Communication Audit

COMMUNICATIONS
REPORT: GARDY LOO
LITERATURE AND ARTS
MAGAZINE
Prepared for Kaitlyn Miller, Editor-in-Chief, and Editorial Staff
NOVEMBER 9, 2015
PREPARED BY KELSEY ROBINSON, GRADUATE STUDENT
Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication

Kelsey Robinson
54 Bluestone Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
November 9th
, 2015
Kaitlyn Miller, Editor-in-Chief
1598 S. Main Street
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
Dear Kaitlyn and staff:
Enclosed is the internal communication analysis, which you authorized on October 11th
. The goal of
this report was to assess how Gardy Loo collaborates on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to
identify areas of strength and weakness and to determine if any changes need to be made to enhance
productivity.
The report covers:
 Your team’s current communication practices
 Analysis of provided sample documents
 Summary of interview and survey findings
Primary research for this report consisted of observations of the Facebook group (JMU Gardy Loo
Staff) three editor interviews, the communication survey, the meeting observation, and the sample
documents I was provided. Additional information was taken from the Gardy Loo website
(www.jmugardyloo.org).
Thank you so much for your time and cooperation, and I’d be more than willing to discuss this
analysis in depth at your convenience.
Sincerely,
Kelsey Robinson
Consultant

Contents
Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................... 3
Background and Description............................................................................................................ 4
Discussion of Findings..................................................................................................................... 5
Overall Trends.............................................................................................................................. 5
Facebook Group .......................................................................................................................... 6
PowerPoints................................................................................................................................. 7
Gardy Loo Constitution................................................................................................................ 8
Fall 2015 Schedule........................................................................................................................ 9
Interview and Survey Responses................................................................................................. 10
Interview Responses............................................................................................................... 10
Survey Data............................................................................................................................ 10
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................... 13
Suggestion 1: Create an online calendar ...................................................................................... 13
Suggestion 2: Create a mini-handbook for InDesign................................................................... 13
Suggestion 3: Create an additional general schedule document or webpage................................. 13
Appendices.................................................................................................................................... 14
Appendix A: Facebook Group Page ........................................................................................... 14
Appendix B: PowerPoint Excerpts ............................................................................................. 16
Appendix C: Gardy Loo Constitution......................................................................................... 18
Appendix D: Fall 2015 Schedule................................................................................................. 22
Appendix E: Interview Questions............................................................................................... 23
Appendix F: Survey Questions and Results................................................................................. 25

Executive Summary
The goal of this communication analysis was to assess how the general and editorial staff of
Gardy Loo Literature and Arts Magazine regularly communicates to determine areas of strength.
From this, conclusions can be made about the organization’s productivity and whether or not there
are internal barriers preventing the team from working efficiently.
The report concludes that the staff of Gardy Loo communicates effectively. Analysis was
done in these three areas to best identify areas of concern:
Current communication practices
Facebook is the primary mode of communication for the club and creates a positive,
welcoming environment. It allows for immediate, efficient relaying of messages and is easier
to use than email for large-scale, informal group communication. The majority of the team
prefers to be contacted via Facebook, but a desire for an online calendar was noted by some.
Document samples
The documents varied in style and tone depending on the intended audience, but all were
usable at a basic level. The PowerPoints and weekly schedule were informal but serve their
purpose of communicating to members well. The Gardy Loo Constitution is a more formal
document due to its professional nature.
Interviews and survey responses
The interviews and survey responses were very positive, which gave the impression that any
concerns listed toward the end of the interview were not drastically impairing members’
work habits. Strengths and weaknesses were identified, but the majority of the responses
indicated that the team was friendly, organized, and worked well together.
After analyzing Gardy Loo’s internal communication practices, recommendations have been made
to enhance certain elements of regular communication habits. However, the organization’s current
practices are working quite well and do not need to be changed in any major ways. The
recommendations are as follows:
 Create a private calendar accessible to all members of the organization using Google
Calendar or Microsoft Outlook
 Create a mini-handbook for InDesign, serving as a collaboratively-maintained reference
guide
 Create a general schedule document in addition to the existing one to collect relevant
information from Facebook posts in a more permanent medium

