RESEARCH

Background

Internal and External Factors

The History of Student and Professional Orgs

When researching the history of student and professional organizations at the Mayborn School ofJournalism, it was important to break down what we saw in the relationship between students andprofessionals for each of the organizations. And in addition to that, we also needed to look at thebenefits that membership in an organization provides. As a group, we each took one of the organizations with a presence in the school and thoroughly analyzed the history of both the student chapter and the professional organization its affiliated with. There were some common themes that we found among these organizations, which included Ad Club, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Public Relations Student Society of America, National Association of Black Journalists, and the Society of Professional Journalists.

The history of student and professional organizations for most of these organizations is based onthe idea of helping to better students and prepare them for a professional setting. There are manybenefits that come along with a student organization membership such as networking opportunities with professionals, resume and career readiness instruction, and credibility with future employers.

Additionally, membership with organizations can provide benefits in social and personal areas thatparticipants enjoy. A 2019 doctoral thesis by a student at Northeastern University shares that workinggraduate students that took the time to be involved in student organizations felt a sense of community at

the school because of their time in the orgs, developed better soft skills, and comfort with socialinteraction and were able to gain a broader perspective and be exposed to diversity as a result.Additionally, they took time to be in the orgs despite the evident impact it had on their timemanagement, with many citing the greatest benefit as the ability to help others and feel more of a senseof purpose (Oronato-Hughs, 2019).

Some of these benefits can be observed in the Mayborn orgs as well. As previously stated, theorganizations started with the goal of educating students and creating a better future in the field ofcommunication. Networking with professionals is important in the worlds of journalism and strategiccommunication because of the connections that can come as a result. So, with that, allowing students tomake professional connections in a community environment is crucial. Resume and career readiness are also important in a time when many students and professionals don’t know how to write a resume orconduct an interview properly, especially true in a day and age where we hear of the social burnout thatstudents are experiencing. Membership with these organizations allows the students to be invigorated,encouraged, and fulfilled as they continue to learn and grow.

When looking at the history of the relationship between student and professional organizations,we saw that many of them focus on providing a space on campus for members of the professional orgs tocome do presentations for students.

The Mayborn Organizations

The UNT Ad Club was founded in 1983 with the purpose of wanting to give advertising students a glimpse into what advertising consisted of. It was revived again in 2004, after which it saw multiple name changes and milestones. Through the use of ad agency visits and guest speakers, the ad club provides students the opportunity to explore the field to be better prepared before graduation.

Similarly, NABJ and NAHJ each have a goal of expanding networking opportunities and hosting social events for journalists of color. NABJ, which started in 1987 (UNT NABJ, n.d.), offers field trips, special events, and a special opportunity to become the organization’s ambassador. NAHJ chapter at UNT was reinstated in 2020 after being dormant for about three years. A key opportunity is that UNT is officially a Hispanic-serving institution, making up about 33% of Mayborn students. This alone is crucial information because it shows how beneficial NAHJ could be to Mayborn students ifthey were to become a part of this organization.

PRSSA started in 1976 with Dr. Roy Busby as its faculty adviser. Initiating in spring, PRSSAconducted its first meeting on September 22 of that year (UNT PRSSA, n.d.). PRSSA has numerousopportunities and even went as far as not charging their members this semester because they arefocused on recruitment and new members. PRSSA offers internships, scholarships, agency tours, and social events for members to build communication skills outside of the classroom.

SPJ aims to promote high standards and ethical practices in journalism using alumni connections,networking opportunities and career information. The SPJ chapter at UNT hosts informational meetingsand opportunities to connect with journalists who are currently working in the field.

We noticed that there was little consistency with the membership count of the studentorganizations at UNT in previous years, though there’s been a definitive decline in membership and activity in more recent years. While most student organizations maintain a relationship with theprofessional organizations, some of these professional organizations have had little contact with the student chapters, such as the NAHJ student chapter at UNT. This was an unexpected find since the professional organizations are contributed to by the student orgs as these students move forward and become members of the professional groups.

