This document outlines a proposed plan to research student reactions to the DIT Student Update newsletter and develop recommendations to improve engagement. It describes conducting informal interviews with students to understand awareness of and preferences for newsletter content and promotion. Key findings included defining different types of student engagement and social media use. The document then proposes a content and promotional framework structured around a campus life calendar. This includes developing newsletter editions focused on relevant topics at different times of the academic year, as well as offline and online promotional strategies like posters, social media, and collaborating with student groups.

1. Investigation into the student body
reaction to the DIT Student Update:
A Newsletter for You
Prepared for: Dr Rachel O’Connor
Presented by: Alvaro Gellon
Student Number: C11362871
Course Code: DT413
Year: 4
Contact Details: Phone: 086 881 2770
E-mail: alvaro.gellon@student.dit.ie
Date of Submission:
29/01/2015

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Contents
1.0. Amended Proposed Student Newsletter Research Plan ............................................................2
1.1. Aim..........................................................................................................................................2
1.2. Objectives................................................................................................................................2
1.3. Method ...................................................................................................................................2
1.4. Sampling..................................................................................................................................2
1.5. Limitations...............................................................................................................................2
2.0. Proposed Questions for General Survey.....................................................................................3
2.1. Profile Questions.....................................................................................................................3
2.2. DIT Student Update Questions ...............................................................................................3
3.0. Report Findings ...........................................................................................................................4
3.1. Defining Engagement..............................................................................................................4
3.2. Defining the use of Social Media ............................................................................................4
3.3. Promotional Techniques.........................................................................................................4
4.0. Content and Promotional Framework........................................................................................5
4.1. Development of Content ........................................................................................................5
4.2. Campus Life Framework .........................................................................................................5
4.3. DITSU Calendar .......................................................................................................................6
4.4. Offline Promotion of the Newsletter......................................................................................6
4.5. Online Promotion of the Newsletter ......................................................................................7

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1.0. Amended Proposed Student Newsletter Research Plan
1.1. Aim
To gauge the student’s response to the release of DIT Student Update - a newsletter for you, and to
develop a plan to make it more relevant to the students for future editions.
1.2. Objectives
I. Investigate the level of awareness of the newsletter in DIT.
II. Identify what sections, topics and competitions interest the students.
III. Analyse the data and prepare a blueprint for future editions of the newsletter.
IV. Analyse the data and prepare a blueprint for the promotion of the newsletter.
1.3. Method
Due to the time and resources constraints, the previous version of this proposal was redrafted. The
research undertaken became a series of informal interviews/chats both offline and on to wage the
preferences of the student deeper. Below is a draft of the questions used.
1.4. Sampling
The author believes that the majority of participants should be from 1st
or Final Year as Freshers can
engage with the newsletter over their college career and Final Year would have more opinions on
what can be improved. The reminder would be made up from 2nd
and 3rd
Year students.
1.5. Limitations
While the newsletter can be circulated to all students, the author believes that the primary audience
of the newsletter are full-time students. Thus, while the questions are aimed to be as generic as
possible, they are aimed towards this kind of student.
Due to the author’s location for college and the time period in which to undertake this assignment, a
natural bias towards North-side students was likely to happen. In addition, a specific set of sampling
had to be scrapped.
The author believes that it would be beneficial to maintain the themes of the publications related to
the Student Services poster which has been circulated to the members of staff. As such, when
preparing the blueprint, it may affect the content and/or structure of the blueprint. Additionally,
certain platforms for Social Media may not be suitable to be used by Student Services for promotion
of the newsletter
.

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2.0. Proposed Questions for General Survey
2.1. Profile Questions
Q1 What Campus are you based on?
If you are based in more than one campus, please indicate your main campus.
Q2 What’s the name of the course you’re attending?
Q3 What year are you in?
Q4 What Social Media accounts do you use?
2.2. DIT Student Update Questions
Q1 Are you aware of the DIT Student Update - a newsletter for you?
Q2 If yes, what is your favourite section and why?
 News
 You said, We did
 Spotlight On
 #DITBestGradsEver
 Sports & Social
Q3 What topics would you like to see reported (more) in the newsletter?
 College News (e.g. Career days, Non-DITSU events for students in campus, etc)
 College Services Pieces (e.g. Library opening hours, Health Centre notices, Mindfulness
workshops, Financial Support options, etc.)
 Clubs and Socs News
 Staff Pieces (e.g. Who is X?)
 Alumni Pieces
 Student Advice (e.g. Finding internships, work/college life balance, accommodation hunting,
etc.)
 Opinion Pieces
 Student Polls
Q4 How would you like to see the on the newsletter content presented?
 Short Text and Pictures only
 Short Text and Pictures with occasional videos
 Short Text and Pictures with occasional infographics
Q5 What would prizes would you like for the monthly competition?
Q6 Any further recommendations for improving your newsletter?

