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Gaylord College Graduate Program Alumni

Our Program, Your Story

Team Affinity

Campaign

Gaylord College Graduate Program at The University of Oklahoma

Team Affinity

Marcus Hecox Copy Writer

Courtney Kittrell Editor, Creative Director
Chantel White Task Manager, Visual Department
Mike Brestovansky Head of Research and Development

JMC 4403 Public Relations Campaigns

Spring 2015

Instructor: Dr. Katerina Tsetsura

TEAM AFFINITY
Our Program, Your Story

Gaylord Graduate Programs

Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication
395 W. Lindsey St., 3140
Norman, OK 73019
Direct: (405) 325-2722
To Whom It May Concern:
Team Affinity humbly submits for your consideration the Our Program, Your Story
campaign.
Composed as part of Katerina Tsetsuras PR Campaigns course, Our Program, Your
Story is a campaign aimed at helping Gaylords Graduate Programs to reconnect with its
alumni via a rejuvenated online and social media plan.
Enclosed is the body of the research Team Affinity analyzed during the creation of Our
Program, Your Story, along with materials ready for distribution at your approval.
Our Program, Your Story represents the fruit of a months-long project, our team
members stand ready to provide any additional information you deem necessary and
address any questions you may have.
Your interest and appreciation, as well as your cooperation during the foundation of this
project, is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Team Affinity

Executive Summary
Team Affinity focused on the alumni of the Gaylord College Graduate Program for the
duration of the campaign. The research extensively documented and analyzed this publics
attitudes and beliefs. The alumni of the program feel, in general, that they are separated from the
Gaylord community due to poor communication between the public and the client. In addition to
Team Affinitys target public, however, the client should also address these secondary publics:
current graduate students at Gaylord in order to establish productive lines of communication with
them before they graduate, and current faculty and staff at Gaylords graduate programs in order
to ensure that they work to achieve these ends.
The team crafted a series of messages that must be presented to the alumni, including
accompanying secondary messages. These are listed below:
Primary Message
Gaylords graduate programs are proud of your accomplishments after your graduation
and want to showcase your success.
Secondary Outlet
Our Program, Your Story tool, whereby alumni can submit their career information and
success stories to be posted on an alumni page and liquefied through other media platforms.
Primary Message
Give back to your school by helping to teach the next generation of Gaylord students.

Secondary Outlet
Regular lecture series presented by graduate alumni, for which alumni can apply on the
alumni website.
Mentor program involving graduate alumni and current graduate students
Primary Message
Gaylord wants you to remain a part of Gaylord family of JMC successes.
Secondary Outlet
Alumni can submit their career information and success stories to be posted on an alumni
page and liquefied through other media platforms
A system by which Gaylord alumni are allowed to retain their OU login information and
continue to receive OU emails and communications.
The overall goal of the campaign is to increase engagement and dialogue between the
Gaylord College graduate program and its alumni. Specifically, the objectives are 1) to regain
connections with 250 of Gaylord graduate alumni from the last 20 years by the end of the Spring
2016 semester; 2) to enlist 25 people from the pool of active program alumni to be a part of future
program recruitment and promotion tactics by the end of the Spring 2016 semester; 3) to ensure
that passive program alumni have several platforms to engage with the graduate program and to
receive news updates, which, in turn, will convert them from being passive alumni to active, by
the end of the Spring 2016.
In order to carry out these objectives, the client must incentivize alumni reconnection and
develop a more holistic communication presence. Team Affinity

proposes that the college build and implement the Our Programs, Your Story page.
This feature allows alumni to submit information about themselves to be featured on the
website, the Facebook page, and other Gaylord Graduate Program alumni publications.
Furthermore, the college could hire a media coordinator to create a more personable
communication network between alumni and college administration. Additionally, the
client should improve one-on-one connections between students and faculty and build an
image of Gaylord as a hub of professional networking by developing a faculty mentoring
program for current graduate students and creating networking workshops where
professional contacts of the faculty can meet with students personally.

Team Affinitys goals for all secondary research were to discover the best
practices/channels to connect with alumni of graduate programs in the United States, to
identify possible self-interests and trends of graduate program alumni that would be
useful for studying the teams specific public and to understand the factors that contribute
to alumni perceptions of their graduate program. These research goals helped the team to
discover how to increase engagement between alumni of the Gaylord College graduate
program and the graduate program. The research group conducted secondary research of
the best practices in engaging alumni with their college/university and/or graduate
program, strategies that were most effective in connecting with alumni, media scanning
including 1) industry specific media 2) traditional media, and 3) social media. The
research group also received information that the program already gathered about its
alumni through exit surveys taken prior to graduation from the program.
The team began by researching ten articles each, equating to 40 total articles in
total. These articles were found through a diverse array of methods such as searching
online library databases, scholastic websites, prominent online newspapers, graduate
program blogs, etc. As the research progressed, articles were added and removed from
the overall findings based on relevancy and clarity.
In order to gauge positive and negative reactions about the Gaylord Graduate
Program specifically as well as discussions about graduate programs in general, the team
utilized social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter as well as conversational
media such as graduate student blogs. Using keywords such as graduate program,

masters degrees, and top institutions, Team Affinity searched for pertinent
conversations that happened over the past year.
The Gaylord College Graduate Program Facebook page had 204 likes while the
OU Graduate Student Life page had 1,727 likes. By contrast, some of the surrounding
universities had differing numbers. The University of Kansas, Texas Tech University,
and Oklahoma State University each had one page for all graduate programs. Graduate
Studies at the University of Kansas had 1,945 likes, Texas Tech University Graduate
School had 342 likes, and Oklahoma State University Graduate College had 1,429
likes. The University of Missouri does have a Facebook page for its journalism graduate
programs, titled Missouri School of Journalism Graduate Studies, which has 265 likes.
The University of Texas does have a Facebook page for its Moody College of
Communication (Moody College of Communication - UT Austin, with 4,296 likes), it
does not have a JMC graduate program page or a graduate studies page in general (See
Facebook Pages in Appendix II).
In terms of Twitter, the majority of the conversation about graduate programs came
from colleges tweeting on behalf of their perspective programs. Many offered financial
aid information in the tweets. The conversation amongst specific Twitter users outside of
college accounts was minimal. What was discussed, however, was mostly positive about
graduate programs in general regarding how to choose the correct graduate school for
ones personality.

