ENGLISH 4567s: Rhetoric and Community Service

ENGLISH 4567s: Rhetoric and Community Service

White Paper, Spring 2015

Prepared by Elly Maras

Major: Psychology
Minors: Integrative Approaches to Health and Wellness and Professional Writing

Report Distributed May 4, 2015

Prepared for
Dr. Christa Teston
ENGLISH 4567s Professor
Department of English, The Ohio State University

ENGLISH 4567s: Rhetoric and Community Service

ABSTRACT
This paper examines the longevity of Greater Ohio Policy Center, a grassroots advocacy
nonprofit organization based in Columbus, Ohio and operating statewide. With a mission to
improve quality of life and increase the economic sustainability of Ohios communities and land
through bipartisan policy reform, Greater Ohio will depend on the support of future young
professionals to maintain its sphere of influence for years to come. Utilizing a sample of 6
undergraduate college student participants, I assessed the effectiveness of Greater Ohios website
as well as its mission as an important nonprofit organization through usability testing and general
questionnaires. In analyzing this data, I found that while no participants were familiar with
Greater Ohio before this study, all participants agreed with its mission as Ohio citizens and
believed in its value for Ohios future. In turn, I make several recommendations that may enable
Greater Ohio to increase its visibility among the younger generations who will one day be
influential leaders of society.
Keywords: advocacy, nonprofit, sustainability, usability

ENGLISH 4567s: Rhetoric and Community Service

INTRODUCTION
A society grows great when we plant trees whose shade we know we shall never sit in.
As this Greek Proverb aptly suggests, Greater Ohio Policy Center plants trees of influence and
progress each day in its mission to enhance the sustainability of Ohios communities and land.
Greater Ohio Policy Center strives towards economic growth and improved quality of life by
implementing bipartisan policy reforms through advocacy, coalition building, education
initiatives, independent research, and project direction.
Referred to as a grassroots advocacy nonprofit organization, Greater Ohio Policy Center
effectively increases public awareness and influences legislative power at a state level. To
achieve these heights, Greater Ohio depends on a developed network of local and national
foundations, nonprofit partners, governments, and government agencies for funding and support.
Indeed, the roots of its trees are consistently strengthened by collaborations with individuals and
organization throughout Ohio and across the United States. Yet, however secure these
partnerships may be in the present day, how Greater Ohio Policy Center maintains its influence
in Ohio will predict its longevity and success as Ohios principle grassroots advocacy nonprofit.
Because Greater Ohio Policy Center relies on the interests of the public to cultivate its
authority in legislation, it is imperative to broaden its sphere of influence. In doing so, Greater
Ohio will foster continued support and sustain its future as an effective nonprofit advocacy
organization in Ohio. Therefore, Greater Ohio Policy Center must work to inform Ohios
younger generation of future activists, business executives, concerned citizens, and politicians
now in order to further cement its reputation for years to come.

ENGLISH 4567s: Rhetoric and Community Service

METHODS
In recent years, colleges and universities have developed into effective places for
students who seek to become leaders that have the capacity to affect social change (Astin &
Astin, 2000). Truly, college students possess the power to shape the future of our nations
businesses, communities, and governments. Thus, there is no better population to gauge future
public interest and organization longevity from than educated young adults who aspire to live in
a better, more sustainable society.
To operationalize this idea, I enlisted 6 Ohio State undergraduate students, between the
ages of 20 and 22 and citizens of Ohio, to participate in a 15-minute usability survey aimed at
assessing the effectiveness of Greater Ohio Policy Centers website, including its blog, home
page, mission statement, and principles, as well as a short questionnaire about their general
interest in Greater Ohio Policy Center and its goals. I chose to employ a usability test because its
purpose is to examine specific criteria, such as user comprehension and satisfaction (Barnum,
2002).
To begin the survey process, I asked participants to read and sign a consent form in order
to use their data in this academic course. With a laptop provided, I then asked each participant to
access Greater Ohios website: greaterohio.org. Their first task was to evaluate the home page
for about 30 seconds. On a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), I asked them to
answer the following questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

GOPCs home page is easy to navigate.

The home page topics are of interest to me.
The name Greater Ohio Policy Center makes sense.
I would remain up to date on GOPC news.
I have heard of GOPC before.

1
1
1
1
1

2
2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3
3

4
4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5
5

ENGLISH 4567s: Rhetoric and Community Service

Next, I asked participants to access the Missions & Principles page of the Greater Ohio
website and asked them to read the mission statement and principles to themselves. To gauge
their understanding of Greater Ohios guiding purpose, I asked them the following questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

GOPCs mission statement is easy to understand.

I understand how GOPC acts on their mission statement.
I understand the concept of intelligent land use.
As an Ohio citizen, I believe in GOPCs mission statement.
I would support GOPCs initiatives in political elections.
GOPCs four goals are too broad to achieve.
GOPCs mission is important for the sustainability of Ohio.
GOPCs Principles are clear.

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3

4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

Then, I instructed participants to access Greater Ohios blog for user satisfaction and
comprehension and asked them to answer the following open-ended questions:
1.
2.

What blog topic are you most interested in?

Do you think this blog is valuable and would you read it to keep updated on Ohio issues?

Lastly, I asked participants to elaborate on the following open-ended questions

concerning their general interest in Greater Ohio Policy Center as college students and as future
young professionals:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Would you follow GOPC on Twitter and/or Facebook? Instagram?

