Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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
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,
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
MOVE-IN CREW 3
incentive for the students they are allowed to move in to their assigned residence halls early and
Purpose of Assessment
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,
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
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
MOVE-IN CREW 4
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
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
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?
3. Were you the team lead contact between your fellow group members and UHDS?
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,
11. Please provide any suggestions for ways to improve the Move-In Crew volunteer
experience.
13. Please provide any additional information for why you would not participate in Move-in
Crew again.
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
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
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
volunteered as individuals. In
respectively).
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
MOVE-IN CREW 8
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
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
MOVE-IN CREW 9
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
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
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
MOVE-IN CREW 10
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
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
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