Running head: MOVE-IN CREW 1

Assessment Report: Move-In Crew

Myranda Anderson, Enrique H. Boche Jr., Kimberly Kuspa

Western Illinois University

Assessment Report: Move In Crew

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Executive Summary

An assessment was done on the Move-in Crew program through Western Illinois

University (WIU) University Housing and Dining Services (UHDS) to rate the overall

satisfaction of student Move-in Crew volunteers. A digital survey was distributed to 367 student

volunteers who were given three weeks to return the completed survey. Through a combination

of Likert scale and short responses, data was collected and coded to find relevant and useful

information that could help UHDS improve the overall program. This information will be used

by the new staff member in charge the program organization, in hopes to create a better

experience for all involved.

Move-In Crew Program Background

As of enrollment numbers for fall 2018, Western Illinois University (WIU) is home to

approximately 5,000 undergraduate students, with roughly 2,125 students residing in one of the

nine residence hall on campus (Fast Facts, 2019). Every fall, University Housing & Dining

Services (UHDS) at WIU asks current students, faculty, and staff on campus to volunteer with

the efforts of moving incoming students into their residence hall rooms the Friday and Saturday

before the first day of class. These volunteers are known as the Move-in Crew. Move-in Crew

volunteers complete an array of tasks, such as unloading vehicles, passing out keys, assisting at

elevators, and passing out moving carts, to aid the students and their families during the

potentially stressful and anxious moving process. It is unclear when move-in crew began at WIU,

but it has been a long standing and helpful tradition on campus.

Those students interested in participating in move-in crew can sign-up one of two ways,

they can sign up with their student organization or as an individual. During the spring semester

prior to move-in, students are sent a link to a purplepost form that allows them to sign up. As an
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incentive for the students they are allowed to move in to their assigned residence halls early and

receive a free shirt for volunteering.

Purpose of Assessment

Residential living has been shown to be a key factor in experiences of undergraduate

college students. According to Willoughby et al (2009) “residential living has a profound impact

on college student development and success…[and] students who live on campus have been

shown to be more involved in student organizations than students living off campus” (p. 24).

Professionals at WIU recognize this value in residential living and put it into practice through

policies and requirements. This is the reason WIU has a two year live on requirement, meaning

students must live in a campus owned residence hall until they have obtained 59 credit hours

making them eligible for off campus living. The information gathered through this assessment

will be helpful when organizing future Move-in Crew programs, as it will help determine faults,

if any, that can be corrected before the next program.

At the start of the project, the purpose of the assessment was to determine the satisfaction

of student volunteers with the communication from UHDS regarding the details with Move-in

Crew. Communication to those who do not sign up with a student organization is done on an

individual basis, whereas communication with those who do is done through an appointed group

leader. Examples of information communicated to students are date, time, and location of where

they will be volunteering, as well as the dates, times, and locations of the mandatory training

meeting prior to move-in day.

Methods and Methodology

The methods chosen for the assessment of communication within the Move-In Crew

program were a document analysis and survey. The purpose of the document analysis was to
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gather the names and emails of the individual and group student volunteers. The survey was

chosen as the method for gathering student volunteer satisfaction due to the large number of

students the survey was distributed to. When preparing and distributing the survey there was

understood limitations due to the amount of time since the program had taken place

(approximately six months).

The survey was distributed to a total of 367 students utilizing an OrgSync by Campus

Labs PurplePost survey. Of the 367 total student volunteers, 184 came from 19 total student

groups.

Volunteer Demographics

Total Number of Student Volunteers 367

Total Number of Group Volunteers 184

Total Number of Individual 183

Volunteers
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Total Number of Groups 19

Depending on whether the student volunteer was part of a group or an individual the survey was

between 15 and 20 total questions. The questions in the survey included the following:

1. Did you volunteer with Move In Crew as part of a student group or as an individual?

2. What student group did you sign-up with?

3. Were you the team lead contact between your fellow group members and UHDS?

4. In what Residence Hall were you assigned to?

5. What specific duty(ies) did you perform during your shift?

6. Rate your satisfaction with the Move In Crew volunteer sign up process.

7. Rate your satisfaction with the overall communication from UHDS (volunteer site,

volunteer shift, emails, etc).

8. Rate your satisfaction with the location you were assigned.

9. Rate your satisfaction with the time you were assigned.

10. Rate your overall satisfaction with Move-In Crew experience.

11. Please provide any suggestions for ways to improve the Move-In Crew volunteer

experience.

12. Would you participate in Move-in Crew again?

13. Please provide any additional information for why you would not participate in Move-in

Crew again.

14. How many times have you participated in Move-in Crew?

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15. What is your class standing?

The survey was sent out March 20, 2019 via email to student volunteers from Dr. Mishelle

Oaks, the Director of Residence Life. A final reminder email was sent to the same student

volunteers from Dr. Mishelle Oaks on April 5, 2019. The survey officially closed April 10, 2019

giving survey participants three full weeks to complete the survey.

