Utilizing Focus Groups for Policy Development and Stakeholder Engagement

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Explore the effective utilization of focus groups in policy development and stakeholder engagement within a higher education setting. Learn how a small team leveraged focused discussions to build consensus and address opposition points, ultimately fast-tracking the implementation of new admission criteria at a tuition-dependent university. Gain insights into the methodology, outcomes, and strategies to overcome resistance with data.

  • Focus Groups
  • Policy Development
  • Stakeholder Engagement
  • Higher Education
  • Data Analysis
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  1. How to use Focus Groups to Win Friends and Influence People CAIR, San Diego, CA. November 19-21, 2014 Scheduled at 3:00-3:45 Thursday in Salon A Nathan Garrett, PhD Assistant Professor of IT Assistant Dean, School of Business Nathan.Garrett@Woodbury.edu Bruce Feinstein, MOL Institutional Researcher Woodbury University Bruce.Feinstein@Woodbury.edu

  2. Abstract More than just getting input, we used focus groups to build a policy, grow support, and fast-track implementation. For our small tuition-dependent university, admissions standards are a politically charged topic. A small team began by creating data- driven admission criteria. We then used focus groups to engage with stakeholders campus-wide. Each focus group began with a brief presentation, and then quickly transitioned into a guided dialogue. The meetings allowed the team to find and address points of opposition. By the time the proposal went to the full faculty body and administration, most of the potential critics had already been engaged. This session will present the focus group methodology used to build consensus. 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 2

  3. Slides online at profgarrett.com 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 3

  4. Why are we here? Woodbury University, Burbank CA Private, non-profit, grad/ug professional degrees 1500 FTE, 6m Endowment, 74% acceptance rate, HSI/FirstGen 2.75 GPA Admission Policy Proposal Domestic freshmen entrants need a minimum High School GPA of 2.75. SAT ignored, and Scholarships based on HS GPA. Timeline Summer 13: Began Process Fall 13: Approved Faculty Spring 14: Approved Cabinet/President Spring 15: Implementation 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 4

  5. Outcomes 1. Understand our focus group methodology 2. Recreate useful data displays 3. Describe ways to overcome resistance with data Agenda 1. Methodology/Process 2. Concerns & Questions Questions welcomed at any time 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 5

  6. Methodology/Process 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 6

  7. What is a focus group? Guided discussion Understand new or complex issues Originally used in marketing research 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 7

  8. Process r the Unde radar May-August 13 Data Gathering Interviews August-September Developed Policy Focus groups October-February 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 8

  9. Use a traditional focus group to generate quick, rich, and slightly-biased data Advantages Low cost & fast Messy or unstructured problems Authentic participant voices Disadvantages Groupthink/dominant voices Non-quantifiable/statistical Biased selection Poor for sensitive topics Can be shallower than interviews 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 9

  10. Use a traditional focus group to generate quick, rich, and slightly-biased data and agreement Advantages Low cost & fast Messy or unstructured problems Authentic participant voices Disadvantages Groupthink/dominant voices Non-quantifiable/statistical Biased selection Poor for sensitive topics Can be shallower than interviews 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 10

  11. Use a traditional focus group to generate quick, rich, and slightly-biased data and agreement Advantages Low cost & fast Messy or unstructured problems Authentic participant voices Groupthink Non-quantifiable/statistical Disadvantages Groupthink/dominant voices Non-quantifiable/statistical Biased selection Poor for sensitive topics Can be shallower than interviews 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 11

  12. Ideal focus group elements Location Neutral Round table Participants 6-10 people Sample Avoid power differentials, Homogeneity for comfortable discussions. Diverse to avoid groupthink Confidential Sessions Continue until saturation Moderator Starts with open-ended questions Probes into responses Neutral Data Note-taker or a/v recording Coded for analysis 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 12

  13. Focus Group Participants Build initial dataset Bruce/Nathan Admissions VP Enrollment, Dir. Enrollment All admissions staff Student Support VP, Dean, Director Academic Leadership Chairs Deans (one-on-one) Faculty/Community Colloquium presentation Educational Planning Committee Senate/WUFA Cabinet/President VPs, 15% Staff, 35% Faculty, 50% Cross-disciplinary meetings 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 13

  14. What we did wrong Ideal Neutral Facilitator Reality Data-driven facilitator Gather participant voices Build proposal & consensus Getting data Building/displaying data 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 14

  15. The Result 1 Paragraph proposal 3 Page explanation 15 Pages of Q&A 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 15