Several major findings were learned through the secondary research process.
First, in terms of social media engagement, alumni are more attracted to websites that
display a level of professionalism. In other words, an Internet presence in the form of an
online, interactive resume where they can be contacted for professional purposes is more
appealing than being a part of a social forum. A high level of interaction between
students and faculty on social media is also necessary to create and maintain effective
relationships between administration and students. Second, a motivating self-interest of
alumni is the trend that a masters degree is becoming the required degree level in many
professions. This trend in education meant alumni needed to see themselves as important
factors in recruiting new students to the program. Third, the single most important factor
that affected alumni perceptions was the extent to which the faculty helped outside of the
classroom. Alumni had more positive views of their graduate programs/universities when
they felt the faculty was genuinely interested in their success after graduation.
Another major finding from secondary research was in order to create long-lasting
rapport with alumni, they needed to receive more personal correspondence such as
personalized emails, postcards, etc. Finally, colleges that offered alumni services like
lifelong personal e-mail accounts, home pages for each graduating class and regional
alumni newsgroups on the Internet, made it easier for former students to keep in touch.
These secondary research findings gave the Affinity team a foundation to begin their
primary research and provided initial insights about the study population.

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Through primary research, Team Affinity sought to gather alumni perceptions of

the Gaylord College graduate program specifically positive and negative. Also, the
team wanted to discover the most effective ways of providing information about the
program to alumni to assist in promoting the program and helping recruit new students in
the future. From qualitative and quantitative research, the team learned how the client can
reach out to alumni to increase their engagement with the program which will help in the
recruitment and promotion of the graduate program.
Team Affinity conducted primary research by sending surveys to alumni of the
Gaylord College graduate program via email and conducting follow-up interviews of
survey participants both in person, over email, and via phone conversation. The online
survey calculated 74 responses; Team Affinity sifted through each response and
eliminated surveys that could skew the final calculation empty surveys and participants
who stated they did not attend the Gaylord College Graduate Program. The final survey
sample was 68 responses. From these responses, Team Affinity was able to set up and
complete six interviews. Furthermore, the team utilized the comments section of the
survey to compile additional feedback regarding the Gaylord Graduate Program.
The online survey supplemented by multiple face-to-face, email, and phone
interviews showed that, overall, the Gaylord College Graduate program has a positive
perception amongst its alumni; many members, if given the chance, would work to obtain
their masters degree at Gaylord College again. The concern is surrounding the
connectivity between alumni and the college. Many respondents feel as if there is not a

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consistent means through which the Gaylord Alumni Association contact them. There is a
strong desire to be involved and connected with the college through attending multiple
events, participating in alumni-undergraduate mentor-mentee programs, and staying upto-date with current events, but there is no means by which to do so.
The team narrowed its target group to alumni of the graduate program and
developed key messages specifically for alumni. Key messages for graduate program
alumni are:

Gaylords graduate programs are proud of your accomplishments after your

graduation and want to showcase your success.

Give back to your school by helping to teach the next generation of Gaylord
students

Gaylord wants you to remain a part of Gaylord family of JMC successes.

The overall goal for the campaign was to increase engagement and dialogue between
the Gaylord College graduate program and its alumni and to due so by setting three
specific objectives to be reached:
1. To regain connections with 250 of Gaylord graduate alumni from the last 20 years
by the end of the Spring 2016 semester.
2. To enlist 25 people from the pool of active program alumni to be a part of future
program recruitment and promotion tactics by the end of the Spring 2016
semester.

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3. To ensure that passive program alumni have several platforms to engage with the
graduate program and to receive news updates, which, in turn, will convert them
from being passive alumni to active, by the end of the Spring 2016.
From the start of the Spring 2015 semester to April 30, 2015, roughly three and a half
months, the team was able to reconnect with 28 graduate program alumni and one
influential alum that provided information for a feature story to contribute to the teams
Our Program, Your Story implementation message. The team was also able to create
new content for an alumni page on the Gaylord College website that the client would be
able to use immediately. For future efforts, the team provided the client with plans for
immediate, short-term, and long-term deliverables that would enhance the campaigns
ability to reach all objectives set forth by the Affinity team.

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Backgrounder

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The School of Journalism at the University of Oklahoma was first established in

1913 and reached college status in 2000. Although the Gaylord College of Journalism
and Mass Communication is young, its journalism program is one of the best in the
country being named one of the nations top ten journalism programs. Gaylord faculty is
mixed with renowned researchers and practitioners and its facilities provide students with
cutting-edge technology. It is the first journalism program in the nation to be named an
Apple Distinguished Program because of its across-the-board integration of Apple
technology. Gaylord College provides students with a variety of opportunities to become
trained, experienced experts in the journalism field.
Gaylord offers students a unique opportunity to receive their masters degree in
professional writing, which is designed to develop and sharpen writing skills for students
interested in producing novels, screenplays, and nonfiction books. The Master of Arts
program curriculum includes: advertising, broadcasting and electronic media, journalism,
mass communications management and public relations. The Ph.D. in Mass
Communications program has emphases in media arts, News and Information and
Strategic Communication.
Top schools in the field of journalism pride themselves on the quality and
diversity of their programs, state of the art facilities, and prestigious professors. These
characteristics help gain the interest of incoming undergraduate students, graduates, and
notable professors. The problem Gaylord College faces is a lack of knowledge about their
alumni and the strengths and weaknesses of the program according to them. In order to

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solve this issue, Gaylord College must find a way to connect with its masters and Ph.D.
alumni to gain their insights about the program.

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Situation
Analysis

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Current State and Reputation of Organization

The current state of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass

Communications is that Gaylord is a top-ten journalism and mass communication school
in the nation according to TVweek.com and Radio Television Digital News Association
(Gaylord College, 2014). The undergraduate program is making great strides in becoming
a top journalism school. This leads the college to becoming a better graduate program.
The Gaylord Ph.D. program is a world-renowned program evidenced by top-paper
awards and paper presentations at national and international academic conferences in
recent years (Tsetsura, 2015). Gaylord offers graduate degrees in three areas: Master of
Arts (MA), Master of Professional Writing (MPW), and a Doctoral (Ph.D). The MA
program offers emphasis in strategic communications, broadcast and electronic media,
journalism, and mass communication management (Gaylord College, n.d.). The Ph.D.
program offers concentrations in news and information, strategic communications, and
media arts (Carstarphen, 2014). There were 26 new graduate students that enrolled for the
fall of 2014 in which 41 applied to the program (Carstarphen). The MPW program is a
unique option for Gaylord students as it is one of the few in the country (Carstarphen).
This program helps separate Gaylord from many of the schools because most schools do
not offer this degree. The primary research noted that a majority of the alumni is satisfied
with their education. The survey showed 83 percent were satisfied. Fifty-six percent
(37/66) also said they had a positive experience in the Gaylord graduate program. These
people are the brand of the graduate program and their positive experience can only help
the graduate program. The college has a strong achievement in getting their students