Through being educated on GOPC and their mission, do you think they are valuable to Ohios future?
As a future young professional, would you consider donating your time/money to GOPCs cause?
If GOPC started a student organization on campus, would you like to be involved in some capacity?
Do you think that college students care about these issues?

ENGLISH 4567s: Rhetoric and Community Service

RESULTS
DATA ANALYSIS
After collecting data from the usability survey and questionnaire, I compiled participants
responses into Excel and analyzed the data for correlations to draw several conclusions about the
following topics concerning Greater Ohios website and interest among college students: Home
page, mission & principles, blog, and general interest.
HOME PAGE
Upon evaluating Greater Ohios website, all participants strongly agreed that the home
page was easy to navigate. Additionally, half of the participants were moderately interested in
the home page topics, while the other half of the participants possessed neutral feelings about
them. Moreover, participants were conflicted about whether the nonprofits name made sense to
them. Their responses ranged from 2 (Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree), with an average rating of
3.83. Last, none of the participants had heard of Greater Ohio Policy Center before this survey.
From these results, it is clear that from a first glance Greater Ohios home page is
informative and draws relative general interest, regardless of an individuals familiarity of its
mission. However, their full title, Greater Ohio Policy Center, is not present on the home page.
And upon hearing the full title, participants were unaware of it as a statewide nonprofit
organization and confused as to what it is meant to convey.
MISSION & PRINCIPLES
As Ohio citizens, all participants strongly agreed with Greater Ohios mission statement.
Additionally, most participants agreed that the mission statement was easy to understand, and
one participant commented that it is a bit too wordy. Varying responses were collected in
regards whether they understood how Greater Ohio acts on their mission statement, whether they

ENGLISH 4567s: Rhetoric and Community Service

understood what intelligent land use is, and whether they believed that the principles are too
broad to achieve. On average, their responses were 3.5, 3.16, and 3.0 respectively. Furthermore,
it appears that participants are adamant in support of Greater Ohios initiatives and believe that
the mission statement is important for the sustainability of Ohio.
BLOG
It should be noted that while participants varied in their response to blog topic interest, 3
participants were very interested in transit. All in all, the participants agreed that the blog was a
valuable and credible source of information.
GENERAL INTEREST
There proved to be varying responses in terms of social media, but all participants
thought it would be beneficial to target their generation with an Instagram account that visually
highlights Greater Ohios impact on communities, neighborhoods, and streets across the state. As
future young professionals of this society, 5 out of 6 participants indicated that they would
consider supporting Greater Ohios work through donations or partnerships if they found
themselves in a position to do so. Additionally, all participants agreed that their peers would be
interested if Greater Ohio created an alliance or student organization on campus to raise
awareness about its cause. Last, when asked if they believe that college students care about the
issues Greater Ohio advocates for, participants shared similar responses. Many participants
thought that college students care on a superficial level, but they feel they cannot make a
difference. Also, many students are not properly educated on these issues to begin with. They
concluded that if there were more resources available, many students would consider becoming
involved because they care about Ohios future.

ENGLISH 4567s: Rhetoric and Community Service

DISCUSSION

As a result of this usability research, I am able to make several recommendations that may

help Greater Ohio Policy Center increase its influence and visibility among younger generations.
While some nonprofit organizations focus on feeding the hungry or sheltering the homeless,
Greater Ohio Policy Center is a unique nonprofit that concentrates on introducing policy reforms to
truly affect change. Therefore, I believe that the way to ensure its longevity is to simply extend their
mission as widely as possible throughout the state through the spreading of ideas. College
students are impressionable, optimistic, and zealous; they are the ideal vessel to carry Greater
Ohios purpose forward into the next generation of society.

Thus, Greater Ohio Policy Center should consider planting seeds at a university in each of

the 8 Ohio metropolitan areas to raise initial awareness of its purpose in Ohio. It would be most
beneficial to target specific majors (i.e. city and regional planning, environmental science, and
political science majors) on campus through an informative lecture or an open house booth. From
there, Greater Ohio may consider identifying a faculty member or determined undergraduate
student who would be interested in starting a student-led cohort. This student organizations
purpose would be to raise awareness of Greater Ohios issues on campus and in the surrounding
communities through education and outreach initiatives. I believe this spreading of ideas would be
enough ignite a shift in thought for many of my peers and ultimately influence how mindful we are
of the struggles our state faces and will continue to face in the future.

In conclusion, we live in a society where stagnancy is an ever-present enemy in the eyes of

organizations. Whether it is a digital presence or a physical movement, every cause depends on its
following to transcend irrelevance. With these recommendations in mind, Greater Ohio Policy
Center has the opportunity to become a champion in forward thinking, especially if it focuses on
harnessing the passion and ideology of the next generation.

ENGLISH 4567s: Rhetoric and Community Service

REFERENCES
"About Us." Greater Ohio Policy Center. Greater Ohio Policy Center, n.d. Web. 01 May 2015.

Astin, A. W., & Astin, H. S. (2000). Leadership reconsidered: Engaging higher education
in social change. Battle Creek, MI: W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
Barnum, Carol M. (2002). Usability testing and research. New York: Longman.
Dugan, J.P., & Komives, S.R. (2007). Developing leadership capacity in college students:
Findings from a national study. A Report from the Multi-Institutional Study of
Leadership. College Park, MD: National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs.
"Greek Proverbs." Quotes. Goodreads, n.d. Web. 01 May 2015.
Willis, Brent. "What Is Grassroots Advocacy & Why Should I Know About It?" Votility. N.p.,
22 Jan. 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.