Marketing Project for Elon University's Tutoring Center

Consulting Project

Elon University Tutoring Center

Outline of Initiatives for Spring 2011

This semester we had to design a project for my Understanding Rhetoric class for an organization or group that we actively participate in, and therefore, understood the inner workings of. As a result, I selected the Tutoring Center; due to the high level of help that I think it brings to students.

When I originally started working for the Center I wasn’t sure how successful it would be for the students I was helping, and for that matter how helpful I would be. However, I have found that tutoring has brought great personal joy to my life, as well as improved the students that it serves. This is where a personal dilemma arose though. It helps the students that it serves. What about the other students? I have personally found as well that not all students are aware of the Tutoring Center. When friends have told me they are struggling with a class I have referred them to the Center and many of them have had no idea what it is, how much it costs, or even where it is.

I began doing research and found that Orientations Leaders discuss it the first week of class, but many students appear to be in “information overload” and it slips through the cracks. When a student enters an entry-level class, like Statistics or Calculus, announcements about the Center are put in the syllabus, and in some cases reiterated by the teachers. However, at that point students might be unaware of the issues that they are going to have in a class and brush it off.

I created a deliverable that would reiterate, one more time, but in a much more visual way, what the Tutoring Center is. I came up with the posters, which are attached, using the rhetorical techniques that I acquired during my class. I wanted them to be simple and eye catching. The amount of posters on Elon’s campus can sometimes lead to an unawareness that they are even there. I needed to make posters that would appeal to people, so I selected humor as a way of doing that. The “confused toddlers” were meant to attract people’s eyes to the posters and then lead them to continue reading and hopefully become a bit more informed.

An example of their use of campus can be demonstrated through Ben. Ben is a freshman and in MTH 112. At first he thought he had a handle on it, but now his grades are slipping and he is starting to panic. One day after a horribly confusing class he walks down the stairs and sees a funny sign, reads it, and it sticks with him. The next night when he is struggling with homework he remembers that funny sign and makes his way to Belk Library where a tutor is waiting to help him, free of charge.

Although that story is simple, it is the basis for my advertisement. I have learned to love the Tutoring Center and everything that it represents. Therefore, I hope that these posters, and the potential initiatives in the future will allow students to reap the benefits that Elon provides.

Outline for Future Project Plans

My initial proposal for the posters planned for them to be released during the first semester of the school year. That way freshmen who might not have heard their Orientation Leader, didn’t read the syllabus, and potentially are a little nervous about receiving tutoring will have another reminder of what the Tutoring Center is and why it matters to them. I would suggest releasing them about 3-4 weeks in, in the hopes that there is a higher potential that the students who really need the help will be reminded that it is available.

I found during my “poster hanging session” that very few places allow posters to be hung (either officially or just traditionally). However, if you know where to go initially it makes it much easier. Below is a list of approved and common places for posters to be hung:

• Alamance, Mooney, and Carlton Stairwells
• In Irazu (They have a specified location for them though)
• In Acorn (They have a special bulletin board for them)

Other forms of advertisement include the following:

• Digital Moseley Board (Special Format Required, It is attached as well as directions)
• Table Tents (Special Format Required)

Most of these places are great and do contain many classrooms with subjects that the Tutoring Center teaches. However, buildings like Powell, Duke, and KOBC do not allow these posters in their stairwells, which can be difficult since these contain classrooms as well. I am aware that I can’t bring changes to where posters are allowed to be hung, but my hope would be to hang as many posters where they were permitted in the hopes that the students will see them walking into those places on campus.

If plans were to be made to follow in the footsteps of my proposal the posters wording would need to be changed. Attached is one sample document of a way to implement a similar theme, just with new appropriate wording. All of the documents will be emailed to the Tutoring Center in their original PowerPoint format so that future changes can be made to them easily and efficiently. You will notice that there are two different PowerPoint presentations though. This is due to the changed format that the Digital Moseley Board requires.

I would also like to include in this section that if plans were made to put up new posters for the Fall semester, that I would be on Elon’s campus and would be willing to help, even though my class will be over. I truly enjoy working for the Tutoring Center and would love to help bring more awareness and potentially recognition for the work that everyone does. Please feel free to contact me either this summer or in the fall if you would like my future help. My email address is: mferretti@elon.edu.

Thanks!

Morgan Ferretti