Murray & Co.

Community, Environment, and Development Needs Assessment

Cory Murray
Murray & Co.
Suite 127
127 S. Barnard St
State College, PA 16802
Tim Kelsey
Co-Director and Grants Manager
The Capstone Center for Excellence in Community, Environment, and Development
100 Shrubbery Way
Suite 475
State College, PA, 16802
Dear Mr. Kelsey,
I am writing in reply to the request for a proposal from The Capstone Center for Excellence in
Community, Environment and Development. Murray & Co. asks for your consideration to accept our
grant proposal in order to perform a Needs Assessment for the potential development of an alumni
network among graduates of Penn States Community, Environment, and Development (CED) major.
Murray & Co. specializes in analyzing forms of communication and marketing tactics. Both of which are
essential in advising and improving the alumni and current student network of Penn State CED students.
As a CED graduate, I feel personal commitment to the cause in order to see future CED students become
successful and feel more comfortable post graduation. The partnership of The Capstone Center and
Murray & Co. is an important partnership for the future of Community, Environment, and Development
majors who rely on strong connections within the major and throughout the job network.
I hope you see the qualifications of Murray & Co. to be a perfect match for the needs assessment
presented by The Capstone Center. If there are any questions or interest to know more, please do not
hesitate to reach out to me directly at (479)790-8183 or at murray_co@murrayandco.com. Looking
forward to this potential partnership to aid the futures of Penn State students.
Sincerely,
Cory Murray
VP communications of Murray & Co.

Name of Principle Investigator:

Cory Murray
Undetermined Associate
Cooperators:
Ashley Citarella- Assistant Director for Information Management and Strategic Planning at Penn State
Career Services
Leland Glenna- Professor of Community, Environment, and Development
Taylor Adams- CED Club President
Tim Kelsey- Professor of Community, Environment, and Development, Advisor
Institution of Interest:
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania 16801
(814) 865-4700
Host Institution:
Murray & Co.
Suite 127
127 S. Barnard St
State College, PA 16802
Abstract: Community, Environment, and Development (CED) is a growing major within the College of
Agriculture at Penn State University. A need has been addressed to understand if an improved or new
alumni connection network is necessary for the benefit of the major. Through the process of key
informant interviews, paper survey, and focus group, Murray & Co. plans to analyze and present findings
if an alumni network is necessary. Through this needs assessment, Murray & Co. plan to benefit current
CED students, CED alumni, as well as future students alike.
Project Dates:
January 2016- April 31st, 2016

Needs Statement
Community, Environment, and Development (CED) is a multisubject major within the College of
Agriculture at Penn State University. There are three divisions of the major: International Development,
Environmental Economics and Policy, and Community Environment and Development. These three
options give diversity to the major and give potential over many subject matters and professions. Each
CED major is also required 12 credits of a specialization of their choice. Due to the endless combinations
of CED academic plans, the communication between students, alumni, and teachers, are essentials to
keeping organized and in control of the extensive curriculum.
Communication is a foundation to the major and for the development of the majors future. As CED
majors, the intension is to understand the levels of communication between community members,
societies, and governments to help assess and lead the next generations to a more sustainable future. The
major establishes creativity, problem solving skills, and skepticism in order to cultivate students that will
be able to do hands on work post graduation within the worlds communities. With over 100 Penn State
CED majors currently enrolled and growing, the importance of communication grows as well.
A Needs Assessment is essential for the benefit of the major and its participants. Murray & Co. is
equipped to properly investigate the needs within the CED major. The need is to evaluate the attitudes of
current CED majors as well as graduates in order to understand the want for a better communication
network. Murray & Co. is fluent in data collection, statistical analysis, and implementation skills that
would be necessary for this Needs Assessment. Areas that Murray & Co. are capable of assessing are:
feedback, potential interest, frequency of participation that would be most conducive to education, and
which mediums of communications are most accessible to both alumni and current students. This analysis
would also include cross comparisons between the three areas of study within CED.
The benefits of performing this Needs Assessment would encompass both alumni and current
Community, Environment, and Development students. This would in turn benefit the entire major in
hopes of understanding if there is a need for a better form of communication within the CED major. If the
results point to a need of establishment of a form of communication, Murray & Co. is equipped to handle
this challenge.
Goals and Objectives:
Goal: To conduct a Needs Assessment of the Community, Environment, and Development major to
establish if there is a need for a network for alumni and current undergraduates. This network would be to
establish a forum for contact sharing, job posting, and connection making. Its formation would be
intended to benefit the undergraduates, alumni, and those involved with the CED program.

