For something so foundational, communication can be complex. All day, people are drafting emails, skimming newsletters, and searching for PDFs. At Davidson, we value communication transparency and we strive to support each other through discussion and teamwork on a variety of platforms. This sprawling landscape of information and communication doesn’t always serve us perfectly. Pinning down and addressing the problem can prove difficult. The Campus Communication and Collaboration project strives to do just that.
T&I's Digital Transformation team is investigating the nooks and crannies of the Davidson communication ecosystem, starting with a deep investigation into what we're communicating and how we are sharing it. We started with a survey and series of interviews with students, faculty, and staff.
We’re excited to share some fascinating facts from our data collection. This site will continue to evolve as we process the data we've gathered. Make sure to check back to see the results of this project!
Survey Responses by Persona
Let’s drill down on accessing internal information -- how do you figure out when Spring Break is this year? What about the Commons menu for this week? And what time is that lecture you wanted to attend?
There are a variety of sources of information at Davidson. They each host vital content and workflows that power our community. Some may consider InsideDavidson to be a spectre haunting the college, but plenty of people use it on a weekly basis. First, we'll take a look at the most popular pages on InsideDavidson.
This chart presents the five most viewed pages on InsideDavidson for the last year, along with their total view count. Hover or tap on each bar to see the number of views.
It's safe to say that InsideDavidson is still very much alive. But should we keep it around? To make that decision, we need to figure out what people think and feel about the platform. Is information on InsideDavidson accessible and easy to find? Is it up to date?
The survey asked participants to rate how easy/difficult it is to navigate InsideDavidson. This chart presents their responses, sorted by persona.
The survey asked participants to rate how up to date or out of date the information on InsideDavidson is. This chart presents their responses.
How many emails do you get in a day? How many times do you check your inbox? Let’s take a look at the linchpin of communication at Davidson.
Email is undeniably central to communication and collaboration at Davidson. That being said, there are some serious misconceptions floating around about how individuals at Davidson use email. We analyzed anonymous email data to find out the truth.
This chart presents the ratio of emails received to emails sent. It brings up some interesting questions; why does the ratio become smaller for each year spent studying at Davidson? What causes the drastically different ratio for hourly staff members?
For each question answered about email, we think of five more. Let's take a closer look at the whats and whens of our inboxes.
The survey asked participants if they believe that they receive a reasonable or an unreasonable number of emails. This chart presents their responses. Interestingly, the responses tend towards 'reasonable' rather than 'unreasonable.' Students are most likely to identify the amount of email they receive as 'unreasonable.'
Not all of the email in our inboxes is from Davidson senders. This chart presents the breakdown of internal and external emails received per day.
Davidson’s digital network of communication and information is constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of the college. But things can slip through the cracks.
Where are we most impacted by the limitations of our current platforms and practices? What are the most pressing needs of our community and situation? Before we can look forward, we need to look around and assess where we are right now.
Survey participants were asked to select which tool they would use to perform a variety of communication tasks. Click or tap on each tool label to hide/show it on the graph.
Survey participants were asked to identify the most significant challenges they face when engaging in digital communication at Davidson.
This chart presents a limited dataset of the software used on campus, but it is still revealing. Davidson employees who use Macs, like all of us, make extensive use of Zoom and Microsoft Outlook. The stand-out entry here is Slack: it receives significant screentime despite not being officially adopted by the college.
If you could change one thing about how Davidson communicates or how it organizes information, what would it be?
During interviews, we asked students, faculty, and staff how they would improve communication at Davidson. Below are some of their (paraphrased) suggestions.
More information transparency
Equitable access to information for off campus and remote students
More training on communication tools and best practices
A centralized portal for information to replace insideDavidson
Fewer communication platforms
A campus-wide, universally adopted chat platform
As we explore the data, we're gaining a clearer picture of what's happening here. What are your takeaways? Were you surprised by anything? Are you left with questions and hypotheses?
The data presented on this site only scrapes the surface of the complexities of communication at Davidson. If you're interested in delving into these platforms and processes with us, make sure to check this website in the coming months to see the outcomes of the project. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the information presented above, please contact tejones@davidson.edu.