  16. Why not use the SAT? High School GPA Pearson Correlati on -.134 .000 .005 .890 .005 .890 SAT Verbal Pearson Correlati on -.035 -.144 -.144 SAT Math SAT Math High School GPA Pearson Correlati on -.134 SAT Verbal Pearson Correlati on -.035 Pearson Correlati on .112 -.136 -.136 Pearson Correlati on .112 Sig. (2- tailed) tailed) .000 Sig. (2- tailed) .317 .000 .000 Sig. (2- tailed) .001 .000 .000 Sig. (2- Sig. (2- tailed) .317 Sig. (2- tailed) .001 N N N N N N Is the student male? Is the student Hispanic? Is the student in a studio course? Has the student graduated? High School GPA SAT Verbal SAT Math Fall Freshman Year GPA Spring Freshman Year GPA GPA Is the student male? Is the student Hispanic? Is the student in a studio course? Has the student graduated? High School GPA SAT Verbal SAT Math Fall Freshman Year GPA Spring Freshman Year 680 680 680 823 823 823 823 823 823 680 823 823 .052 .052 .184 .184 659 659 .079 .079 793 793 .145 .145 793 793 .026 .026 .000 .000 .213 .278 .330 .493 .493 680 577 577 662 662 .043 .278 .513 .244 .244 .220 .000 .000 .000 .000 823 577 823 800 800 .060 .330 .513 .198 .198 .086 .000 .000 .000 .000 823 577 823 800 800 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .213 .278 .330 680 577 577 .043 .278 .513 .220 .000 .000 823 577 823 .060 .330 .513 .086 .000 .000 823 577 823 .000 .000 .000 .489 .489 604 604 .267 .267 733 733 .161 .161 733 733 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 16

  17. Concerns and Questions 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 17

  18. Did we make the right choice, is this a good fit? 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 18

  19. How will this affect enrollment? Freshman class who would be excluded Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Average Woodbury is approx. 2/3 transfer, 1/3 freshmen. 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 19

  20. Is there a difference between studio and non-studio programs? 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 20

  21. How will this change affect my program? Would have been denied Would have been denied % Unknown due to lack of HS GPA Would have been admitted College Program Total Architecture Architecture Interior Architecture Overall Accounting Fashion Marketing Management Marketing Overall Business ITS MCD Animation Arts Communication Fashion Design Filmmaking Game Art and Design Graphic Design Psychology Overall 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 21 (blank)

  22. How would this change affect our student population? % Pell recipients among Domestic Freshmen Average high school GPA average SAT composite Demographics: Asian Black or African American Hispanic Native Hawaiian White Two or more International Unknown 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 22

  23. How would this change affect our student population HSI status for example? Would have been admitted Would have been denied Unknown due to lack of HS GPA Would have been denied % Gender Ethnicity Total Overall Asian or Pacific Islander Black, non-Hispanic Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Overall Female Asian or Pacific Islander Black, non-Hispanic Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Male Overall 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 23

  24. How does Woodbury compare nationally? Woodbury HERI Woodbury HERI n Grad? n Grad? Range No SAT 600-699 700-799 800-899 900-999 1000-1099 1100-1199 1200-1299 1300+ Avg n Grad? Range n Range No GPA 2.0-2.5 2.5-2.9 3.0-3.4 Grad? 39.8% 2,688 6,309 9,583 9,150 8,707 6,772 5,685 <C, C-, C C+ B- B B+ A- A, A+ 1,212 2,582 4,527 11,434 12,090 12,261 12,112 20% 33% 40% 48% 59% 68% 78% 45.2% 52.3% 63.2% 68.0% 73.1% 76.5% 3.5-3.9 4.0+ Graduation rates by GPA Graduation rates by SAT Source: http://www.heri.ucla.edu/PDFs/pubs/TFS/Special/Monographs/Degree AttainmentRates AtAmericanCollegesAndUniversities.pdf 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 24

  25. Why not offer more assistance to these students? Remedial math courses Remedial writing courses Writing Center Tutors Peer mentors Counselors 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 25

  26. Why not offer more assistance to these students? Average number of years each student was at WU Went to a different 4 year school after WU & CC? Number of students sampled No Reverse Transfer to Community College? Came back to WU after a CC? Population of students enrollment after Woodbury? HS GPA < 2.5 2.5 - 2.75 Total Source: National Student Clearinghouse. 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 26

  27. Did we make the right choice, is this a good fit? For the Student For the University 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 27

  28. Conclusions & Take-aways 1. Focus groups are a social/qualitative methodology 2. We used the methodology to: 1. Create useful data displays 2. Discover and address peoples issues 3. Effective in our context 11/20/2014 Woodbury University 28

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