Seminole Sensation Week 2015 Seminole Sensation Week (SSWeek) is the annual “welcome program” at Florida State University that is planned and implemented by the Oglesby Union. SSWeek is held a week prior to the beginning of the fall semester as an alternative to high risk entertainment. While attending these series of events, students are able to learn about the many ways to get involved on campus, form an attachment to the university, as well as meet many students who share their interests. SSWeek is co-sponsored by Academic and Student Affairs. Seminole Sensation Week 2015 events were held Wednesday, August 19th through Tuesday, August 25th. The Oglesby Union Student Activities Center (SAC) provides leadership in the planning, marketing, and hosting of the events. Campus Partners that made Seminole Sensation Week 2015 possible include the Office of the Provost, Aramark, Campus Recreation, Career Center, Center for Global Engagement, Center for Leadership and Social Change, FSU Luau, Greek Life, New Student and Family Programs, Office of International Programs, Oglesby Union, Student Government Association, Sustainable Campus, University Counseling Center, University Health Services, University Housing/IRHC, University Libraries, and University Relations. Longitudinal Attendance Figures Event 2011 SSWeek (5 days) 2012 SSWeek (5 days) 2013 SSWeek (5 days) 2014 SSWeek (7 days) 2015 SSWeek (7 days)
Total Attendance 40, 835 37,654 51,141* 43,634** 43,669**
* The total attendance is the sum of the estimated number of participants’ at all daily SSWeek events including Convocation/ BBQ T-shirt Pick-up, Last Call Before Fall Concert, New Student Convocation, the President’s Backyard BBQ, and Involvement Fair. The Convocation/ BBQ T-shirt Pick-up and the President’s Backyard BBQ were not included in last year’s data. * *The total attendance is the sum of the estimated number of participants at all daily SSWeek events including Last Call Before Fall Concert, New Student Convocation, the President’s Backyard BBQ, and Involvement Fair. The BBQ T-shirt Pick-up was not included in 2015 data as it replicates Convocation numbers.
SSWeek 2015 Events Ask Big Questions Bike Safety Class Bowling and Billiards Curtis Zimmerman Dog Et Al Food: Popcorn, cotton candy, snow cones Friday Night Bites Games on the Green Group Trivia Halo & Splatoon Night Healthy Noles Cooking Class Human Foosball Hypnotist Kevin Hurley Local Show Mechanical Surfboard Midnight movie: The Ring, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Jumanji
Fight Night Gaming Social Speed Friending President's Welcome Last Call Before Fall concert featuring Vince Staples Island Photo Keychains Karaoke Paint a Pot Sweet Success Block Party ASLC Open House Music Game Night Glow in the Dark Cardio Party & Zumba FSU Luau Late Night Pancakes Cosmic Bowling Blacklight Sidewalk Chalk Raley’s Candy-Making Demo
Monkey Bungee Movie: Pitch Perfect 2, Pitch Perfect Novelties on Union Green Photo Flip Book, Sign Shops, Wax Hands RSO Showcase Scout It Out campus & library tours Spin Art Frisbees Taste of Seminole Dining ThinkFast Gameshow T-Shirt crafts
Student Activities Center & Student Government Association Open House New Student Convocation International Coffee Hour Four Square Comedian: Nate Bargatze Lego Block Party Experience Tallahassee Festival Involvement Fair Taste of Tallahassee Welcome Mixer
The Oglesby Union’s Education and Assessment team from the Department of Education, Research, and Assessment assessed and evaluated SSWeek activities in order to improve future SSWeeks. General SSWeek surveys were distributed at all SSWeek events (with the exception of Sunday’s events). Event specific surveys were created and administered for events such as Friday Night Bites and the Involvement Fair. In addition, an online survey was made available after SSWeek concluded. Date 8/21/2015 8/25/2015
Event Friday Night Bites Involvement Fair
Attendance 487 3500
Surveyed 207 300
General Survey Highlights The General Survey was administered on August 19, 20, 21, and 22 at various Seminole Sensation Events that were held at the Union Courtyard and the SLC. There were 731 general survey responses. The majority of the general survey respondents were female (61%), freshman (49%) that resided on-campus (55%). This was consistent with the data compiled over the past five years. The top three ethnicities surveyors identified themselves as were White/ Caucasian (60%), African-American/ Black (13%) and Hispanic/ Latino (14%) Friends/ word-of-mouth (25%), flyers/ posters in residence halls (13%), and Facebook (9%) ranked highest in ways students heard about SSWeek activities and events (Students were allowed to choose more than on method). The majority of respondents attended because they were interested in meeting new people and socializing (28%), enjoyed the events (25%), and were hungry/ wanted free food (22%) Friday Night Bites Survey