Background and Description
The objective of this report is to determine whether or not Gardy Loo Literature and Arts
Magazine club is communicating at an optimal level. Specifically, this analysis seeksto determine:
 How effective current methods of communication are
 Any potential changes that would enhance communication within the club
Gardy Loo Literature and Arts Magazine (referred to hereafter as Gardy Loo or Gardy Loo)
is a club on JMU’s campus that publishes Gardy Loo Literature and Arts Magazine. The magazine is
released in late fall and late spring of each academic year. Submissions are vetted and chosen by the
group members and the magazine is created by members collaboratively on Adobe InDesign.
The club has 21 members, including 6 editors and 2 committee heads, and meets weekly on
Wednesdays in Roop Hall. The committees—literature, art, and design—are the primary portion of
the club. The literature and art committees select the submissions that will go into the magazine, and
the design committee creates the magazine and runs “Design Week” each semester. Literature and
art both have committee heads, while design committee is run by the design editor and the editor-in-
chief. Members can serve on any combination of committees; and many serve on all three.
However, committee membership is not required and, according to my correspondence with the
general editor, many members only attend general Wednesday meetings (though this is rare). But a
member is only considered "staff" if they serve on a committee.
The Gardy Loo main office is located in the same building as the Breeze newspaper; they
have their own room in that building, but the Breeze and its staff occupies the majority of the
building. The office contains a table in the middle with all the back issues of Gardy Loo neatly
arranged on it; various furniture pieces and a television; two computers; and numerous living
amenities similar to what would be found in other offices. I was told by the editor-in-chief that this
semester is the first time that the current editorial staff has had their current role, though all have
been members of Gardy Loo in previous semesters. The club used email as a primary method of
communication in the past and the staff has recently elected to use Facebook, a change they feel has
been effective. My communications mostly took place with the editorial staff of the club.

Discussion of Findings
Overall Trends
The interviews and conversations Iconducted with the staff members revealed that they are
generally positive about their internal communication practices. The Gardy Loo Facebook group is
the primary method of internal communication for the club and it works well. Because of the
frequency with which college students use social networking, Facebook is a powerful and effective
tool to communicate with the active members of the group and for editors to pass messages on to
members. A major trend I noticed was the fact that all of them were concerned about whether or
not posts on Facebook are truly received by members, which implies that, while it is a powerful tool,
there could be a more effective way to really engage Gardy Loo members with the club. Email is
primarily used for external communications such as professional conversation and magazine
submissions. When used internally, email is used to sign up for committees and occasionally for
conversations among the editorial staff.
During my visit to a Design Week session, I noticed numerous things about the club
dynamic. Design of the magazine is highly collaborative, and members help each other with the
InDesign program and creating the page spreads. I visited during one of the last sessions, so it was a
bit slow, but I was told by numerous members that this semester’s turnout for Design Week was
better than they had ever seen. From this I can safely assume that the members have a cooperative,
friendly relationship with each other and that top-down communication was effective enough to
recruit people to help out and attend sessions. Another detail I noticed in attending the Design
Week session was that many members were new to Adobe InDesign, which fostered a collaborative
“learn-as-you-go” approach to the magazine design. The differing levels of experience did not seem
to negatively affect the group’s productivity.