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ready for the working world. A majority of the surveys concluded that Gaylord graduate
programs prepared them for the journalism and mass communication field after
graduation with 48.5 percent (32/66) agreeing and 27.3 percent (18/66) strongly agreed.
This shows the graduates are ready and feel prepared to enter the working world and
industry. This helps to build the reputation of Gaylord.
One problem that showed up during research was enrollment. Enrollment dropped
from 92 graduate students in the fall of 2013 to 73 graduate students in fall of 2014
(Carstarphen, 2013 and 2014). This was a decrease of 21% of graduate students. Another
major issue was the drop in enrollment from the MA program. It went from 58 graduate
students in 2013 to only 39 students in the fall of 2014 (Carstarphen, 2013 and 2014). As
of right now, the Gaylord graduate program just does not compare to the top graduate
program like Missouri. [See Appendix I].
Main Issue(s)
The main issue with the Gaylord College of Mass Communication graduate
program according to the client and supported by interviews was the absence of a strong
connection between the graduate program and the alumni. The client also noted most
people stay most connected with their undergraduate college. They built that connection
as they are involved more on campus. It is harder to build that connection with the school
when they are working and going to school at the same time. Another issue the client
mentioned was a lack of promotion of the program and recruitment. The graduate
program lacked an identity, which made it harder for the school to identify the target

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public for recruitment. The client also recognized that the graduate program website
needed to be updated in regards to content. Based on the primary research, one issue was
there were communication problems between the alum and Gaylord graduate programs.
Finding ways to better communicate with the alum is going to be an important process,
which will also help build the connection between the alums and Gaylord.
Organization Performance in Relation to Identified Issues
The Gaylord graduate program needed to do a better job of getting and staying in
contact with the alumni. There was not a full database that was accessible at one time.
Gaylord had to contact OU alumni center to get more alums for the agency to be able to
contact more Gaylord graduate program alumni because they did not have the full contact
database. Gaylord sent out monthly newsletters, but they needed to do a better job
making it more personable. Although the monthly newsletters are sent out, the majority
of the interviewees did not know or receive the newsletter. One interviewee said
correspondence is only received when doing surveys for the college. The alumni needed
to feel a personal connection to the graduate program, and they were not getting that. The
interviews indicated that there was a loose or a very small connection between the alumni
and Gaylord. The survey noted that the most common answers were neither or yes to
feeling connected with the school with each getting 31.8 percent (21/66). The Gaylord
graduate program did not have an identity. According to the graduate program website,
the graduate program targeted both professional and academic treks (Gaylord College,
n.d). The majority of interviewees also pointed out that Gaylord graduate program did not

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have a strong direction when they were in school. The client felt it needed to focus on one
trek or the other. The program direction determined whom the graduate program planned
to target.
The enrollment dropped by 21% in the graduate program this year compared to
the previous year (Carstarphen, 2014). This showed that the program needed to do a
better job of promoting the graduate program and recruiting people to come. The survey
indicated an even split among the alumni to help recruit new members with 32.8 percent
(20/61) saying yes, 31.1 percent (19/61) saying no, and 36.1 percent (22/61) being
unsure. Gaylord needs to tap into those who are willing to recruit and persuade those who
are unsure to also recruit to improve enrollment issues. The website also needed to be
updated with information from this school year. On the news portion, the last thing that
was published was from July 2014 (Gaylord College, n.d.).
Benchmark/ Best Practices Analysis
Being able to benchmark the Gaylord graduate program was important to a do a
best practice analysis to engage alumni. It allowed the graduate program to be assessed if
what they were doing was good compared to other schools or what the program needed to
improve on to be competitive with other schools. According to Tsao and Col (2005),
there are three variables that determine if an alumni stays connected: Impact of the
university on their life, continued communication, and perceived quality of their
education (p. 383).

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One of the best practices on engaging graduate alumni is connecting alumni with
the faculty by offering them a chance to speak as an expert at exhibit openings or other
events and this also extended to international level (Trinity College, n.d.). The
researchers discovered that Gaylord did bring in alumni to speak at events as well. Last
year, ESPN anchor and Gaylord alum Dari Nowkhah came back to speak at Gaylord.
Alumni were also offered the chance to come and speak to classes throughout the year.
The international level was a great opportunity offered that OU did not. Duke offered 35
alumni travel programs annually for seven-fifteen days to work in their field with other
Duke alums (Trinity College, n.d.). This was a unique practice that would engage the
alumni and keeps them connected with the college.
Another practice schools have used to engage alumni was to showcase them in
communications from the school, which helped when recruiting prospective students
(Trinity College, n.d.). The Gaylord Graduate College does this as well. Social media is
also a good way to engage with alumni and promote the program (Trinity College, n.d.).
There was no current Gaylord graduate alumni twitter that people could connect with. On
social media, Gaylord showcased alumni including KWTV sports anchor Dean Blevins
and Executive Producer Stephanie Frederic. The program did a good job of showcasing
their distinguished alumni. Another best practice was a magazine that allowed the alumni
to learn more about the college (Trinity College, n.d.). Gaylord has Pulse, a magazine put
out by the JayMac Alumni Association (Gaylord College, n.d.). The magazine is the

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schools alumni publication with up-to-date news for all Gaylord alumni to stay
connected.
Media/Periodical Analysis
Initial media/periodical scanning conducted through secondary research, the
research team uncovered little to no coverage on the Gaylord College graduate program.
There was, however, some insightful information in regards to best practices for graduate
programs and trends in alumni connectivity [refer back to traditional media search and
analysis].After the conclusion of primary research, the team uncovered five specific
platforms for effective communication with alumni from the Gaylord graduate program
Email, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter (both were used in almost the same frequency),
Newsletters (print and digital), and mail. By utilizing these specified communication
channels, the program should observe an increase in positive alumni perceptions and an
increase in alumni connectivity and engagement. Additionally, the program needs to take
notice of new developments and changes in new media as well as major headlines in
sources such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times for information that may
affect alumni that can be shared with them via the aforementioned channels resulting in
ongoing dialogue.
Stakeholders Perceptions of the Clients Efforts
The clients stakeholdersalumni of the Gaylord College of Journalisms
graduate programheld an overall positive perception of the client itself, but a generally
negative perception of the clients efforts. Nearly all subjects interviewed expressed