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3.0. Report Findings
3.1. Defining Engagement
In earlier talks, the figures showed that there was satisfactory “engagement” from the student body
with the Campus Life newsletter. However, it was necessary to see just what constituted this
engagement. It was important to define as to whether it was superficial engagement or more in
depth.
From the people who had been questioned, the majority were actually aware of the -DIT Update: A
Newsletter for you- to some extent. However, some participants answered that they weren’t aware
of the newsletter at first, until the author had actually showed them a sample. This included one
participant who had actually criticised the spelling error in one of the editions on Facebook.
When the students were aware of the student newsletter, the reply to the reaction was similar. They
were only interested in the newsletter only if they saw an article or competition which attracted
their attention. They engaged (i.e. read and answered questions for the competition) more with
these articles than the rest of the newsletter, if they read the rest of the newsletter at all.
Alternatively if the newsletter had no interesting content to them, they acknowledged it arrived but
quickly archived, deleted or sent the newsletter to the spam folder.
Regarding the content possibilities, some participants said that videos would be fine if they weren’t
too long. One participant said that anything longer than 3 minutes and they would simply not click as
they felt they were too busy for it. For the competition rewards, event tickets and restaurant
vouchers were the most popular choices. DITSU events however had not been highly regarded, and
it was suggested that they would have in previous years but the quality of said events had waned.
3.2. Defining the use of Social Media
For the purpose of the investigation the author decided that Social Media shall be defined as the
online platforms wish which students engage for Social and communication purposes. These can be
personal; i.e. maintaining informal communication with relatives and friends, and professional; i.e.
maintaining formal communications with work colleagues, potential network contacts and people in
authority such as bosses. During the investigation the author added a third use. Some participants
used certain sites only for extra-curricular (Clubs and Societies) purposes.
The author found that while the majority of people used the main Social Media applications; i.e.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Whatsapp, Snapchat, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, etc, the use varied
between participants. Some sites were used for personal purposes by some participants (e.g,
Twitter, Tumblr) whereas these sites would be used professionally by others. Facebook was almost
unanimously used personally, with some participants using it additionally for extra-curricular
purposes. LinkedIn was used professionally by everyone. Depending on whether the sites were used
personally, professionally or for extra-curricular purposes, participants could potentially engage with
promotion of the newsletter or not.
3.3. Promotional Techniques
An interesting point from one of the participants was the need to advertise the newsletter offline.
They gave a few suggestions of how to do so, some which were incorporated in the promotional
framework further in the report.

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4.0. Content and Promotional Framework
4.1. Development of Content
A key point highlighted throughout the investigation was that students regarded the newsletter as
yet another email from the institution. As such, they engaged with it briefly, if necessary, then
quickly archived, deleted or sent it to spam. Eventually, “out of sight, out of mind” applied and
participants even forgot about the newsletter until the next edition arrived in their inbox, and the
cycle began anew.
However, where the content is relevant, the engagement is much higher. During one of the
meetings in the last semester, it was highlighted that more Freshers had responded to the €200 fine
warning for late fees than with previous campaigns. So it is necessary to put the most relevant
content for students with each edition to maximise the engagement.
4.2. Campus Life Framework
At the beginning of this Academic Year, DIT and DITSU staff were given a large poster developed by
Campus Life with useful links with information for student issues that can arise throughout the year.
The Framework broke the sections down into different topics throughout the academic year. The
author believes that the framework is a suitable starting point to design the content for the
newsletter. The author proposes 8 editions every year (3 during each academic semester and 2
special editions) here is a broad proposed schedule:
 Edition 1: Transition (published during Induction Week) this edition should focus on helping
students coming from school as well as Erasmus and exchange students to settle in DIT. Both
the Spotlight on and You Said, We Did should focus on the services Campus life offers to
these students (e.g. orientation workshops, international friend lunches etc.) The
#DITBestGradsEver could have prominent alumni praising the college and the Clubs and
Social should promote the coming festival.
 Edition 2: Choices (published Mid October) The News must highlight the deferral/withdrawal
deadline in November. This edition could also focus on the students who are thinking of
heading Erasmus or have an Internship the following semester.
 Edition 3: Mindfulness (published Mid November) With the New Academic Calendar, exams
now start a month from the publishing of this edition. Additionally some students will be
finishing their dissertations between December and the first few months of the new year.
Hence it’s important to remind students about balance of study, sleeping and eating well.
The Zen Society could have a permanent promotion spot in this edition.
 Christmas Edition: (published in December) it would be a more-light hearted edition to give
tips for working holidays and enjoying the winter as well as saying farewell to those
returning home after Erasmus.
 Edition 4: New Year, New You (published straight after exams) The News must highlight the
deferral/withdrawal deadline at the end of January. Similar to Transitions, this edition
should also focus on helping Erasmus and exchange students to settle in DIT. The Clubs and
Social should promote the Refresher festival.
 Edition 5: Choices Part II (published Mid February) This edition could focus on the students
who are thinking of heading Erasmus for the first semester of the following year (or for the