Facebook Group
Audience and Purpose
The audience of the Facebook group (see Appendix A) is the members of Gardy Loo, which
consists of freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior students in majors such as SMAD, WRTC, and
English. For this reason, the page must be easily accessible and understandable for a wide variety of
people; it also must have a casual tone to fit its members and the non-professional social networking
platform. The purpose of the page is to communicate events and important information, to update
members about scheduling, meetings, and other relevant changes, and to keep the group socially
connected with each other.
Structure
The Facebook group page is entitled JMU Gardy Loo Staff and has a total of 21 members
including the editorial staff (see Appendix A). It functions like any other group page on Facebook: it
has a simple, artistic banner displaying the group name that looks professional, with space in the
middle for posts from any members. However, posts cannot be archived, and the concern that
editors have about the reception and oversaturation of posts is clear in the platform of the page.
The page has five tabs: discussion, members, events, photos, and files, with the discussion
tab being the default. The majority of group conversation takes place in the discussion section, and
auxiliary documents and information are posted to the files section. The events section only contains
one entry; the members sections lists the Gardy Loo staff; and the photos section contains any
photos—professional or humorous—that have been posted to the page, including any event flyers
that have been distributed around campus. The group page as a whole contains updates about
meetings and other important information, various reminders for the group members, and weekly
schedules when necessary (such as reminders for Design Week times and locations).
Language and Style
Posts are in a casual tone with humor and friendliness, creating a welcoming environment
for members while reminding them of Gardy Loo tasks. Becauseof the diversity of the club
members, the language used in posts is free of jargon or anything that would confuse newcomers to
the group.
Posts are mainly made by the editorial staff (though not exclusively) and consist of the
following general types:
1. Meeting reminders
2. General conversations, such as offering rides to events
3. Humorous photos attached to reminders to improve morale
4. Event reminders that sometimes include posters advertising the event
5. Weekly schedules for “Design Week”
Effectiveness
Based on my observations of the page (excerpted in Appendices B and C), Facebook is an
effective tool for group communication. However, most of the posts on the page are made by the
managing editor or the design editor, while other members mostly like the posts, ask the occasional
question, or make a quick comment. For this reason, I believe that there are other ways to
communicate throughout the club in a casual and professional manner, which will be highlighted in
the Recommendations section.

PowerPoints
The audience of the PowerPoint presentations (entitled “Elements of Unity and Design”
and “Committee Training,” see Appendix B) is the membership of Gardy Loo, specifically members
who are newer to the processes of joining committees and designing magazine spreads. Because of
this, the PowerPoints must be easily understandable and free of jargon, which they are. The purpose
of the “Unity and Design” presentation is to teach Gardy Loo members how to design eye-catching,
effective spreads for the magazine, while the purpose of the “Committee Training” PowerPoint is to
teach the proper criteria and techniques for choosing which submissions will go into the magazine.
Structure
The “Elements of Unity and Design” PowerPoint is 31 slides and is a guide on how to
design a magazine spread. It is split into three clear sections: vocabulary (defining important terms),
unity (methods of creating united elements across a spread), and titles (creating eye-catching spread
titles), with example images throughout. The bulk of the PowerPoint is images, with a few text-
based slides further explaining some of the concepts in bullet-point-style statements. The
“Committee Training” PowerPoint is exclusively text-based and is eight slides long. It delineates the
criteria for good writing and art versus bad writing and art, and instructs members on how to talk
about pieces while dissuading them from making “pity” votes.
Language and Style
Both PowerPoints are casual and friendly, written as if the presenter were speaking to their
audience. Neither uses excessive jargon, and in the case of the magazine spread PowerPoint, any
necessary terms are well-defined. The style of each is aestheticallyappealing, with the “Elements of
Unity and Style” using white text on a black background and many images and the “Committee
Training” using darker and lighter shades of blue. The PowerPoints also have a casual tone and
contain humorous snippets to keep the members engaged.
Effectiveness
The PowerPoints are effective in communicating instructions to members of the
organization about magazine design and choosing magazine submissions. They are informal and use
large, easy-to-read text, as well as humorous language. In the “Elements of Unity and Design”
PowerPoint, plenty of useful images are employed as examples for the concepts discussed.