1.2 The Issue of “Not Joining”

Students aren’t joining student organizations in droves like they used to, and according to Sidecar Global (2019), “68% of organizations had difficulty growing their organization in 2019.”In fact, the organizations are now struggling to survive as membership dwindles and individual pressures, such as job insecurity paired with more working hours, rise (Lewis, 2018).

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance during a time of rapidly occurring historical events may cause a sense of burnout among students, making them less likely to commit to an organization. Several issues are contributing to this reality, which we discovered through a focus group and theadministration of an online survey with students in the Mayborn School of Journalism.

One of the largest issues we found was that students have schedules that conflict with the student org activities. When conducting our survey, we found that scheduling was by far the leadinglimitation in students’ ability to get involved because their work or school schedules conflict with meeting times or events. Another major issue was that the students who participated said that they didn’t understand the benefits of joining student organizations with professional ties. If students are not given an incentive to join, then why would they? They know that the orgs exist, but aren’t aware of the real-life benefits of them.

The issues we noted in our focus group and survey aren’t isolated incidents. Similar to ourresearch, Emily Fagell (2022), a writer at Dartmouth, shared that a primary issue with studentorganizations is that they’re all volunteer-based. This can cause problems due to the fact that money is often a major motivator for college students. Since they’re in a new stage of life where they have tolearn how to provide for themselves, contributing free time to something like a student org is difficult.

This is especially true when students are taking on jobs to support themselves and pay their way through school. Because of this, Flagell (2022) said that when it comes to participating in student organizations, “the ability to volunteer is a luxury.”

Time is another important facet to consider since participation in these organizations requiresmembers to have time to give. The theory of student involvement explicitly states that student time andenergy are finite resources, both mentally and physically. This is a necessary consideration whenlooking at the quality of the involvement, including what is learned or taken away from that involvement (Astin, 1984). There’s only so much that a student can put into his or her involvement inanything (Astin, 1984). This can be school, work, family, student organizations, professional development, or anything that might interest them.

Because there are finite supplies of time and energy, it stands to reason that students moreinvolved in outside things like full-time classes, outside jobs, or familial responsibilities will bemore limited in their ability to effectively put effort into participating in student organizations than students with fewer responsibilities (Astin, 1984). According to this theory, motivation and behavior are important indicators of the benefits of student involvement rather than subject matter of technique (Astin, 1984). They illustrate how students feel about the experience of

involvement since students aren’t going to be motivated to join organizations that they’re not interestedin.

In the current state of economic crisis, students may often prioritize investing their time and effort into things that will aid them in terms of their financial status and overall independence. Theprofessional and career benefits of joining student organizations may not outweigh the necessity ofpersonal responsibilities, especially if they’re not effectively communicated.

1.3 The Current Environment for Mayborn Student Orgs

The student organizations at the Mayborn School of Journalism exist with the goal of providingprofessional development, offering relevant industry exposure, and fostering community growth. Theytend to conduct regular meetings once or twice a month, with these meetings being held online or inperson depending on the agenda and pandemic situation.

Attendance of these meetings is free and open to anyone. However, the organizations charge fees for membership benefits, such as agency visits and association with the national chapter. The membership dues range from $10 to $60. At present, most organizations have around 20 active members, with the largest having 47 members. (Jour 4480, 2022).

These student organizations have a robust network of industry professionals and UNT alumni, andthey pride themselves on bringing like-minded individuals together to promote a professionalcommunity. Some of the meetings these orgs host make use of large professional networks by bringingin professional speakers to present to and interact with the students in the organization. The orgs ofteninvite industry guest speakers to do this, allowing the speaker to share experiences they’ve gained andstudents to hear from them and ask questions. These speakers come from well-known companies andprofessional organizations, holding many key positions within them (Jour 4480, 2022). Apart from these speakers, the student organizations also invite Mayborn alumni to come and mentor the students as well. The orgs also host many different activities, which include things like agency visits, networking events, and informational meets. Unique events like internship panels and PR campaign presentationsare held by Ad Club and NABJ respectively. The orgs also offer scholarship opportunities, though there haven’t been any winners within the past year (Jour 4480, 2022).

