - Many see a multicultural focus as essential. - Differences between grad and undergrad concerns are pointed out. - Concern about Emory’s ratings and reputation also emerges. Faculty, Administrators & Staff Session - It is important to define our traditions - they cannot be created. - Need to define and enhance our community -- what is in the past and what we expect for the future. - We need to recognize the different nature of our student body as it impacts our traditions and recognize that our students are adolescents and should be open to change. - We need to identify what will provide a lifetime connection to Emory. - Our traditions need to also embrace the fact that as a member of the Atlanta metro, our community is much more spread out than it used to be it has been suggested that we bring faculty and staff to live on or near campus. Alumni Session - Traditions convey shared enthusiasm that fosters spirit and makes people feel more connected to the university. - Also, fostering Emory tradition strengthens the reputation of the university and makes everyone's educational credentials more valuable. - Traditions allow more connections between the generations with emphasis on more legacy programs. People feel that their traditions are passed on to children and grandchildren. That is essentially what tradition is all about. - Traditions that make alumni feel welcome at the University and want to maintain ties either by returning to the University or by other means. - Traditions that strengthen the local community and draws on the local community. 5. Additional Comments - Get a communications major. - More variety of activities. - Grads are more serious then undergrads, different goals. - Great athletics, they should be given more credit. - Build a sense of community.Students – Second Session - There is a rich-kid environment as a result. - Emory does not have community. - Some policies/practices hinder or support community should come before tradition. 6. Can you think of traditions which should be nurtured or new ones which should be established (and how?)? Students – Second Session - Many want football, others don't think that it will do anything except hurt campus. - Many complain, but few new ideas. - Dooley, Wonderful Wednesday, bid day. - History of Emory could be taught to freshman. - Traditions need to start with students. - Streak the quad! Alumni Session - Athletics-SWOOP. - Greek System. - Arts, such as: Glee Club, performing arts Voices of Inner Strength No Strings Attached Carlos Museum Freshmen spirit Freshmen seminar - Alumni activities, such as: Social Events Scholarships University Involvement with current students Lecture Series Evening at Emory Cultural events Lecture series - Student social events: Halloween Ball Charter Day Moderator Observations Students – First Session - People are interested in the abstract, but not realistically able to adopt that Community. It's always outside themselves and they have to choose to grasp it and hug it. - Specifics were: the importance of common eating spaces, times. - As far as the group process went, it seemed to draw out a number of levels of response - emotional, intellectual, social reflections. An articulate and bold group of people who seemed to have thought about these issues spontaneously and deeply. - Many are unclear as to what we mean by "traditions". Which ones? For whom? What are we seeking to create? - Themes: 2) They feel pressure to leave campus (DUC and dorms) after first year. 3) Need more unifying traditions (Dooley Ball, better sports boosters, Charter Day, Heritage Homecoming). 4) Needs a more centralized forum that will coordinate the many events at Emory, make sure there is less duplication in these events, and provide more comprehensive publicity. - The students think of themselves as "atomistically" taking care of business in their own busy ways. They expressed a need to feel more attached to others in ways that do not interfere with their independence. - The alienated eating environment was striking for me. Also, the comment about the bizarre feeling that the campus gives people when buildings and flowers seem to pop up randomly. Need for a way to get graduate and professional students more integrated. And the consensus that sports would positively change Emory, despite the President’s feelings about this issue. - Seems to be a built in dynamic of tension between desire for community/ tradition (like more homecoming activities, student spirit) and the perception among students that the type of students attracted to Emory are the type that would adopt tradition and spirit. Students come without high expectations of community, but still feel a lack of physical space, feelings that the university cares little about students symbolized by the visibility of the President, using the DUC more for student activities, and food spaces more available. - Office of communication should be created to bring together all parts of the Emory community, so we can know what's going on. - Emory should appreciate what it does have…. each other! Students – Second Session - Very academic, very intense. - There were amazingly satisfied students and very unhappy students and some in between. - Want residential life, small campus experience: good food, immediacy, person to person contact, small classes, better on-campus housing. - The most important single nonspecific idea that people perceived was that it was impossible to create traditions - that Emory needs to stand back from the process of spontaneous generation of meaningful activities. - Ditto. - The older students are cynical, the Oxford students are old fashioned, and the graduate students are specialized and into their own worlds. - I liked the idea of asking the Bookstore to sell Emory apparel at half price to encourage students to wear Emory stuff. - Want decent arts scene, with good theatre space and real commitment to the arts. - Less events, bigger scope, more press. - Want to have more interaction with alumni in order to establish a sense of connection with Emory's history. - They asked for an Emory history course for students early in their time here. - This group was much more dualistic in its thinking - right and wrong - one way or the other - very little gray. Interesting that the first group (mostly grads) was much more mature. - Most of the happy students had relationships with