NWC surveys Cody, Worland to improve two off-campus facilities

By Kara Bacon
Trail Co-editor

Members of a Northwest College market research group started taking steps towards its two off-campus centers in Cody and Worland through surveys.

NWC sent the surveys through certified mail to the two towns at which the centers are located. Miles LaRowe, NWC president attatched a letter to the aforementioned survey in which he requested residents of said locations provide NWC with the necessary information useful in the developmental stages of the centers. Based upon the answers given, NWC can more effectively utilize programs unique to the needs of each of the community’s residents.

Mark Kitchen, vice president of college relations stated that the results will be used to assess the class needs in Cody and Worland in addition to learning more about the overall image of NWC in those communities.

At present, Kitchen does not know at what time the results will be tabulated and released to the public due to the amount of time and effort involved in the process of data entry and analysis.

The root of this market research can be viewed in the 2005-2007 NWC strategic plan, according to Kitchen. At the Board of Trustees meeting Monday Nov. 15, Kitchen made a statement which explained that 700 surveys have already been completed and returned to the college.

Of the 13,500 surveys sent out to each of the communities Kitchen would like to see at least a “15 percent return.” In order for the goal set by Kitchen to be reached, nearly 2,000 surveys will need to be completed in full.

The school asked for the surveys to be returned by Nov. 23. Though the date of return is set, Kitchen commented that he knows that following the designated time of return some surveys will continue to trickle in. Surveys that fail to make the deadline will also be included in the study, but residents are being encouraged to be as prompt as possible when filling them out.

The survey consists of three specific question sections. The first section of the survey requests that residents discuss the importance of a school’s programs. Also included in the primary portion is a ranking of the school’s programs. The second part asks for opinions in regards to classes given and their availability. Section three deals with personal information such as: age, access to the Internet, commonly read newspapers and other media based questions. The survey closes with a lined area for a comment about how NWC can better serve the communities.

As it is now, it is hard to say how the off-campus communities will respond to these results.