The student organizations also gain support from their faculty advisors, who often play a key partwithin the leadership structure of the orgs. These advisors help find guest speakers, set up professional events, promote the organizations, and offer guidance to the members (Jour 4480, 2022).

Historically, student organizations have made use of a collection of different communicationchannels like Twitter, Instagram, GroupMe, Org Sync, and org-specific websites to connect with theiraudiences. However, most of them are now inactive on these platforms.

Their digital content is not updated, they rarely interact with their followers, and when they do poston these pages, it’s very sporadic. Besides this, the posts are replicated across different social mediaplatforms without any kind of diversity or a customized mix of content. The majority of the posts aredone on social media with the purpose of announcing several things, including meetings, org updates,and upcoming guest speakers. (Jour 4480, 2022).

Interaction with the audience is very limited, with the majority of the activity being focused on theorgs themselves, leading to low engagement. The number of likes and followers is low, too.Entertaining and personal posts get more attention than informational posts.

Organizations sharing other people’s content get more traction. For example, NABJ receives goodfeedback on Twitter in the form of retweets and comments as it shares a lot of content from like-mindedentities (Jour 4480, 2022).

1.4 Problems and Challenges Facing Student Orgs

There are many problems facing student organizations today. However, the root of many of themrevolves around a lack of engagement and involvement from students. Out of the 66 students surveyedabout student organizations at the Mayborn School of Journalism at UNT, over70% of participants hadnot attended a student org meeting within the past year. This number is disconcerting, especially because the school’s official website states that the majority of students participate in organizations. While this statement may have been true at one point, the survey shows that’s not the case anymore. Research conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic indicated that students who had felt as if they did not belong had less engagement. (Haines, 2019). When we look for reasons why people aren’t joining,we must look at several different aspects of what these organizations are and aren’t doing to make students feel as if they belong like communication, outreach, and recruitment.

With many people still trying to adhere to social distancing guidelines, many organizations stillopt to meet using Zoom teleconferencing. While this is certainly a useful tool that can bridge the gapbetween people needing to isolate and the rest of a group, it is a difficult long-term solution to this issue. The organizations are meeting in person and are still trying to regain the momentum that they had prior to the beginning of the pandemic. Students are tired, stressed out, and even a little awkward as they work their way back onto campus and into social interactions. As student organizations shake off the cobwebs of their in-person formats, it is important to work toward easing the fatigue that many areexperiencing as a result of the pandemic (Leswing, 2021).

An external factor that is a challenge to these student organizations is a lack of involvement from the professional organizations themselves, which we noted previously. According to the organization reports compiled by students for the purposes of this assessment, it was noted that several of the

organizations lacked good support and communication from the local and national chapters (JOUR4480). This is especially important since one of the main factors behind student participation is thedesire to interact with professionals involved in the field the student aspires toward. To share oneexample of this negligence, the SPJ region 8 does not have a listing for the University of North Texas chapter despite the fact that region 8 encompasses the Texas and Oklahoma chapters.

Another factor that can affect membership is something college students know quite well: stress.College students experience the pressure to perform in classes, financial pressure related to the cost ofattending university, and normal anxiety from other aspects of life. For over 20 years, the discussion ofthe mental health of students has been centered around the prevention of school shootings. It is only now through the recent revelations of the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on mental health that the entirety of the weight on student’s shoulders is being discussed (Pumariega, 2021). Though amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, there has always been a trend of removing oneself from unnecessary involvement with the outside world, despite a multitude of potential opportunities to getinvolved. This is a psychological issue without question. But by embracing it as a real issue, organizations have the opportunity to highlight how involvement can work to enhance the mental health of participants in addition to their professional development.