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dissatisfaction with the clients ability to connect them with the Gaylord community,
citing failures to provide relevant, timely and personable correspondence. All interviewed
subjects also expressed a lack of investment in the clients social media presence, with
perceptions ranging from a lack of interest to an outright lack of awareness. Furthermore,
multiple respondents suggested that the client suffers from a lack of clear identity, a
problem that has endured since the days of the H. H. Herbert School of Journalism and
Mass Communication.
On the other hand, most stakeholders cited the clients faculty as a strong feature
of the client, with many respondents having forged deep and meaningful relationships
with faculty members that endure to this day. Most respondents believed that their
experience with the client during their time at OU was overwhelmingly positive. This lent
most stakeholders a sense of responsibility to the client and a desire to work more closely
with the Gaylord community. Although most respondents felt that they had no close
connection with the current students at Gaylord, these respondents also said that they
would be more than willing to work with the client, should such an opportunity be
presented to them.
Stakeholder Analysis
The main stakeholders of the client were the graduated alums of the Gaylord
College of Journalism graduate program. Secondary stakeholders were the faculty and
staff of the college and the current graduate students in Gaylord. Other stakeholders

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include: all OU students, news media, future students, journalism industry businesses,
donors, and other students at universities across the nation.
There were many issues that the primary stakeholders had. One of the issues the
client talked about was a lack of awareness of what was happening at the college.
Gaylord did not keep them updated as to the recent happenings of the college as the
website was not fully up-to-date. Also, the client stated there was no direction to the
Gaylord graduate program. The lack of program identity could prove to be frustrating to
stakeholders.
Primary stakeholders were aged 25 to 60 and both male and females. They could
be any ethnicity. The alums of Gaylord graduate program were a very diverse group that
became successful in their professions. These are people the researchers are targeting, as
they are the ones who are building the OU brand.
The Gaylord College of Journalism offered three different degree programs:
Master of Arts, Master of Professional Writing, and Ph.D. in Mass Communication. In
relation to an elite journalism school like Missouri who offered over 20 MA degrees and
6 Doctoral degrees, OU did not compare to the amount of degrees offered (University of
Missouri, n.d). The primary stakeholder could compare these schools and choose to go
Missouri because they also offered an online masters or a joint law program (University
of Missouri, n.d). Gaylord needed to highlight their facilities, faculty, and their numerous
top awards over the last three years as their main selling points to counteract the elite
journalism schools (Gaylord College, n.d.).

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The opposition that the stakeholders had is that there is no identity of the graduate
program in Gaylord. The program lacked an identity and direction. The school does not
know if they are a professional or academia school. The degrees at the OU graduate level
are all very specific emphases. This could be good or bad for the stakeholders depending
on if they want the broad spectrum or if they want the specific tailored degree.
By talking to the primary stakeholders and understanding the strengths and weaknesses
they experienced at the college, the agency will get a greater understanding of what
Gaylord is and should become. This will help the agency create an identity for the
graduate program with the help of the alums and get it going in a direction to help
become an elite program across the country.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
There were many strengths of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass
Communication graduate programs that helped it to stand out amongst the crowd.
Gaylord was one of the top 10 journalism programs in the nation for an undergrad degree
according Radio Television Digital News Association (Gaylord College, n.d.). This
helped bring recognition to the graduate program with such an outstanding undergrad
program. The graduate programs were flexible. They allowed for the student to work and
still go to class. Gaylord also offered a specific curriculum for its MA degree. It was
narrow and focused on a specific interest including: broadcasting and electronic media,
journalism, mass communications management, and strategic communications. Another

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strength was the OU alums already out in the world promoting the brand in academia and
professional ranks. They won top awards the last three years including top dissertation
(Gaylord College, n.d.).
Overall, the alumni of the Gaylord College Graduate Program tend to agree that
the program is amongst the top in the country. The majority of survey respondents said
they had a positive perception of the program, overall, and that if they had to do it over
again they would choose the same program. Furthermore, alumni have a desire to be
involved with the program after graduation as shown in the follow-up interviews.
Weakness
Gaylord needed to do a better job staying connected with alums according to
survey results and follow-up interviews. Alumni feel disconnected with the college
despite the desire to be involved. Another weakness was the outdated website. The
website needed to be updated so the potential graduate students could look at the website
and see what Gaylord had to offer. Gaylord did not offer online or joint five-year BA/MA
degrees like other top journalism schools such as Missouri. These programs made schools
that offered these types of programs stand out among other top journalism graduate
programs. Also, Gaylords MA degrees were very specific and focused on one aspect.
Some students wanted the program to be broad where it wraps their entire MA program
into one. This allowed for the student to gain a wide range of knowledge rather than
studying a narrow specific subject.

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Opportunities
The Gaylord graduate program had a plethora of opportunities that it could
explore to take the graduate program to the next level. There is room for a phone/tablet
application that is specifically for Gaylord students and alums. The University of
Southern California used an app called Advance Connect for its alumni database and
donations (McMurray, 2014). Gaylord could have employed this same type of application
but used it as way for students, alums, and the school to stay connected. The application
could have been in the same format as LinkedIn or Facebook that made it easily
accessible and easy to communicate. With all the study abroad programs that OU had,
they could start a MA or Ph.D. program in one of its sister schools abroad that would
really make the Gaylord graduate program stand out. No matter what the outlet, it is clear
that there needs to be a more effective means of communication between the Gaylord
College Alumni Association and the graduates of the program.
Threats
Threats could hinder the Gaylord graduate program in a negative way. With
Gaylord having a top faculty of professors, one threat was professor turnover. They could
get a better job or move to another university. This could also have a negative effect on
the relationships with alumni. The professors they developed relationships with may not
be there anymore, and they could lose the connection to the university without them. The
cost of graduate school on top of an undergraduate degree was very expensive. This was
a massive threat to all graduate programs, as prospective students would not have an

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opportunity to go to graduate school because they could not afford it. Another threat was
schools that offer the joint MA and law degrees and online programs. Online programs
were extremely popular as they allowed the student to do the work at home so it was
easier to have a job. Furthermore, as time passes, the communication gap between the
college and its alumni continues to grow larger and larger. This disconnect could
potentially never be repaired if measures are not taken.
PEST Analysis
Political
Political changes may have affected the Gaylord graduate program. With the drop
in oil prices, many big companies were losing money, which lead to less tax dollars for
the state of Oklahoma, which may have affected the funding from the state (Conrad,
2014). A lot of OUs funding came from the state because it was a public university. One
way the university overcame decreased funding was tuition increases. This made it harder
for students to go to college and put them in more financial debt. Another political
obstacle was with Oklahomas education laws. Oklahoma was ranked 48th in education in
the US (Eger, 2015). This did not directly influence Gaylord graduate program, but it did
allow for people to judge Oklahoma education and that could influence Gaylords
perception.
Economic
There are many economic changes that happened that had an impact on the
Gaylord graduate program. Some of the funding of the graduate program came from the