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full year). Additionally some students have an Internship the following semester/year. This
edition could also concentrate on the choices for post graduate study and graduate
internships.
 Edition 6: Mindfulness Part II (published Mid-March) By this stage, many final year students
are finishing their dissertations. Hence it’s important to remind students about balance of
study, sleeping and eating well. Due to the month gap before the next edition, this could be
a double spread to remind students about exams and put more content on choices for after
graduation.
 Summer Edition: (straight after exams)Similar to the Christmas edition, it would be a more
light hearted edition to give tips for working and travelling abroad as well as saying farewell
to those returning home or graduating.
4.3. DITSU Calendar
In addition to the Campus Life Framework, it would be beneficial to also run content not just with
the newsletter, but also posters (as detailed in the next section) from the framework that went
alongside the DITSU Calendar of events.
This would permit an overlap between the works and thus the students would find the content more
relevant to them. Below are two examples of how this policy could be broadly applied.
 Mindfulness: During the month of November, the Welfare crew run a monthly roadshow
called ‘Welfare November’. It would be ideal for the DIT Student Update to have content
that was relevant to the campaign and thus could be promoted alongside of this campaign.
 My Rights and What if…, are two campaigns run by the Education Crew close to the exam
season. While they are situated a bit too late for the Mindfulness edition, some content
work could be done with posters and it would also bring attention to the newsletter.
NB: An important point to note is that due to restrictions in the current format of the newsletter,
not all the content created for campaigns can be also placed in the newsletter. However this has two
advantages:
I. The content from the posters and campaigns can be re-packaged and re-used in future
editions of the newsletter.
II. It encourages students to not only engage with the newsletter, but also with Campus Life
itself both online and offline.
4.4. Offline Promotion of the Newsletter
As the author mentioned earlier, one of the participants had highlighted the need to promote the
newsletter to students in the real world in addition to the online one. The reason was they believe
students were constantly bombarded online and it was far easier to ignore than promotional activity
within the campuses. Below are a few suggestions analysed.
 Promotion during Campus Life talks in Induction Week: As the newsletter was launched
after this period it couldn’t have been done this year. However from the following Academic
Year onwards it should be possible. It’s important to highlight how useful and relevant the
newsletter will be to the students throughout the year, otherwise they will forget about
stand it soon being overwhelmed with all the information given during the Induction Week.

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 Campus Life stand during Clubs and Socs and Refresher Week: A person who promoted the
website to the students could have their own stand or failing that maybe get permission to
promote at the DITSU stand also. Here the participant suggested that cupcakes could be
handed out to students with the URL of the newsletter on top in an edible sticker.
 Posters across campuses: A traditional method of bringing issues to attention, these posters
could be created with the content running along-side the campaigns set by DITSU (e.g.
Welfare November, My rights, What if…, KISS [Keep It Safe and Sexy], etc.)
 Cooperate with DITSU campaigns: Similar to the point above, one way to promote
awareness of the newsletter and the services offered by Campus Life is to work in tandem
with DITSU in the Education and Welfare campaigns they run throughout the year.
 “Aditorial” pieces in the eDITion: The final offline suggestion was to see about the
possibility of running advertising pieces in the eDITion. However the author believes it would
be better if possible to run opinion pieces written by the students, but that they finish with a
call to action that has the URL to the Campus Life Newsletter. The advantage is that the
eDITion is circulated on all campuses and is free.
4.5. Online Promotion of the Newsletter
 Social Media Promotion: Depending on the social media channels chosen, there are a
number of possible promotions that could be done:
 Facebook: Snippets of the most important content from the newsletter could be
placed in the DIT Facebook pages with links to the newsletter. The highlighted club
and socs could also put content (with links to DIT Student Update) in their pages and
possibly encourage other societies to share the content.
 Twitter: Can be used to remind students of when the new edition is coming out and
also for important content such as relevant campaigns.
 YouTube and Vine: Video content needs to be “short and snappy”. Vine only allows
for 7 second videos, so this could be an avenue to explore. For those that don’t have
vine, the videos can be uploaded to YouTube. Both need to link to the URL of the
newsletter in the description.
 Pinterest: Though admittedly the author doesn’t know much about this site, it is a
popular site for imagery and references. Could be used for any infographics
designed and pictures which are on the newsletter itself.
 Contribution to the DITSU Blogs: This Academic year, DITSU allowed for all student
contributions; political or otherwise, to possibly feature in the DITSU blog. Campus life could
capitalise on this by getting a student to contribute a blog post which finishes with a call to
action that has the hyperlink to the Campus Life Newsletter, similar to the aditorial piece in
the eDITion.