Gardy Loo Constitution
The audience of the Gardy Loo Constitution (see Appendix C) is all members or future
members of the organization, or any other interested parties, seeing as it is posted on the Gardy Loo
website rather than on the private Facebook group. Its purpose is to formally establish the group’s
name, purpose, membership requirements and revocations, official officer positions and election
process, meeting times, and other official school requirements of the club.
Structure
The four-page document is very formally structured, with eight articles and up to three
subsections in each article when necessary. Headings (“Article I,” “Article II”) are in bold, as is
other relevant text, and the progression of headings and subheadings is clear throughout. Bulleted
lists are used to highlight relevant information.
Language and Style
The language used in the constitution is formal but not “stuffy,” creating a professional tone
without being confusing to any readers. The style of the document is that of formal organizational
document that would be used by few but available to anyone who desires to read it. For that reason,
it is intended to be skimmed rather than read, so it uses bold text, headings, and bulleted lists to help
readers quickly find the information they need. None of the sections are longer than a single page,
indicating concise sentences and swift delivery of information. The capitalization and headings are
consistent, though the font size does increase slightly in Article VIII.
Effectiveness
The Gardy Loo Constitution effectively communicates officialinformation about
proceedings to its members and to any other people who may want to peruse it. However, it is not
specific in certain places and may require more details about some of the club’s regular activities, if
applicable.

Fall 2015 Schedule
The audience for the schedule document (see Appendix D) is all members of Gardy Loo. Its
purpose is to communicate the fall semester’s events and be a quick reference for any member who
needs to glance at it and know about something immediately.
Structure
The single-page document is well-structured with headings in bold text showing the dates
and times for events, other informative text in regular text, and important information in italics
beneath it. It also contains contact information for the club at the bottom of the document.
Language and Style
The language used in the schedule is simple and informative, as well as relatively informal,
using terms such as “afternoonish” which are funny and fit the characteristics of the club. It matches
the tone of other documents used by the organization, specifically the PowerPoints and the posts on
the Facebook page.
Effectiveness
The fall 2015 schedule effectivelycommunicates information about relevant group events
for the first half of the semester to Gardy Loo’s members. It is not always specific about times or
locations, but this is because of its informal quality and the changing nature of certain events, as is
the norm with any club.

Interview and Survey Responses
Interview Responses
Strengths in Communication
I was able to conduct informal interviews with three members of the editorial staff, whose
names will remain anonymous (see Appendix E for the unedited answers as I wrote them). The
interviewees feel Facebook is working much better than email, which was the primary method of
internal communication in the past. Facebook is instant and immediate, and members respond to
each other rather than waiting for responses or answers from editors. With Facebook, it is easier to
see who is in the club rather than the faceless list of email addresses seen in an email listerv. It is also
easier to match names to faces on the group page and ensure that listed members are actual
contributors to the organization.
Other strengths of the Facebook group are that it allows members more control of their
own membership while giving more security for the editors. Submissions are much more
confidential now than they were in the past (they are sent to the official Gardy Loo account rather
than to everyone via a listserv). The casual nature of Facebook were also noted as being positive
attributes, as well as the fact that Facebook is a regularly used tool by members. Compared to
previous years, Facebook is a stronger communicative tool than those used in the past.
There is little if any miscommunication about meeting times, events, and other like activities.
People attend club meetings more regularly and Design Week for the fall 2015 semester had a better
turnout than any the editors had seen in the past, which shows that the current communication
methods are generally effective in reaching out to members. Design Week is also where members get
to learn to use Adobe InDesign, which the editors said is a positive activity that creates collaboration
and encouragement with the rest of the staff.
Weaknesses in Communication
The most frequent comment in the interviews was that the editorial staff feels other
members may not be engaging with the group page. Other than the occasional like and comment,
reception of messages from editors may be lacking and they want to encourage general staff to look
at what’s posted on the page; at times, they feel as though they are “shouting into the void.”
While Facebook is a generally effective tool, the editors said that the Gardy Loo group page
could result in oversaturation of notifications and messages when combined with the additional
feeds received by members through their other social media accounts. This oversaturation could also
result in members skimming through notifications from Gardy Loo and missing important
information.
The editors that were interviewed noted that this semester is their first as editorial staff, and
because of that, said that they are still figuring things out in terms of their internal communication.
The majority of Facebook posts are from three members of the editorial staff, which makes them
feel as though they are the only active members on the page. It was also noted that not everyone
who would like to be part of the organization has a Facebook page. While it is a rare occurrence,
potential members could be left out of the club’s primary form of communication.
Survey Data
The survey, administered on Oct. 26, consisted of 10 questions about Gardy Loo’s internal
communication practices (see Appendix F). The question types were short answers, rankings, and
multiple choice with numerous answers or a single answer allowed. Out of the 8 editorial staff
members (6 editors and 2 committee heads) that the survey was sent to, there were a total of five
responses, which remain anonymous here. The results from short-answer questions have been