In summary, the problems facing student professional organizations all relate to drivinginvolvement from students. At the core of these problems, we take away two key facts from the surveyanswers taken from undergraduate students. These two facts are only 6% of students surveyed had notheard of student organizations, but over 70% had not participated in them within the past year. Simplyput, purely communicating the availability of the student organizations is not the issue. While there aresome issues with the way they orgs are communicating the information that is exacerbated by thedecreasing effectiveness of organic reach in social media, it is clear that the message itself is still getting

through to students (Marcinuk, 2017). What’s not getting through is the benefit that these organizationscan have on the future careers of their participants and the idea that participation is worthwhile despite a busy schedule. What is evident from even the most passing observation is that students will make time for something that is important. An example is that Mayborn requires an internship to graduate, whereasother programs do not. Students will move mountains in order to meet this requirement. While studentscannot be mandated to participate in organizations, the importance of doing so can be communicated ina way that positions the benefit as being worth the effort to attend.

1.6 Primary Research Results

Overall, while we thought that a lack of awareness of the existence of the orgs might be one ofthe culprits of low involvement (due to the focus group responses), the survey shows this wasn’t thecase. Of the 66 respondents, less than 6.0% hadn’t heard of any of the student orgs, and while the awareness could be higher, NABJ had the highest visibility with 78.7% of respondents possessing an awareness of NABJ. The org with the lowest level of awareness was SPJ, with 36.4% having heard of them.

Chart 1 – Awareness of Mayborn Student Orgs

While all these people are aware of the organizations, the levels of participation are quite low,which is consistent with our focus group. Across all respondents, 71.2% had not taken part in any eventsfor any student organization within the past school year, since August 2021. This category includesremote events that were hosted on Zoom.

Looking at the reasons why this low level of attendance exists, there were several reasons that stood out. Similar to the findings of our focus group, the top difficulties for students that prevented attendance included class schedule, work schedule/hours, and time used to study and dohomework

With these results, 60.6% of responses included class and work schedules, and 51.5% includedhomework and study time.

Chart 2 – Factors making student org attendance difficult

Additionally, another interesting component of the survey covered the optimal meeting hoursthat students listed. Approximately 34.9% said the optimal time would be weekdays between 4-7 p.m., and the same percentage said that the optimal time would be weeknights from 7-9 p.m. This isparticularly fascinating because the majority of students said that schedule conflicts prevented themfrom attending, but these times are roughly when the orgs hold their meetings.

Students also shared that the content provided by the orgs (or that they perceive), doesn’t satisfy the interests of the students. In a qualitative question, many students expressed interest in hands-on learning, professional development like resume and portfolio critiques, and internship/job opportunities. These are things that the orgs don’t currently offer. However, if they took the time to diversify the topics they covered and include some of the ones that students were interested in, thatwould likely increase the amount of interaction that the students have with the orgs.

SWOT Analysis

2.1 Strengths

The student orgs offer a real benefit to the students that take advantage ofthem. o Professional development

Networking

Potential career opportunities that come from these connections

Practical experience

Providing a sense of community with similar people

Scholarship opportunities exist in association with the student orgs and the professional orgs they’re associated with.

2.2 WeaknessesCommunication

Lack of communication across channels.

Lack of content that’s tailored to each platform

Social media pages are out of date, as are websites

Officers within the org don’t always get back quickly or at all

Lack of engagement with students in any way

Not effectively working with students

Not effectively communicating the benefits of membership

Not effectively listening to the issues/feedback from students

Relationship with professional org

The professional orgs aren’t reaching out or participating in the student orgs.