faculty. - Better student center: warmer, cozier, more facilities. - I was impressed by their generally upbeat and positive attitude about the future of Emory. - Want Emory Village to be massively improved and become a focal point for building social and community life. - Let people be. Don't force stuff on them. They will do it if they want and they'll do it on their own. - Improve Emory Village as an alternative to building more social space on campus. - Emory seems to need a combination of residence life and planned activities that keep people near but not necessarily directly ON the campus for most of the time. Almost all of the students in our groups agreed that Emory needed to fix its residential policies. - A lot of potentially exciting things at Emory. Problem is with students not the institution. - Feel disengaged from departments, in particular with the speakers that are brought in - don't see that there is any attempt to bring well rounded programs to campus - but only very marginalized programs. Students don't feel welcome. - Grads and undergrads should get to know more about each other. Much to be gained from this kind of community. - The people in these groups have been a very special subset of the Emory community. Will their feelings about community be anything like those of the people who didn't come to a Focus Group?. - Students who take initiative seem to find what they want at Emory, but still seem to be a longing for more tradition, particularly for a central gathering place where students naturally go for a number of things. - Traditions can generate themselves if there is enough structure to allow it to happen-- - There was the sense that genuine community exists but that they were somehow left out of full participation or had only second-class citizenship. - Most students seem to be satisfied with the academic and other growth experiences, but there is a longing for more social interaction that happens through traditions like building up a sporting event with other activities attached to it. Faculty, Administrators & Staff Session - People will seek it when and where they want to. Don't force it. - All participants agree resoundingly that we should be getting paid more. - "Some traditions are better not continued" (sexism) -- Emory has done better job over time. - Students only seek to "gain" or "consume" not to delve deeply into an academic subject. - Feelings of disappointment that Emory hasn’t met its aspirations to become a top-notch academic university. - Demands on the faculty don’t correlate well with the support for the faculty. - A faculty club on campus would allow members to meet across divisions. - Emory is ignoring Druid Hills High School and should take a proactive stance. - A communal space that is truly welcoming -- in which people will linger and talk -- seems most desired. Alumni Session - The real goal here is to improve the living conditions: more comfortable spaces, better food, more intimate surroundings. Make Emory (the Village too) a college, not a research university. - The main realization is that the people who were/are active will remain active. Need to pick people who care. The future starts in the Admissions office and in Human Resources (hiring practices need to be human oriented and not paper/legal oriented). - The majority of people from each group agree that the spirit starts from the top and fills the space. Chace needs to make this a priority and really do something. Visible, but not quickie Band-Aid or superficial gloss. - Stop the hype and build the infrastructure. - The place lacks a history. This is essential for long-term connectedness. - It's about the people. It's about the soul. It's about the emotion. It's not about the physical plant. It's not about the portfolio or endowment. It's not about the ranking. - Emory needs to get out of the way of traditions building - it needs to get out of the way of trying to create community by fiat, and to think, if it wants to see more community, that thinking outside the box is the key. - Improve community at Emory by: a. have one central hang-out. Create a center for activity. Develop the more social aspects of Emory Village (e.g., putting in a bar). b. have more targeted communication with alumni. c. seek out alumni in other parts of the country to get their opinions/suggestions (i.e., not just folks in Atlanta -- do focus groups in other cities).
e. continue to get and KEEP good professors. f. find ways to have alum get advice, etc. from professors -- or other alum. g. seek out workplaces where alum are employed to build networks for current students seeking employment. - We could be using better technology to tie in with the Emory alumni community, some have a hunger to find ways to keep connection alive, they need an excuse to come back for a meaningful or enjoyable annual visit or pilgrimage. At the same time, Emory’s growth, facilities, rising academic quality of students with professional focus work against community and tradition, plus a lot live off campus and Atlanta is an attraction all its own. - The other thing is, provide what is necessary to support alumni and student community, and let it happen--do something! Not just another focus group! - We need to find something to weave across disciplines and divisions. - The university is stagnant. We’ve lost opportunities. People on top need to do a lot of thinking about how to get to our ideals or it will stay at: "Here’s my money; give me my degree." - Traditions need to start at the department/division level, etc. – like the hooding ceremony – and not at the top to be passed down. - Need something people can get excited about. We all eat, sleep, have a social need to congregate. Need to look to those things to find a commonality and transcend trends. We have awards programs and celebrations for all sorts of smaller groups, but we need to get something to pull all the groups together. - Need streamlined, concerted efforts because currently we just talk about problems, throw money at them, then they flounder because it is disorganized. - Maybe put something – some communal place – in the space from where the nursing school is moving. We have an inferiority complex about, "We can’t do it," "We don’t have traditions," etc. Our ideas are good enough. I’m tired of hearing about what others are doing. |
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