paraphrased and summarized rather than quoted directly from the respondents. Any question was
able to be skipped by the respondents. The questions and their results are summarized here, with
relevant questions displayed in graphs, and the full survey is listed in Appendix A.
Overall, the survey results were quite similar to the answers given in interviews. Members
felt that Facebook was an effective tool for group communication and that email is not as useful as
social media. The Facebook group allows efficient, immediate communication throughout the
organization, but the concern about the actual reception rate of those messages and posts was also
seen in the survey results.
From those who answered the question “what other types of communication do you think
would benefit the Gardy Loo staff” (figure 2), quite a few people desired an online calendar of some
kind, and some members also noted that calendars are personally useful to them. When asked to rate
certain aspect of Gardy Loo’s current communication, usefulness was rated highest (4.4 out of 5)
while effectiveness was rated the lowest (3.4/5). This is still above 2.5, but it follows the same trend
as other interview and survey answers: members seem to be somewhat dissatisfied and concerned
about the current communication, though they are generally happy with the use of Facebook rather
than email.
Graphs
Fig. 1: Types of internal communication used at Gardy Loo (question 1)
Fig. 2: Other possiblemethods of communication (question 5)
0
1
2
3
4
What other methods of
communication do you think would
benefit the Gardy Loo staff?

Fig. 3: Ratings for Gardy Loo’s internal communication, where the percentage is the amount of peoplewho rated it as
such (question 6)
Rate the following aspects of Gardy Loo’s internal communication practices.
1 (weakest) 2 3 4 5 (strongest)
Efficiency 0% 0% 0% 80% 20%
Usefulness 0% 0% 0% 60% 40%
Clarity 0% 0% 20% 80% 0%
Effectiveness 0% 0% 60% 40% 0%

Recommendations
After conducting research and analysis on the internal communications at Gardy Loo, I have
come to the conclusion that the organization communicates effectivelyoverall. To improve
communication, I make the following recommendations:
Suggestion 1: Create an online calendar
Microsoft Outlook (used by JMU) has a calendar feature. Many clubs use calendars
connected to organizational email accounts to keep events updated, and a few members expressed
an interest in wanting to use something like this. A calendar managed by the official Gardy Loo
email account could be a useful tool in helping members stay on top of meetings, poetry readings,
and other related events while also allowing everyone to have constant access to it in a more
professional platform.
Suggestion 2: Create a mini-handbook for InDesign
Due to the fact that members are concerned about messages simply being seen and
forgotten, and because many members are new to Adobe InDesign during Design Week, I suggest
creating a publicly (within the club) editable handbook with tips and tricks for using the program.
While the organization’s current collaborative approach to teaching members how to use InDesign
works well, such a document could be a useful aid to this process. It could allow members of all skill
levels to have a friendly, quick reference guide for using InDesign, which can be a difficult for
beginners to learn. It would also give members the ability to contribute directly to helping each other
in an online space just like they do in person. This could also help the editors feel less like they are
the only ones communicating with the organization.
This handbook could be in a number of formats. It could be an editable Microsoft Word
document shared on the Facebook page or BeInvolved page that members could download and re-
upload, posting simultaneously on the discussion section so that others know it has been updated. It
could also be a file in Google Drive or Outlook’s OneDrive, making it accessiblethrough each
member’s email account.
Suggestion 3: Create an additional general schedule document or webpage
Due to the prevalence of members who are worried about messages being lost or glossed
over on Facebook, I recommend creating a general schedule and reference document in addition to
the existing one. This document could be either a PDF or a Microsoft Word document. The nature
of Facebook means that messages cannot be flagged as “important,” like emails can; a member can
“turn notifications on” for a particular post, but the functions are not the same. This document
would contain a section for the semester schedule and another for important reminders, to be
updated by the editorial staff when necessary and posted in the files tab of the Facebook group page.
The permanence of this document could assuage the concern of messages being forgotten or not
received by members.