In-person meetings

Not providing variety in terms of the content covered in person

Not presenting information that’s pertinent to student wants/needs

Membership

There are currently few students and they’re not seeking to gain more members

Leadership seems to be weak across many of the orgs

Use of resources

The orgs are not effectively making use of resources made available to them by MSOJ

Dues required to join the org

The benefit of national org membership not communicated in the process of paying dues

2.3 OpportunitiesStudents/prospectivemembers

Students would like to be involved in organizations

Students would like to have different content from what’s currently being offered

Current members

There are resources offered to students within the organizations that could help promotethe orgs
- Students could be equipped to effectively recruit for the student org with peers

They could recruit members through classmates around them

Officers need to be equipped to be stronger leaders

Communication

Efforts could easily be improved to communicate to current and prospective members

Students congregate within Sycamore, which allows prospective students to be targeted by physical, in-person promotion
The space we’re provided isn’t effectively being used to promote the orgs, but it could be.

Providing a more personable touch to communication (putting faces and normal stories tothe student orgs)

2.4 ThreatsOutside obligations

Work

Family

Social life

Homework

Other student orgs

Some of these are more enticing or active than the MSOJ professional orgs

Latino students are more inclined to join general Latino groups rather than those associated witha major.

Stakeholder Analysis

Situation analysis

Students aren’t joining student orgs despite being aware and interested in them.

According to our survey, while only 13.6% of respondents cited a lack of interest in the student orgs as a reason for not participating, 71.2% had not taken part in any of the Mayborn student org activitieswithin the past academic year. A key issue in the situation is a lack of communication between studentsand the orgs. Despite the prevalence of remote communication, students aren’t being drawn in.

The lower levels of involvement seen with the UNT student orgs are not new, with manyorganizations around the world experiencing dwindling levels of involvement. Without clearcommunication of the benefits provided by the org, students lack the incentive to join. Students’schedules also play a part in this, with 60.6% of student responses sharing work and class scheduleswhich made participation difficult. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an observable trend of social media and societal pressures contributing to notable levels of burnout across the population (Landin, 2019). This has contributed to lower levels of involvement. Given this reality, organizations would benefit from the development and implementation of creative solutions to solvethis problem and gain/regain membership.

Core problem/opportunity

Creative and effective communication strategies are key to the continuing success of studentorganizations. Refusing to address the lack of participation in student organizations could lead tostudents losing valuable opportunities for skill development, networking with professionals and social connections among peers. This would have a negative impact on the industry as well.

GOAL

Our goal is to increase the involvement of students in Mayborn student orgs.

BIG IDEA

Big idea strategy

During the research, we found that students are aware of the existence of Mayborn orgs but areunwilling to join as the benefits have not been clearly communicated. Our big idea focuses onhighlighting the benefits of joining student orgs by fostering a sense of belonging as well asprofessional development. It’s an investment in students’ future.

Visual representationsInvestment

Images of money and business connections (handshakes)

Community building in student orgs

Friendly group photos of UNT students representing diversity and showcasing in-personconversations between current and prospective members

Professional development in student orgs

Photos of professionally-dressed UNT students interacting with professionals and org alumni

Community and professionalism

Photos of professionally-dressed UNT students happily interacting with each other and guestspeakers during an org meeting. The students represented are diverse and similarly aligned to the racial breakdown of Mayborn demographics. The UNT students include traits like carrying a coffee, having stickers all over the laptop, and hanging headphones around the necks.

Slogans

“Start Your Next Chapter, Here”

“Invest in Your Future”

“Let’s Grow Together”

“Connect and Make Friends”

HashtagsCommunity

#YouBelongHere

#BetterTogetherMayborn

#WeAreMayborn

Professional Development

#PrepareForTomorrow

#ProfessionalDevelopment

InvestInSuccess

#InvestInYourFuture

General

#UNTMayborn

#InvestInYourPRFuture

#InvestInYourJournalismFuture

#InvestInYourAdFuture

#MaybornOrgs

#MaybornStudentOrgs

KEY PUBLICS with OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES, and TACTICS

Public 1: Mayborn upperclassmen

Primary details

The first key public is Mayborn upper-class students who are not involved with the student orgs and are not working full-time. They may be working part-time or not working at all. They are between the ages of 20 years and 25 years with a racial breakdown of around 40% White, 31% Hispanic, 21% Black, and 5% Asian (Mayborn School of Journalism, 2021). All gender identities are included. These students have more time during their academic careers to benefit from professional development opportunities as they are geared up to start their careers in their fields of study.