Objectives:
1. To assess current CED and CED alumnis attitudes toward current forms of alumno
communication.
This will be
to measure how urgent/necessary it is to establish a form of communication. If there is already a
form of communication between alumni, what is that form and can it be improved rather than
establishing a new network? This section would also address the interest in participating in this
new network. In addition, who would be interested in leadership roles.

2. To assess which forms of communication are most preferred among alumni and current CED
students.
Today there are many mediums of communication. For the most accurate and effective needs
assessment, we will ask the opinions of several social mediums in order to rank the ones that will
be most likely to be utilized if implemented in an alumni network.
3. Assess what benefits alumni and undergraduates hope to see from the establishment of a
communication network.
This Needs Assessment will show if there is a need for a network of communication for the
benefit of the Community, Environment, and Development major. The establishment of this
network would be for the benefit of the entire system of students. We will assess the expectation
of such a network and key points of interest in which to focus on.
Methodology:
The purpose of this Needs Assessment is to uncover the level of want for a better network of
communication within the CED Penn State alumni. To begin to measure this, we need to first organize
potential groups of CED students and alumni who would be willing to participate in the Needs
Assessment. A key informant interview of Ashley Citarella, the Assistant Director for Information
Management and Strategic Planning at Penn State Career Services, would be performed to organize a list
of CED alumni. She may also assist in supplying various contacts in order to connect with current CED
students. Interviews of Leland Glenna will also be conducted in order to understand more of the CED
class options in order to reach the majority of CED majors.
To incentivize participation of a survey, participants will be informed at the beginning of the survey that
once it is completed, they will be entered into a drawing for a $100 Visa gift card. Once a list is compiled
of available CED alumni and current CED undergraduates, a survey will be constructed to gage the level
of interest in creating a network. Questions for both alumni and undergraduates will focus on areas such
as: Why is it important to have a network, are there any mediums of communication already being used,
what networks do you feel are most accessible, and frequency that they would use a network if it were
created.
This survey will be administered electronically for CED alumni. This is the best medium since many
CED alumni are working across all areas of the country as well as around the globe. I will gain their
emails through the contact information shared by the help of Ashley Citarella. I will also look to the Penn
State Community, Environment, & Development Alumni and Friends Group on LinkedIn for alumni
connections and email. This survey will be a Survey Monkey, a form of survey familiar to most graduates.
Questions that will only go to alumni will be those that include questions about: Which forms of
communication are used most by alumni and what they wish they had as an undergraduate. In the survey
there will also be a question if it is okay if they are reached out to in the future for further CED related
questions.
For current CED undergraduates, it will be a paper handout that will be given during several on campus
CED classes. With permission from the administration, the handout will be distributed by myself over a
weeks time in various Spring CED classes. This will include 100, 200,300 and 400 level CED courses.
Those level will have declared CED majors, regardless, only declared CED majors will be allowed to
participate. Questions that will only be asked to undergraduates will be those around the topics of: How
much they plan to communicate with other alumni after graduation, what forms of communication are
used most as undergraduates now.

