Press Conference: Monday, Dec. 13, 1 p.m.

Contact:
Brenda Dow, Vice President of Client Services
Vincent McCabe, Inc.
Phone: (315) 685-7227

Project KEEP US Findings to be Released Dec. 13
Study Examines College Students’ Plans Regarding Staying or Leaving the Area

(Dec. 3, 2004) -- Who better to find out local college students’ opinions about staying in Central Upstate New York to live and work than local college students themselves?

Project KEEP US (Knowledge Enabling Efforts to Preserve University Students), a research endeavor of students in the “Public Relations Research” class at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, is studying students attending colleges in the 12-county area to find out if they plan on staying or leaving after graduation, or are undecided. The study also seeks to outline factors in students’ decisions to stay or go and to determine student characteristics to better understand research results.

According to course instructor, Jean Vincent, adjunct professor of public relations research at SU and president of Vincent McCabe, Inc., the students’ research initiative can benefit the larger community.

“Politicians, community leaders and organizational consultants have commented in the press about the need to keep students who graduate from local colleges in the area,” Vincent said. “Therefore, the overall goal for the class research project is to add to the knowledge base to improve leaders’ decision-making when it comes to retaining area college graduates. “ The research study findings will be publicly announced at a press conference on Monday, Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. at Syracuse University in the Bartlett Room (262) of Newhouse II and posted to the project’s Web site at www.projectkeepus.com.

Brenda Dow, vice president of client services at Vincent McCabe, Inc., suggested the project and serves as the students’ client contact. “In conducting initial research to define the project, we did not find any effort to directly and broadly survey students at area colleges regarding their intended plans to stay or leave the area after graduation, or determine what factors contribute to their decision-making process,” Dow said. “Our hope is the students’ research findings will be useful to economic development entities and other groups seeking to have more college students settle here, by bringing the voice-of-the-student to the fore via this class project.”

The timeline for the project has been a challenge, with students having to learn about research while completing a full-scale research project within 15 weeks. To meet the challenge, Vincent McCabe Inc. is sponsoring the project, with in-kind services and other support provided by the marketing intelligence firm. “Since our targeted audience is wired, this project is harnessing the online survey and automatic data collection capabilities of my firm, enabling the class to quickly, easily and efficiently survey a large number of students at several area colleges,” Vincent said. “We are also drawing on the firm’s expertise in advanced research techniques and using advanced statistical analysis to get at the unconscious motivators in students’ decision-making processes.”

Project KEEP US is an example of what can be accomplished through educational and business partnerships. “This is one class of 19 students partnering with a small business that thinks and acts big, working together and sharing technology and knowledge on a small scale to achieve big things,” Vincent said.

In late October, the students formed teams to competitively present recommendations for how to best meet the research goal. The winning research plan was then modified to incorporate strong ideas presented by other teams. The students then collectively developed their research instruments and began collecting data in mid-November.

“Given the initial secondary research conducted to facilitate planning of this semester’s coursework and the scientific rigor expected in this course, the students’ research findings could potentially be the definitive study of area college students by area college students regarding this topic,” Vincent said.

Dow said the study was designed keeping in mind the Essential New York Initiative, a report issued in February 2004 by the Metropolitan Development Association (MDA) of Syracuse and Central New York, Inc. She said undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in degree programs at college and university campuses in the 12-county area outlined in the Essential New York Initiative were eligible to participate in the study. The 12-county area encompasses Cayuga, Cortland, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Seneca, St. Lawrence and Tompkins counties.

The student researchers are Sally Alfis, Rebecca Baden, Holly Bernesser, Heather Bowes, Jenna Dalto, Luci Franklin, Alia Galal, Jody Gavin, Lauren Karis, Katie Mack, Nicole Moore, Lauren Munroe, Rebecca Neufeld, Rachel Nierenberg, Jackie Pilato, Rashi Ratan, Kim Thomasch, Sharleen Valentin and Matt Werder.

“We’re excited about the possibilities this project offers to the students, Syracuse University and the community at large,” Vincent said. “We look forward to its unfolding development and how the information can be used by organizations throughout the 12-county area.”