Highlights The Friday Night Bites survey was conducted on Friday, August 21, 2015 and 207 people completed the survey. A total of 487 people attended this FNB. Response rate was 43%. The majority of Friday Night Bites Survey respondents were freshman (51%), female (56%), Caucasian/ White (43%), who lived on-campus (53%). The majority of the respondents attended the event because they were either hungry or wanted free food (36%) The majority of respondents (89%) enjoyed the entertainment. The majority of respondents, 32%, thought the food was of average quality while 27% though it was above average. Most respondents believed that attending Friday Night Bites on campus might have reduced student drinking of alcoholic beverages that evening with 17% of respondents stating maybe and 43% of respondents stating yes. 96% of respondents said they would attend Friday Night Bites again. Involvement Fair Survey Highlights The Involvement Fair survey was conducted on Tuesday, August 25, 2015; 240 student organizations and campus
departments participated. Student attendance was estimated at 3,500. During the Involvement Fair in the Union, surveys pertaining to the Involvement Fair were administered by SOAR Board students and a total of 300 responses were received. Most students who completed the survey were freshmen (57%), female (58%), resided on-campus (58%), and were not members of a recognized student organization (69%). The respondents came to the event to learn about campus activities (61%), to enjoy the event (46%), and to meet new people and socialize (30%). The majority of students surveyed said that they found an RSO they would like to join (79%) and did not attend the SAC Open House (47%). Online Survey (Open until September 8th) Students were also asked to take an online survey to give general feedback on their experiences with SSWeek 2015. The online survey responses were recorded in the weeks after SSWeek and there was a sum of 153 responses started with 107 surveys completed (70% completion rate). Below are some of the highlights from the online survey: Out of the 97% of respondents that attended SSWeek activities and completed the survey, 100% of them enjoyed SSWeek overall. The majority of the respondents were freshman (61%), female (75%), Caucasian (53%), who resided on-campus (73%). Classification Breakdown: Freshman (61%), sophomore (11%), junior (11%), senior (6%), graduate (7%), transfer (5%), and other (0%). Ethnicity Breakdown: African American/ Black (13%), American Indian/ Native Alaskan (0%), Asian/ Pacific Islander (6%), Caucasian/ White (53%), Hispanic/ Latino (15%), Mixed (15%), and Other (7%). Wednesday was the day most respondents moved into their residence hall or campus apartment (56%). There were a total of 78 housing respondents. The residence hall that most respondents lived in was Smith Hall (19%). Friends/word of mouth (49%) and the flyers (44%) were the two most common ways that respondents heard about SSWeek (Respondents were allowed to select more than one method). The top three reasons respondents chose to attend SSWeek because they wanted to enjoy the event (85%), were hungry or wanted free food (81%), or wanted to meet new people and socialize (77%) (Respondents were allowed to select multiple reasons). The percentage of respondents that thought that student participation in SSWeek reduced student drinking of alcoholic beverages was 37% who stated yes and 53% who stated maybe. Less than one-third of respondents (31%) admitted that they had consumed alcohol since arriving at FSU. Below is more detailed information from the survey respondents. - No freshmen used a fake ID to get into a bar. - Since arriving at FSU, 5% of freshmen, 1% of sophomores, 1% of juniors, and 3% of seniors consumed any amount of alcohol. - Since arriving at FSU, 12% of females and 8% of males consumed any amount of alcohol. - When asked if student participation in SSWeek on campus reduced student drinking, 89% of freshman responded with yes (38%) or maybe (51%). The FSU S.A.F.E and/or Night Nole Bus had been used by 50% of respondents upon their arrival at FSU. Almost all of the respondents, 93%, did not begin fall 2015 Panhellenic Greek Recruitment. 0% of respondents indicated that they would not return to SSWeek activities next year. The events that most respondents attended were the FSU Luau (71%) and Late Night Pancakes (41%). Other events and activities that most respondents attended were the New Student Convocation (36%), Involvement Fair (34%), and Movies at the ASLC (30%). When asked which event was the respondent’s favorite, the most common responses were FSU Luau, Curtis Zimmerman, Hypnotist, Involvement Fair, and the zip line. On the survey, students suggested more events held at a variety of times including daytime events, giving better descriptions of events, more publicity for events, providing a map for each event, and reduction of long lines.