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state and with the decline in gas prices, the state was losing money that it used to have
from the oil industry. This is hurting the job market as oil industries in the state are
having to lay people off hurting the economy in Oklahoma (Conrad, 2014). Although this
was hurting the state of Oklahoma, this helped people around the nation as they were
saving more money and spent it in other places, which helped the economy around the
nation. Loans and interest rates were also very high. Many students were going into debt
from their undergraduate degree, and they could not afford to go further in debt to go to
graduate school.
Sociocultural
The state of Oklahoma was an extremely conservative state. It was in the Bible
belt and focused more on the traditions. This gave Oklahoma a bad reputation as a state
that did not really accept those who were different and looked down upon them. This
perception could have then been placed on the university as a whole. The recent video of
a fraternity reciting racial chants can also be a deterrent for future students to the Gaylord
graduate program. This type of behavior from students on a national stage causes people
to associate the entire university and state with this type of behavior.
Technology
Technology was always changing in todays world. Someone was always coming
up with new technologies. The universities needed to stay in touch with what was new
and popular and used those to stay relevant with people and prospective students. The
website also needed to be updated. Gaylord College was the first collegiate program to be

named a distinguished Apple program in the nation and had been one since 2013
(Gaylord College, n.d.). Gaylord integrated new Apple products as a supplement to the
learning environment in the classroom.

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Core Problem

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The Gaylord College Graduate Program is failing to create an affinity with alums
after graduation.

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Goals and
Objectives

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Goal
The goal of the campaign is to increase engagement and dialogue between the Gaylord
College graduate program and its alumni.
Objectives
1. To regain connections with 250 Gaylord graduate alumni from the last 20 years
by the end of the Spring 2016 semester.
2. To enlist 25 people from the pool of active program alumni to be a part of future
program recruitment and promotion tactics by the end of the Spring 2016
semester.
3. To ensure that passive program alumni have several platforms to engage with the
graduate program and to receive news updates, which, in turn, will convert them
from being passive alumni to active, by the end of the Spring 2016.

35

Key Publics
and Messages

36

Public
Alumni of the Gaylord College graduate program are men and women between the ages
of 25 60 and have diverse backgrounds. Alumni graduated from the college/graduate
program within the last forty years. Although, a large portion of alumni would not like be
receive communication from the program more than once a month, they are interested in
Gaylord College news and future alumni events. Program alumni are not completely
unwilling to help the program recruit new students, more than half of alumni are likely to
promote the program if they received updates. The best ways to communicate with
alumni and get them engaged is to provide them with information in newsletter format
via email and social media sites, primarily Facebook. Alumni are most interested in
mentor opportunities and guest speaking engagements respectively. Overall, more than
half of program alumni have positive perceptions of the graduate program; however,
there is a lot of room for improvements in connections. Influentials and opinion leaders
for program alumni are active program alumni and current and past professors of the
graduate studies. Gaylord College graduate program alumni will help to accomplish all
campaign objectives.
Messages
Primary
Gaylords graduate programs are proud of your accomplishments after your
graduation and want to showcase your success.

37

Secondary
Our Program, Your Story tool, whereby alumni can submit their career
information and success stories to be posted on an alumni page and liquefied
through other media platforms
Primary
Give back to your school by helping to guide the next generation of Gaylord
students.
Secondary
Regular lecture series presented by graduate alumni, for which alumni can apply
on the alumni website.
Mentor program involving graduate alumni and current graduate students
Primary
Gaylord wants you to remain a part of Gaylord family of JMC successes.
Secondary
Alumni can submit their career information and success stories to be posted on an
alumni page and liquefied through other media platforms
A system by which Gaylord alumni are allowed to retain their OU login
information and continue to receive OU emails and communications.

38

Strategies and
Tactics

39

Strategies and Tactics

Three publics were initially chosen for this campaign. Because of the limited information
we have regarding Gaylord Graduate Program alumni, we have chosen this group as our
primary stakeholder. Members of the graduate program alumni will be crucial not only in
gathering information regarding the perception of the program post-graduation, but also
in the ability to spread awareness of the program in the future.

Strategy One: Remain consistently connected with the Gaylord Graduate Program
Alumnus through various communication channels to increase affinity between alumni
and the college/graduate program.
Tactics:
-

Develop a mobile phone application that delivers updates about Gaylord College
to users and provides opportunities for interaction and direct feedback from users.

Create a LinkedIn page specifically for Gaylord College undergraduate students,

graduate students, faculty and alumni

Send personalized e-card correspondence to each alumni member during the

holiday season November and December, to keep them reminded of the value in
connection with the college.

Livestream Gaylord events for alumni to stay connected to the prominent guest
speakers visiting the college, and forums and discussions the college hosts.

40

Strategy Two: Secure the participation of Gaylord College graduate program Alumni in
recruitment of students and promotion of the program.
Tactics:
-

Create a Volunteer Alumni Program where alumni volunteers participate by

attending college programs, hosting events and fundraisers, online recruitment,
and other potential efforts to promote the program.

Establish a big/little program to link graduate alumni with undergraduate

students.

Invite alumni for guest speaking opportunities in classes, events, and discussions
the college hosts both in person and via Skype.

41

Calendar

The calendar will list when our tactics should go to the alumni to reach them at the best
possible time. This timeline should followed when implementing any of the tactics.

42

43

Budget

44

Here is the budget for all that tactics. It gives an estimate cost for implementing the entire
campaign that is suggested. It is broken down by tactic and how much everything will
cost and where that money will come.

45

Communication
Confirmation

Key Public

Self-Interests

Gaylord Graduate
Alumni

Staying
updated with
news and
events, some
social media,
mentoring and
guest speaking

Primary
Messages
1: Gaylord
College is proud
to have
successful
alumni and want
so showcase
their success

Influentials

Active alumni
members,
Former
Gaylord
graduate
studies
professors,
Current
2: Gaylord
Gaylord
College wants its graduate
alumni to help
studies
recruit and teach professors
the next
generation of
Gaylord students
Gaylord College
wants alumni to
remain a part of
the Gaylord
family and JMC
successes.