Following the closing of the survey, the data was compiled into a spreadsheet for easier

analysis. The means, modes and frequencies were individually calculated on the ratings for

satisfaction in the volunteer sign up process, communication, location, time, and overall

satisfaction.

Results

At the beginning of the assessment the questions at hand were: what are the experiences

of Move-in Crew Volunteers who signed up as a part of a student organization versus those who

signed up as individuals and how did the communication they received from UHDS

influence/impact/affect their experience? However, after the completion of the survey we

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realized the questions asked were more an analysis on the overall satisfaction of the student

volunteers with the Move-in Crew than specifically with communication from UHDS.

A total of 367 surveys were distributed. After an allotted three week time period for

completion 36 total surveys

were returned. Of the total

respondents, 15 were from

students who volunteered with

one of the 19 student groups and

21 were from student who

volunteered as individuals. In

the survey students were asked

to rate their satisfaction, using a

Likert scale from 1 to 5 (highly

dissatisfied and highly satisfied,

respectively).

The satisfaction areas

were volunteer sign-up process,

overall communication from UHDS, location, shift time, and overall Move-in Crew experience.

When rating their satisfaction with the volunteer sign-up process the average satisfaction was

4.083. When rating their satisfaction with the overall communication from UHDS students had

an average satisfaction of 3.528. When rating their satisfaction with the location they were

assigned students had an average satisfaction of 4.194. When rating their satisfaction with the
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time they were assigned students reported an average satisfaction of 4.333. When rating their

overall satisfaction with the Move-in Crew experience the average satisfaction was 3.972.

After asking the overall satisfaction with the Move-in Crew experience each student was

asked to state whether or not they would volunteer with the program in the future. Of responses,

80.6% (29 out of 36) said “Yes” and 19.4% (7 out of 36) said “No.” There were various

responses as to why students stated why they would not be interested in volunteering with the

Move-in crew program in the future; the three main responses were they were graduating from

the institution, would not be living on campus in the future and therefore do not need the benefit

of early move in, or they had a bad

experience previously. The latter

response-having had a bad experience

volunteering with Move-in Crew-is the

most concerning and of importance when

it comes to this assessment.

For this reason, students were

asked to answer the follow up question “Please provide any suggestions for ways to improve the

Move-In Crew volunteer experience” whether they had stated they would or would not volunteer

in the future. Some of the responses from those who would not were, “Make sure people on duty

have better attitudes and know what they are doing,” and, “Make sure the people in charge have

a good attitude so everyone else volunteering has one too and it makes the experience better for

students moving in.” When looking at responses from those stating they would volunteer in the

future they stated, “The water that's provided for the volunteers is nice but maybe some small

snacks such as granola bars would be nice since most people are there for around a 3-4 hour time
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slot,” and, “I think the overall experience was great! However, I think music playing in the

background would help get everyone excited about the event as well.”

Recommendations

There are a few recommendations that can be made based on the results from this

assessment to improve on the Move-in Crew program in the future. Based on the feedback

provided from student volunteers stating they would not volunteer again there may need to be

more work done with the professionals in charge of the program to ensure they are fully prepared

for situations that may arise. There was also a concern with the perceived attitudes of the

professionals running the program; if those working the program have negative perceived

attitudes it could likely cause larger attitude problems with those volunteering, leading to a less

positive experience for the new students moving in.

Though there was an average satisfaction score of 3.527 with overall UHDS

communication there was still statements that communication could be better. There was the

limitation of only one response from an individual who was group lead for the student group,

however it can still be recommended that communication be streamlined to lessen confusion for

UHDS when organizing and communicating information to volunteers. While still maintaining

the student group sign-up process, which is easier on both parts, it may be easier for UHDS to

share all information with all individuals in the group. This could prevent the lack of

communication or confusion to those involved when it comes to getting the specific information

regarding the volunteer shifts.

Other suggestions made for the improvement of the program were in regards to the

atmosphere of the areas where student volunteers were working. There is water provided for the

volunteers, but some of them are working multiple shifts or shifts early in the day and do not
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have a chance to eat beforehand, so the availability of light refreshments would improve on the

overall experience of volunteers. Another suggestion would be background music while people

are volunteering. This could help foster a more positive work environment and possibly the

attitudes of those working.

References

Willoughby, B. J., Carroll, J. S., Marshall, W. J., & Clark, C. (2009). The Decline of In

Loco Parentis and the Shift to Coed Housing on College Campuses. Journal of

Adolescent Research, 24(1), 21–36. Retrieved from

http://search.ebscohost.com.wiulibraries.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&

AN=EJ822817&site=ehost-live

(March, 2019). Fall 2018 western illinois university fast facts. [PDF] Retrieved from

http://www.wiu.edu/about/docs/fastfacts.pdf