Appendices
Appendix A: Facebook Group Page

Appendix B:PowerPoint Excerpts

Appendix C: Gardy Loo Constitution
Gardy Loo Constitution
Article I- Name of Organization
The name of the organization shall officially be Gardy Loo.
Article II – Purpose
The purpose of Gardy Loo is to create a biyearly literary arts magazine that recognizes the work
of JMU students. We also serve to promote the literary arts in our school and community through
our magazine and various events.
Article III – Membership
Section 1
Membership in this organization is open to all JMU students and will not be restricted on
the basis of age, ability, ethnicity, gender, race, color, religion, national origin, veteran
status, sexual orientation or political affiliation. Any student who attends at least one meeting
per month per semester is eligible for membership and permitted to vote on selections for the
magazine. Exceptions will be discussed on a case by case basis. For a member to vote or run in
leadership elections, the member must be active member of the group by not just attending
meetings, but also participating in at least one other event, including, but not limited to, Design
Week, magazine handout, poetry readings, or any other event.
Section 2
Membership may be revoked for legitimate reasons, including but not limited to:
 Harassment of club officers or members
 Violation of university policies
 Damaging university property or facilities
 Excessive disruptive behavior during club meetings
 Misappropriation of club funds
 Election Fraud
 Actions which cause significant damage to the club’s reputation
 Purposeful rigging of our selection process
 Failure to meet membership requirements

Section 3
A guest would be defined as anyone who has not obtained membership status. Guests are always
welcome to attend club meetings and events, however they may be asked to leave a meeting if
voting or a member-only discussion is happening. If a guest is found to be a disruption, they will
not be welcomed at future meetings and events. Disruptive behavior follows the same criteria for
a member’s revocation, but not limited to those reasons.
Article IV – Officers
Section 1
Elected leadership will serve the term of one full academic school year. Elections will be held
during the spring semester between the times of March 1st and the last club meeting of the school
year. Said election shall be held during a general meeting on a date convenient to the club
members.
Leadership and their respective duties shall be, but are not limited to:
A. Editor-In-Chief
 Ensures that the organization is operating in conformity with the standards
set forth by James Madison University, the Office of Student Activities &
Involvement, and the JMU Media Board
 Maintains communication with organization advisor
 Presides over the publication of the magazine, including the selection
process, design, production, and distribution
B. Managing Editor
 Presides over meetings
 Oversees all club communication including email and social networking
sites
 Assists the Editor-In-Chief with all tasks that need to be completed
C. Design Editor
 Presides over the designing of the magazine
 Makes important stylistic choices along with the Editor-In-Chief
 Plans and oversees Design Week
Other positions are possible and will be added as the need arises.
Section 2