The survey for both alumni and undergraduate will contain questions requiring Major, Option, and
Specialization. Year of graduation is also important; this will separate alumni from undergraduate when
analyzing results. The results will be analyzed over the course of February.
These surveys will be finished and collected prior to March 2016. This way, a colleague and myself will
able to organize and interpret the results of the surveys and move onto the focus group. While the surveys
are being analyzed, all information will be entered into an Excel spreadsheet to insure organization of the
information and for it to all be electronically available. Over this time, Murray & Co. will also determine
what we predict to be the most successful form of network for alumni.
Once the surveys are analyzed, a focus group will be put together to assess if the chosen network would
be worth implementing to current undergraduate students. This focus group would be of those who are
part of the CED club on campus. With permission of President of the club Taylor Adam and Advisor Tim
Kelsey, one of the CED club meetings would be used as a time to facilitate the focus group to gage
excitement, interests, and what participation levels we are expected to see if implemented. After the focus
group, we hope to finalize a report of best practices to be presented by March 21 st.
Outcomes and Deliverables:
All data should be collected by the end of March, beginning of April, this way there will be a month to
compile a best practices and write a finalized report. The results of this Needs Assessment will be able to
clearly identify the need for an alumni network for graduated CED majors. From this, undergraduates will
also be able to know what networks are available to them once graduated. Undergraduates are the clear
beneficiary to this Needs Assessment but also alumni looking to expand their social networks.
Also included in the final report will be the form of networking we discovered to be most successful
among alumni as reported from both undergraduates and current alumni. From this, the establishment of a
new network will be possible. This information will be communicated through the finalized report due on
April 31st 2016. This then will be passed to original key informants and CED club president, Taylor
Adams. This way current students will know of the potential for a new network to be established. The
emails recorded in the Excel sheet of the alumni asked in the original survey will be emailed to say thank
you and to show the results.
The incentive gift raffle will take place in December and the winner will be reach before presentation of
the final report.

Timeline:
January
Hire one CED alumni

Establish Contact
With Citarella and
Glenna

Compile List of
Undergrads/Graduates

Create Survey

Send Survey to Alumni

February

Administer Survey On
Campus

Interpret Survey
Results

Establish Contact with

Kelsey and Adams

March

Create Focus Group

Questions

Visit CED Club

Meeting for Focus
Group

Interpret Focus Group

Results

April

Compile Report

Draw Raffle Winner

Send Report/Thank
yous

Budget:

Grant Proposal Budget

Expenditure Category

Capstone
Center Funds

In Kind Funds

TOTAL

PERSONNEL
Salaries/Wages

$1,530

$1,530

Fringe Benefits

$142.74

$142.74

Other

$0

SUBTOTAL PERSONNEL

$1,972.74

NON PERSONNEL
Travel*

$150

$160

Office Supplies

$20

$15

Printing

$30

$30

Telecommunications

$0

Workshops/Meetings

$0

Miscellaneous

$0

SUBTOTAL NON-PERSONNEL

$205

OTHER
Equipment

$0

Subcontracts

$0

Overhead/Indirect Costs

$600

$600

Other

$100

$100

SUBTOTAL OTHER

$700

TOTAL BUDGET

$2,877.74

Budget Narrative:
Most of the $3,000 allotted salary will go to salaries. I will hire one CED graduate to help
streamline analysis and interpretation as well as help in writing the final report. I figure they will work
about 15 hours in total. They will be paid competitively at $20/hour. This totals $300 from the budget. I
plan to do most of the research, analysis, and reporting myself. I figure on average I will spend 4.5 hours
a week over the course of 17 weeks. This leaves room from some weeks to be busier writing the report
while some weeks will be slower waiting for responses. If I pay myself at $20/hour as well for all 17
weeks, that is $1,530 dollars. Those two salaries amount to $1,830 dollars, then multiplied by the fringe
cost at 7.8%, creating a total $1,972.74 for money spend on budget.
Non Personnel budget costs are associated with gas costs. Assuming I will be doing my analysis
from Harrisburg, PA, 86 miles away, it takes half a tank of gas each way in my 2007 Jeep. Each full tank
of gas is $80. I will be taking the trip to State College, PA twice, meaning two full tanks of gas will be
used, resulting in $160 dollars to go to gas consumption. I included $15 dollars to go to office supplies
primarily to help with organization, and $30 to go to print costs. Printing is estimated by online prices and
the assumption I will print nearly 100 surveys, which is the total of CED students registered. This totals
$205 dollars for Non Personnel costs.
Other expenditures will go toward $600 for indirect costs and $100 dollars for the Visa gift card
used as an incentive. The grand total amounting to $2,877.74 total dollars used of the allotted $3,000,
keeping my budget estimated to be under the maximum.

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