Objectives

46
Strategies

1: Improve
connection with
graduate program
alumni by
reconnecting with
100 alumni by May
30,2015

1: To regain
connections with ten
percent of Gaylord
graduate alumni from
the last 20 years by the
end of the Spring 2016
semester

2: Increase the
interactivity
between alumni and
the program by ten
percent by May 30,
2015

2: To enlist 25 people
from the pool of active
program alumni to be a
part of future program
recruitment and
promotion tactics by the
end of the Spring 2016
semester.
3. To ensure that
passive program alumni
have several platforms
to engage with the
graduate program and to
receive news updates,
which, in turn, will
convert them from being
passive alumni to active,
by the end of the Spring
2016.

47

Evaluation
Criteria and
Tools

48

Objective 1:
To regain connections with 250 Gaylord graduate alumni from the last 20 years by the
end of the Spring 2016 semester.
Criteria:
An increase in dialogue between the program and alumni.
Increases in members of the Facebook group, Twitter followers and hashtag use.
Growing number of contacts in alumni database with current contact information.
Tool(s):
Use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to survey the number of people engaged and
the number of dialogues occurring.
Use alumni database housed by Gaylord College graduate studies department to
measure the number of contacts with updated information.
Objective 2:
To enlist 25 people from the pool of active program alumni to be a part of future program
recruitment and promotion tactics by the end of the Spring 2016 semester.
Criteria:
Growing number of alumni indicate they are willing to participate in an alumni
volunteer program and/or mentorship program.
Growing number of alumni are actively seeking engagement opportunities with
the program.
Alumni are attending events hosted by the program and/or Gaylord College.

49

Tool(s):
Use social media platforms to gauge alumni interest in participating in
recruitment/promotion programs.
Send emails requesting the participation of alumni in recruitment/promotion
programs and measure the confirmation responses.
Survey GC graduate program and/or GC events for the number alumni attending
Objective 3:
To ensure that passive program alumni have several platforms to engage with the
graduate program and to receive news updates, which, in turn, will convert them from
being passive alumni to active, by the end of the Spring 2016.
Criteria:
An increase in dialogue between the program and alumni through various media.
Increases in members of the Facebook group, Twitter followers and hashtag use.
Increases in responses from program alumni about their opinions, feedback,
updated information and interest in future events.
Tool(s):
Use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to survey the number of people engaged and
the number of dialogues occurring.
Include elements in email/newsletter correspondences that ask alumni to respond
and measure the amount of responses and determine what number of those
responses is from alumni with whom the program has not heard from recently.

50

Example of
Tactics

E-Cards

51 38

What: Stop the Violence: A Discussion About Police Brutality

When: September 18, 2015 at 7 pm
Where: Hall of Fame Room 1150
Gaylord College
395 W. Lindsey
We are looking forward to hearing
studentOK
and73019
community members opinions about
Norman,
police brutality as well as receiving information about citizens rights from Normans
very own police department. Come join us for a stimulating discussion!

For accommodations on the basis of disability contact Kaneisha Lloyd at (405) 325- 5090 klloyd@ou.edu

Event invites need to be send via email to alumni as follows (based on the September 18, 2015
date example above:

One calendar month prior to Sept. 18, 2015.

Three calendar weeks prior to Sept. 18, 2015.

Two calendar weeks prior to Sept. 18, 2015.

The Monday of the week of Sept. 18, 2015.

(If an event falls on a Monday or Tuesday, the final event invite should be sent on the Thursday or
Friday of the prior week

52

If an event is scheduled less than four weeks in advance, email intvites should be sent at least
two calendar weeks in advance as follows:

Two calendar weeks prior to the date by 9 a.m. CT.

One calendar week prior to the date by 9 a.m. CT.

Event invites need to be sent via email to alumni by the following:

The Monday of the week of the event. (If an event falls on a Monday or
Tuesday, the final event invite should be sent on the Thursday or Friday of the
week before the event. Meaning, they will receive two event reminders the
week prior to the event)

Note: Events in which the program would like alumni to attend should not be scheduled within a
timeframe in which alumni will not receive at least two weeks notice.

53

Seasons Greetings, Sarah!

Gaylord College Graduate Program
wishes you and your loved ones a
wonderful holiday season and a
fruitful new year!

August 21, 2015 4 Weeks from event

August 28, 2015 3Weeks from event
We are looking forward to
hearing student and
community members
Sept. 4, 2015
We are looking forward to
opinions about police
hearing student and
brutality as well as receiving
community members
Sept. 14, 2015
We are looking forward to
informaIon about ciIzens
opinions about police
rights from Normans very
own police department.
Come join us for a sImulaIng
discussion!

brutality as well as receiving

informaIon about ciIzens
rights from Normans very
own police department.
Come join us for a sImulaIng
discussion!

hearing student and

community members
opinions about police
brutality as well as receiving
informaIon about ciIzens
rights from Normans very
own police department.
Come join us for a sImulaIng
discussion!

We are looking forward to

hearing student and
community members
opinions about police
brutality as well as receiving
informaIon about ciIzens
rights from Normans very
own police department. Come
join us for a sImulaIng
discussion!

54

Happy Thanksgiving,
Sarah!
Gaylord College Graduate Program
Personalized Thanksgiving correspondence needs to be sent via email to alumni one calendar
week prior to Thanksgiving Day.

55

A Man
of

about Oklahomas history. Moore also

produced documentaries for OETA, the
Oklahoma affiliate

Now a Gaylord Distinguished Alumnus, Moore
continues to serve both Gaylord and h istory
on the JayMac Alumni

The experiencehas
been one I will always
cherish.

Board and the Stafford Air

and Space Museum Board.

Bill Moore has been a part of Gaylord

The experience of working with staff and

College for over a quarter of a century.

professors at Gaylord has been one I will

Moore received his undergraduate degree in

always cherish. How amazing it is to walk into

1979 and 14 years later, he returned to receive

that building and see the latest technology

a Masters degree in Journalism. Moore did

with the wonderful professors there to teach

not stop there, 10 years after receiving his

the students everything they need to know to

Masters degree he helped build Gaylords

be successful.

centennial book.

During his career in video production, Moore

spent time with the Federal Aviation

56

Live Stream Plan

At least two weeks prior to an event taking place, Gaylord should post news
updates about the event with the who, what, when, where and why on social media
platforms including the Gaylord graduate programs Facebook and Twitter. Gaylord
should then create follow-up posts as reminders on all the social media a week after the
first post is sent out. Gaylord again should post another reminder about the event 3 days
out from the event on social media and then again 1 day before the event.
The event being live-streamed will also be announced on the Gaylord newsletter
that is sent out quarterly. Also, it will be on the Gaylord website on along with the alumni
page. It will be placed on the calendar of events on the website when the event is
finalized.