Election of leadership will require a majority vote from members and leadership. In the event of
a tie, a fair procedure to determine the winner will be decided by the members. This procedure
shall be overseen by the club membership to ensure fairness.
In the event that an officer leaves his/her position before the spring election time, the position
will be opened up to the rest of the members. If there is more than one candidate, an election date
shall be scheduled by the officers.
Section 3
A leader may be removed from office by a majority vote of all members if that leader’s actions
are deemed inappropriate by membership. The leader is allowed to speak before the Executive
Committee and the membership regarding the charges made concerning his/her performance.
The officer is not permitted to participate in the deliberation of leadership regarding the charges.
An officer may be removed for all of the membership revocation reasons above, and also for any
legitimate reasons, including, but not limited to:
 Inadequately performing their duties
 Inappropriate attitude towards club and its members
 Election fraud
 Misappropriation of club funds
An officer endangered of being removed must be warned at least once of his/her misconduct
prior to formal charges being brought against that officer.
Article V- Adviser
The adviser shall be a full or part time faculty or staff member at James Madison University. The
adviser will assume those responsibilities as outlined in University Policy No. 3101 entitled
“Faculty Advisers to Student Organizations.”
Article VI – Meetings
The organization shall hold weekly meetings during the academic term except during holidays,
examination periods or other events which may deem meetings impractical. Meeting days and
times will be discussed by year with membership to decide the most amicable time for the large
majority.
Article VII – Hazing
Gardy Loo, in keeping with JMU’s expectations for a positive academic and social
environment, unconditionally opposes hazing. No individual member of our group or the
group itself may engage in or plan any activity that may be defined as hazing.

Gardy Loo opposes any situation created intentionally to produce mental or physical discomfort,
embarrassment, harassment or ridicule to its members or potential members. In addition, no
individual or recognized organization may by physical or mental stress or by subtle or covert
technique, impair, make captive, or destroy an individuals’ freedom of thought and choice.
Hazing, under Virginia law, is defined as” activities for the initiation or induction into an
organization which include calisthenics or other strenuous physical activity; exposure to
inclement weather; consumption of food, liquid, beverage, drug or other substance;
confinement in any room or compartment; spraying, painting or pelting with any
substance; burying in any substance; burning, branding or tattooing or another activity
which may result in physical injury or endanger the health or life of the individual being
hazed.”
J17-101 Section 18.2-56 of the Code of Virginia, as amended, which declares hazing illegal,
establishes conditions for civil and criminal liability and outlines the duties of the
university when a student has been found guilty of hazing.
It is hereby incorporated as part of this constitution and will serve as a guide for action by the
university and Gardy Loo if there is an instance of hazing by this organization or any of the
members of this organization. It will be the duty of the leadership of Gardy Loo to educate the
membership of this policy.
Article VIII – Amendments
Amendments to this constitution must be first discussed with leadership. Said
amendment will be discussed at a general meeting with all members present. In order
to adopt the amendment, a vote of 2/3rds present membership must be passed.

Appendix D: Fall 2015 Schedule
Fall 2015 Schedule
Sunday, September 20,3pm:
Club Barbeque
RSVP on the Staff Facebook page
Wednesday, September 23:
Committee Heads Application due by midnight
Sunday, September 27:
Committee Heads announced via email
Wednesday, September 30:
Staff Submissions Deadline
Make sure to indicate it is a staff submission within the email
Sunday, October 4, Afternoonish:
Mandatory Committee Heads Training
Monday, October 5:
General Submissions Deadline
Week ofOctober 12-16:
Committees Week
Sunday, October 18, 7 p.m.:
Design starts
Communications :
Website: jmuGardyLoo.org Staff Facebook: JMU Gardy Loo Staff
Facebook: Gardy Loo Instagram/Twitter: JMU Gardy Loo
Email: jmuGardyLoo@gmail.com
Submissions email: submissions.jmuGardyLoo@gmail.com