Motivating factors

Seeking professional skill development, job placements, and networking opportunities

Opinion leaders

Peers, industry professionals, advisors, alumni, and leaders of professional orgs

Communication channels we’d use to reach them

Print outs/flyers, classrooms, tabling, social media, class visits and email

Primary message

Mayborn student orgs are one of the best places to further professional development and prepare for yourcareer

Secondary messages

Membership in a student org gives students the opportunity to apply what they have learned ina professional setting
Student org membership prepares students for the challenges in the field and helps themovercome the hurdles of joining the workforce
Joining a student org adds value to the resume as potential employers look for candidates who show proactiveness beyond classwork

Objective

Increase the overall membership of student orgs by 18% by the end of the fall 2022 semester

Strategies and Tactics

Encourage upperclassmen to join student orgs through tabling at Sycamore Hall

Offer free food to students who fill contact sheets at tabling

Distribute take-away postcards providing information to prospective members about orgprofessional development with QR codes leading to an org master page
- Provide wristbands promoting Mayborn student orgs

Give cool stickers advertising the orgs

Put a banner at Sycamore Hall for prolonged exposure

Invite upper-class students through digital media to attend an org meeting and further their professional development

Create an org master page comprising updated information of all the Mayborn student orgs

This will be part of journalism.unt.edu

Content will include: Links to orgs’ primary website or most used social platform,written and video testimonials from students/alumni about how orgs helped prepare them for the workforce, an article about the benefits of joining student orgs, table showing org meeting schedules
- Using the contact data from tabling and provide them to the orgs.

Orgs will email students about networking opportunities and events seven and oneday(s) before the event, inviting them to attend. Provide more information byredirecting the students to the org website.
- Post graphics about career readiness opportunities on Instagram and Twitter

Create 30-seond tips or testimonials for IG Reels or TikTok

Public 2: Mayborn underclassmen

Primary details

Mayborn underclassmen not involved with the student orgs is another key public having thepotential to establish a long relationship with the org. They are aged between 18 years and 20years witha racial breakdown of around 40% White, 31% Hispanic, 21% Black, and 5% Asian (Mayborn Schoolof Journalism, 2021). All gender identities are included. This key public has more time to participate inextracurricular activities. They are looking for making new friends and building memories with acollege experience. They are not as focused on career-centered opportunities as Maybornupperclassmen.

Motivating factors

Looking for friends, social opportunities, a sense of community, and seeking ways to spendtheir time

Opinion leaders

Peers, professors, advisors, and mentors

Communication channels we’d use to reach them

Email, social media, resident halls, word of mouth, class visits, and campus events

Primary message

Mayborn student orgs provide students with a community of like-minded people

Secondary message

Mayborn student org is the new place to find your friends and bond with them

According to a study, belongingness is crucial in student motivation and fostering mental health development (Vivekananda-Schmidt & Sandars, 2018)
“Sometimes it is not what you know, but who you know.” Students can build long-lastingconnections with alumni and other members of the communication fields with the orgs

Objective:

Increase the overall membership of student orgs by 18% by the end of the Fall 2022 semester

Strategies and Tactics

Inform underclassmen about org meetings and community-building opportunities through in- person advocacy and distribution of promotional materials
Present to communication students during freshman orientation and distribute postcardswith org details and a QR code linking to the org master page
Arrange in-person classroom visits by student org advocates and distribute postcardspromoting community building through student orgs
Create a “benefits of joining Mayborn orgs” PowerPoint that can be shared duringclassroom visits.
Have academic advisors promote student orgs during advising meetings/class signups

Invite underclassmen through digital channels to join and participate in student orgs

Post and promote social media content on the org pages on Twitter

Have each org update its Org Sync profiles and promote events on Org Sync one weekprior to event. (This is the source students most use to discover orgs and clubs)
Invite students to join the student org channels’ on GroupMe and distribute moreinformation through the channels

Public 3: Current Mayborn student org members

Primary details

The third key public is current Mayborn student org members. This public is crucial forcontinuing the success of the org and recruiting other members. They are between the ages of 18 years and 25 years with a racial breakdown of around 40% White, 31% Hispanic, 21% Black, and 5% Asian (Mayborn School of Journalism, 2021). All gender identities are included. They may be underclassmen, though many of them are likely upperclassmen. They have a greatpotential to influence their peers and persuade them in joining the org.