Sample Facebook Post

Two Weeks Out
Ketchum PR CEO, Rob Flaherty, and Ketchum-Europe CEO, David Gallagher will be
visiting Gaylord College on April 23, 2015 as part of our Global PR Dream Course.
There will be public lecture at 12:00 PM in the auditorium. Cant make it, thats okay!
The event will be live streamed on the Gaylord College website.
One Week Out

57

In one week, Ketchum CEOs Rob Flaherty and David Gallagher will be at Gaylord with
a public lecture in the auditorium at noon. The event will also be live streamed on the
Gaylord College website.

Three Days Out

Live Stream: Ketchum CEOs will be giving a public lecture at Gaylord this Thursday.
Dont forget to watch online on the live stream on the Gaylord website.
Day of Event
Dont forget, the Ketchum CEOs lecture will be live streamed today starting at noon on
the Gaylord College website!

April 9 2 weeks out

Ketchum PR CEO, Rob Flaherty,
and Ketchum-Europe CEO, David
Gallagher will be visiIng Gaylord
College on April 23, 2015 as part
of our Global PR Dream Course.
There will be public lecture at
12:00 PM in the auditorium.
Cant make it, thats okay! The
event will be live streamed on
the Gaylord College website.

April 16 1 week out

In one week, Ketchum CEOs Rob
Flaherty and David Gallagher will
be at Gaylord with a public
lecture in the auditorium at
noon. The event will also be live
streamed on the Gaylord College
website.

April 21 2 days out

Live Stream: Ketchum CEOs will April 23 Day of

be giving a public lecture at

Gaylord this Thursday. Dont
forget to watch online on the live
stream on the Gaylord website. Live Stream: Dont forget,
Ketchum CEOs lecture will be live
streamed today starIng at noon
on the Gaylord college website.


Mock Websites:

58

59

60

61

62

Our Program, Your Story

Announcement
We want you to tell your story! We know Gaylord graduate alumni are some of
the best in the country, and we want to show the world! Tell us about your Gaylord
experiences and your career after graduation. You could be featured on our Stories
page. Learn how to submit your stories here: [url here]
Repeated Announcement (once per week for one month)
Dont forget about telling your story! Submit a story about your Gaylord
experience and your career to be featured on our Stories page. Learn how to submit
your stories here: [url here]
After Story Published
[link to featured story]
Meet our first featured alumnus, Bill Moore (1993)! Submit your own stories at
[url here].
Repeated Announcement (twice per month)
[Quote from story, attribution]
How amazing it is to walk into that building and see the latest technology with
the wonderful professors there to teach the students everything they need to know to be
successful. Bill Moore, 1993 alumnus

63

August
1st, 2015 1st Announcement

August 8,15, 22, and 29, 2015
We want you to tell your
stories! We know Gaylord
graduate
alumni are some
August 24, 2015

Dont forget about
of the best and we want to
telling your story!
show the world! Write
your Gaylord
Submit a story about Story Published
about
experiences and your career your Gaylord
[link to featured
aeer
graduaIon, and be
experience and your
featured on our Stories
story]
career
t
o
b
e
f
eatured
page. Learn how to submit

Meet our rst

stories here: [url here] on our Stories page.
your
Learn how to submit
your stories here: [url
here]

Event Calendar

Quote from story, abribuIon]

How amazing it is to
walk into that building
featured alumnus,
and see the latest
Bill Moore (1993)!
technology with the
Submit your own
wonderful professors
stories at [url here]. there to teach the
students everything
they need to know to
be successful. Bill
Moore, 1993 alumnus

Event Announcement

August 31,2015 and Sept 14,

2015

Gaylord College will host Ketchum PR CEO Rob Flaherty and Ketchum-Europe CEO

David Gallagher on Thursday, April 23 at noon. Attendance is free and open to the public. [link
to poster]
*Announcement repeated at one month before event, one week before event, and the day of
event

March 23, 2015

Gaylord College will host

Ketchum PR CEO Rob
Flaherty and Ketchum-
Europe CEO David Gallagher
on Thursday, April 23 at
noon. Abendance is free
and open to the
public. [link to poster]

April 16, 2015

April 23, 2015, Day of

Gaylord College will host

Ketchum PR CEO Rob
Flaherty and Ketchum-
Gaylord College will host
Europe CEO David Gallagher Ketchum PR CEO Rob
on Thursday, April 23 at
Flaherty and Ketchum-
noon. Abendance is free
Europe CEO David Gallagher
and open to the
today at noon. Abendance is
public. [link to poster]
free and open to the
public. [link to poster]

64

News
Gaylord Announcements
Joe Foote, Dean of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass
Communication, will rejoin the faculty in August, resigning his administrative post as
Dean after a decade as the colleges leader. [link to full story]
*Published at the same time the announcement is made on the Gaylord main page

Daily Stories
Announcement
Gaylord visiting professional professor will leave OU and go to Egypt to cover
ISIS as war correspondent for ABC News. [link to full story]
*Published when stories go live on OUDaily.com

65

Evaluation

In order to comprehend the level of current campaign success, Team Affinity has
created the means to evaluate the research compiled and tactics implemented over the
course of the Spring 2015. Furthermore, the Team has formulated the tools to evaluate
the Our Program, Your Story campaign following its implementation over the course
of the next year.
Current Evaluation
To start, the goals of primary research were twofold: 1) to gauge the attitudes and
behaviors of Gaylord Graduate Program alumni about the college following graduation
and 2) to begin to bridge the gap of connectivity between the Gaylord College and its
graduate program alumni. With the assistance of Graduate Student Services, Team
Affinity sent the initial survey to around 350 Gaylord College Graduate Program Alumni
with hopes of a 15 percent response rate (53/350). After collecting and analyzing 74
survey responses, Team Affinity narrowed the results. In the end, the team had a 19
percent response rate (66/350). Of these 66 responders, the team was able to reestablish
connections via email with over 42 percent (28/66). Furthermore, the team was able to
conduct face-to-face and phone interviews with six of these reaffirmed connections.
Ultimately, these respondents, connections, and interviewees ensured the success of the
primary research portion of the campaign.
Utilizing the primary and secondary research as guidance, Team Affinity
compiled a base-list of immediate tactics and deliverables to be implemented. Of the

66

various immediate, short-term, and long-term recommendations compiled, the team

sought to test the Our Program, Your Story concept amongst the recently reconnected
alumni. Team Affinity sent follow-up emails to the 28 alumni who showed interest in
continuing the conversation that the survey began. The team asked these active alumni to
send updated contact information, personal biographies, headshots, candid-photos,
testimonials about their time at Gaylord, etc. Urging alumni, we want to tell your story,
the team hoped for responses yielding partial data from at least five persons. By the end
of the week, Team Affinity received one full informational response from distinguished
alumnus, Bill Moore. While this 3 percent response rate was not the ideal outcome, the
team was still able to compile one full Our Program, Your Story campaign utilizing the
information Bill Moore sent. Furthermore, the following respondents voiced their interest
to participate in the future:

mgwilderman@ou.edu

bobrug@aol.com

ferguson.lew@sbcglobal.net

Through acquiring Bill Moores information as well as the hope for future information
from three other respondents, Team Affinity was able to test the Our Program, Your
Story concept at a 14 percent response rate (4/28). As these replies were gathered over
the course of just one week, the team expects a larger involvement as more time and
effort is put into the campaign.