Appendix E: Interview Questions
Interviews
Respondents 1 and 2, Respondent 2, Respondent 3
How do you feel about your internal communication practices?
- Still figuring things out
- People do come to the meetings, so that’s a good thing
- Facebook is working much better than email for the same reasons
What would you like to add to the internal communication/what feels lacking?
- Some editors do more than others, they feel like they do all of the communication
- Reception may be lacking
- Concern: too much communication from everywhere
- Nope
Is there anything from other clubs that use you’d use here?
- GroupMe, Facebook
- Nope (maybe group emails listserv)
Is there anything from here that you’d use in other clubs?
- Facebook rather than lengthy emails
- Nope
Strengths of Facebook use?
- Instant and immediate
- Members respond to each other rather than having to wait for editors
- Easier to see who’s in the club rather than having a faceless set of email addresses in a
listserv
- Easier to ensure that listed members are actual contributing group people
- Allows members control over their own membership
- Better confidentiality of submissions
- Security for admins, agency for members
- More people more often
- More casual, you don’t barred down by being professional
Weaknesses of FB use?
- Oversaturation of notifications and messages
- Possibility of skimming the notifications because they all look the same (**inability to “flag”
messages on FB)
- Not everyone has Facebook, so it can leave some out
- More engagement with the FB page, encourage members to look at stuff on the age
How is email used for Gardy Loo?
- Committee sign-up
- Official account used for external and professional communication
- Mostly used for major communications, now only used for submissions
- Occasionally for staff
Is there ever any miscommunication about scheduling?
- Not really
- If any, it is because of semester-to-semester changes
- FB allows the schedule to be constantly available

Nope
*As new leadership, how do you feel about past communicative practices?
- Moved to FB instead of email, a really good decision
o Quote: “same”
- PPT use is new. Some are posted on the FB page if the info is mandatory or relevant
- This design week has had a bigger turnout than ever
- Teaching people how to use InDesign is positive
- Engaging more w/ staff, being encouraging about teaching them how
Is print communication used at all?
- Handouts occasionally at meetings
- Flyers for submissions, but internal communication doesn’t use it much
- Poetry readings
If you could change any one thing, what would it be?
- Reception from members is not always apparent
o Quote: “shouting into the void”
- Knowing that messages are received & understood
- Most FB posts are from the editors
- Ensuring that people are engaging with the Facebook page and gain more responses

Appendix F: Survey Questions and Results
1. What types of internal communication are used by Gardy Loo? [fig. 1]
a. Facebook: 100%
b. Email: 100%
c. Online calendars: 0%
d. Other social media: 80%
e. Mobile apps: 80%
f. Documents: 40%
2. How effective did you find the methods of communication specified in Q1?
a. All respondents noted that the methods are effective, primarily Facebook.
3. If you have been involved in other clubs in the past, what methods of internal
communication did they use?
a. Facebook: 100%
b. Email: 100%
e. Mobile apps: 50%
f. Documents: 75%
4. How effective did you find the methods of communication specified in Q3?
a. Most members found previous methods of communication from other clubs to be
effective, and noted that email is not as useful as Facebook.
5. What other methods of communication do you think would benefit the Gardy Loo staff?
[fig. 2]
a. Facebook (additional groups): 0%
b. Email: 0%
e. Mobile apps: 25%
f. Documents: 25%
g. None: 0%
6. Rate the following aspects of Gardy Loo's internal communication practices (choose any
ranking): [fig. 3]
a. Efficiency: avg. 4.2/5
b. Usefulness: avg. 4.4/5
c. Clarity: avg. 3.8/5
d. Effectiveness: avg. 3.4/5
7. What are the strengths of Gardy Loo's internal communication?
a. Easy and swift access to communication and answers to questions.
8. Is there anything you feel could be improved about Gardy Loo's internal communication?
a. Some members wanted an online calendar, and others expressed concerns that
messages from the club are lost among the communications that members received
from other organizations they may be in.
9. What method of organizational communication do you personally find MOST effective
(choose one)?
a. Facebook: 100%
b. Email: 0%

e. Mobile apps: 0%
f. Documents: 0%
10. Is there anything else about Gardy Loo's internal communication you would like to
mention?
a. N/A

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