Syracuse University is conducting a campus-wide survey to figure out what the school’s identity and image is, and how it should market itself. Although the survey has the right intent, the survey’s questions were not conducted in the right way, which could lead to ineffective results.

It is important for SU to have this survey as now is the best time for growth.

With a new chancellor and new deans in four different colleges, there will be many changes for SU. It’s important at this time of change in the university to have this survey so the school’s new leaders can determine a direction to take it in.

On Feb. 25, Syracuse University sent out an email containing an online survey done through SimpsonScarborough, a higher education market research firm. Nicci Brown, the vice president of SU’s marketing and communications department, said the university is trying to get as much honest feedback with as much detail as possible.

But with the type of questions in this survey, it will not get the desired results.

While the survey itself is a good idea, the way it was carried out is likely to be inefficient and ineffective.

The questions in the survey ask students to make numerous generalizations. It asks questions about SU as a whole, when students are most familiar with their own college and programs.

Some of the categorized questions include: “I would describe my peers at Syracuse as…” followed by eight vaguely written choices to define SU, none of which the Daily Orange Editorial Board found suitable.  Although the survey does offer an “Other” option, the narrow answers provided can lead to weak feedback.

SU’s identity and image should not be defined by such a standard survey from an outside group that does the same thing for more than 1000 other universities. The importance of having an identity is to stand out from the rest, and by using a survey that could be used for any school across the country, SU subjects itself to an identity defined by SimpsonScarborough, instead of itself.

It’s positive that the university is seeking this information from students, but for it to be useful in defining SU’s identity, the survey must be tailored to this university specifically.

Published on March 4, 2014 at 1:00 am