67

Future Efforts
As the Our Program, Your Story campaign evolves, Team Affinity suggests
coordinators reach out to the 28 renewed alumni connections as well as the three other
specific respondents that voiced their interest for future involvement with the campaign.
Alumni should be urged to tell their story across all media channels: the website,
Facebook, personal email, etc. As information is gathered, the featured alumni of the
program should be changed either per month or twice per semester over the upcoming
year. Based on the swift response time from the four active alumni over the week that
Team Affinity tested the Tell Your Story message, the team believes the college should
receive 20 new stories by the end of the Spring 2016 semester.

68

Based on the primary and secondary research conducted, Team Affinity has an array of
immediate, short-term, and long-term recommendations for the client.
Immediate Recommendations (1 6 months)
Immediately, Team Affinity suggests the creation and maintenance of a Gaylord
Graduate Program alumni-specific facet to the web page. This web page should have tabs along
the left side page navigation tool for alumni to access the newsletter, PULSE magazine, a
calendar of upcoming Gaylord events, an area to submit their experience with the program, and a
section to give back to the program. Furthermore, the college should create a comprehensive
alumni directory based on the information already on-file about alumni. Access to the alumni
directory should be added to the alumni website as well. Coordinators should seek out alumni not
only for any missing information but also to reestablish connections. The traffic from the Our
Program, Your Story campaign should direct alumni to the Submit Your Story section of the
website in order to further these endeavors to gather information.
While Team Affinity recommends the current alumni newsletter be reformatted for visual
appeal and reworked for content, this recommendation is not immediate. In terms of site content,
therefore, the newsletter and PULSE magazine are already in place. The Gaylord website
currently has a section urging alumni to give back to the college via monetary means as well.
Team Affinity recommends, however, that the Gaylord Graduate Program alumni section
mentions volunteer opportunities and mentor programs as means to give back to the future of
Gaylord as well. Team Affinity asserts that bulk of

the website should be arranged on the central theme Our Program, Your Story. Under
the welcome header of the alumni page, the college should feature a selected alumni for a

69

profile of their success. This feature story will be utilized on social media, newsletters,
PULSE magazine, etc. Team Affinity has created the first version of this feature story
focused on distinguished alumnus, Bill Moore.
Other immediate recommendations include updating the current Gaylord
Graduate Program Facebook page to include the program alumni. This change will
connect current students with former students while also increasing the traffic of the
Facebook page already in use. The college can further utilize the Facebook page as a
means to promote both upcoming Gaylord events and their subsequent Livestream online.
In this regards, alumni can stay connected with Gaylord events from across the world.
Coordinators can promote these events, the new alumni website, and connectivity in
general through personalized e-cards. All campaign information should be utilized
linearly as well through all social media outlets, email correspondence, web navigation,
periodicals, etc.
Short-Term Recommendations (6 12 months)
As previously mentioned, Team Affinity recommends that the alumni newsletter
be reworked for content and visual appeal as the Our Program, Your Story campaign
gains momentum. Future newsletters should include the semesters featured profile in
success immediately following the header, as well as any other alumni news. Upcoming
Gaylord events should be promoted in the sidebar of the newsletter, and any new

70

developments in the Gaylord College should be displayed under the section about the semesters
featured alumnus. Contact information, social media handles (for the online newsletter), and all
logos should end the page.
Other short-term recommendations include the creation of a Gaylord Graduate Program
volunteer program and mentor program. As our primary research showed, alumni are interested
and willing to participate in program promotional measures, guest speaking opportunities, and the
mentoring of current students. These initiatives take more time to implement and gain
momentum. While the majority of survey respondents were attentive to these volunteer and
mentor programs, coordinators will still need to enlist these alumni into the actual program. Of
the persons who showed interest in these various endeavors, Team Affinity regained connections
with the following:
Interested in Volunteer Opportunities (recruitment, guest speaking, etc.)

megnick1@aol.com

richard56luttrell@yahoo.com

wbddres@gmail.com

rmercer@cypresscollege.edu

okievideobill@aol.com

pecoretom@yahoo.com

adam.saffer@unc.edu

rlpeck@earthlink.net

johnepoc@gmail.com

cole_hacket@yahoo.com

dbystrom@iastate.edu

mgwilderman@ou.edu

czarofpr@cox.net

dbraden8@mac.com

71

Interested in Mentor Opportunities

wbddres@gmail.com

czarofpr@cox.net

okievideobill@aol.com

richard56luttrell@yahoo.com

adam.saffer@unc.edu

rmercer@cypresscollege.edu

johnepoc@gmail.com

cole_hackett@yahoo.com

dbystrom@iastate.edu

mgwilderman@ou.edu

ferguson.lew@sbcglobal.net

dbraden8@mac.com

72

Long-Term Recommendations (12+ months)

Other recommendations Team Affinity would like to propose based on both
primary and secondary research could take a significant amount of time to develop.
Nonetheless, the team feels strongly that the utilization of a few time-consuming measures
could boost alumni and program connectivity significantly. To start, coordinators could
set up an alumni GoogleMaps page where former graduate program students can drop a
virtual pin on their current location. This feature could allow alumni to reconnect with
each other professionally as they move across the country.
Lastly, Team Affinity proposes that Gaylord College work in conjuncture with the
University of Oklahoma in order to create a system where alumni could utilize their 4x4
and Exchange accounts after graduation. Instead of losing connection with former
students as their personal email accounts change semi-regularly, when a student graduates
their accounts could transfer to alumni status. In this regards, the University of
Oklahoma could maintain its already-established connections while students.
Furthermore, the Gaylord Graduate Program, and the University of Oklahoma as a whole,
could create an alumni database wherein former students use their accounts to log in.

73