Dr. Hills’ Marketing Research Class Makes Recommendations to Colleges

A continuing frustration for Undergraduate Research is “getting the word out” about opportunities for students to engage in research. Dr. Stacey Hills, a member of the Undergraduate Research Advisory Board, offered her class on Marketing Research to come to the rescue. The results are in. Fourteen teams analyzed the visibility of undergraduate research in USU’s 8 academic colleges, 3 Regional Campuses, and 2 research centers.
On Monday, Associate Dean for Research James Dorward heard a presentation by a team that included Justin Anderson and Melinda Ryan. Their four recommendations to enhance the visibility of UR in the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services will be fairly simple to enact, and best of all, are free or low-cost. Their advice? Create a Facebook page for the College that focuses on student research; use the faculty to promote research in the classroom, adding information about UR on syllabi; create brochures, flyers, and posters for “in your face” information; and update the College website so that information about UR is readily accessible. They also recommended adding testimonials from current undergraduate researchers to the webpage.

The team’s advice actually included overall marketing for the College, which is invaluable, particularly in helping students identify with it. Students know that there is important research ongoing in the College but not sure how to become part of it. The marketing research team has made UR more accessible through their recommendations. It reminds us how terrific it is to have young professionals in the Huntsman School of Business and using their skills and talents to enhance the university experience.