Motivating factors

Growth and success of student orgs with higher memberships, professional development,career readiness, and community building

Opinion leaders

Org leaders, faculty advisors, professors, industry professionals, student org alumni, otherstudent org members, and professional org members

Communication channels we’d use to reach them

Email, GroupMe, LinkedIn, text, word of mouth, and in-person and zoom org meetings

Primary message

More members, greater opportunities

Secondary messages

More members increase ways of investing in your future and lead to a better reputationfor the student org
More people lead to more ideas and more diverse perspectives

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller (Goodreads,n.d.)

Objective

Increase recruitment efforts and gain 25 referrals by the end of the Fall 2022 semester

Strategies and Tactics

Have current org members promote the student orgs through face-to-face interactions andpromotional items
- Man tabling effort at Sycamore Hall for upperclassmen and distribute promotionalmaterials
- Visit classrooms such as JOUR 2310 and JOUR 3210 to promote the student orgsand distribute postcards
- Present during freshman orientation for underclassmen and distribute flyers

Encourage current org members to promote student orgs by providing incentives

o Provide nice t-shirts with Mayborn student org branding to current org officersand faculty advisors.

OTHER NOTES

Students still rely on Org Sync to find information about orgs; however, the Mayborn orgs are not using this platform. They’re using GroupMe instead; however, interested students can’t access these private GroupMes. Org Synch should not be abandoned; it’s still very effective.

Organic social media is NOT reaching students; however, it’s the primary way the orgs are reaching them. Based on the algorithms, only 3-5% of a platform’s followers will see its content in their news feeds.

Orgs need to promote their content at least two weeks in advance. Ideally:

An email from Mayborn two weeks before the event and an email one week before the event

If social media is used, the content should be pushed two weeks in advance, one week, three days and then the day of the event.

The best way to reach students about student orgs? Most said the signs in front of the MacLab.

Budget and Timetable

Item	Rationale/Details	Quantity	Price per unit	Total cost
Stickers	Different sticker designs to pass while tabling	500	$0.09	$60
Wristbands (RapidWristbands, 2022)	“Mayborn Student Orgs” and the slogan	400	$0.94	$220
Posters	With QR Code. For bulletin boards, displaycases and advisers’ doors	15	2.62	$39.30
Informational postcards	For tabling. With QR code to revised Student Org Section of the Mayborn website	500	$0.32	$220
Banner for Sycamore(Eagle Images, 2022)	Eagle Images. It is reusable. With QR code to the masterlist of orgs	1	$74.75	$80
Food for tabling (Amazon, 2022)	Prepackaged chips, cookies,and plantain chips	2	$60	$120

Promotion on Twitter		10	$20	$200
T-shirts (Custom Ink, 2022)	Tees for current org leadersand faculty advisors; some for giving away tonew members	25	$14	$350

TIMETABLE

Chart, timeline

Description automatically generated

Student org summaries

Student Org (JOUR 4480, 2022)	Date began	Active members	Meeting times
Ad Club	1983	10-20	Alternate Wednesdaysat 6 p.m.
NABJ	1987	23	Alternate Thursdays at6 p.m.
NAHJ	Reinstated in 2020	24 (3 for this sem)	Third Monday of themonth at 7 p.m.
PRSSA	1976	47	Third Thursday of themonth at 7 p.m.
SPJ	–	20	Not regularly scheduled

*Scheduling conflicts can occur for NABJ and PRSSA.