Browsing by Author "Oldham, Kyle, committee member"

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Open Access
Are they listening to us? A comparison of student responses to traditional vs. user-generated marketing content
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Hagedorn, Mandy, author; Hallahan, Kirk, advisor; Champ, Joseph, committee member; Oldham, Kyle, committee member
Marketers for university housing departments use a variety of traditional and digital tools to promote positive attitudes and interest among prospective student residents. This study used one-on-one semi-structured qualitative in-depth interviews to explore perceptions and reactions of ten first-year students at Colorado State University. Students were shown two examples of traditional marketer-generated content, including a printed Housing Guide publication that all admitted first-year students receive by mail and a video on Housing & Dining Services' website that features a student-guided tour of one of the residence halls on campus. Participants also reviewed a user-generated YouTube video featuring the same residence hall and the CSU Rams Class of 2017 Facebook group page that includes 3,000+ members. Marketer-generated materials resulted in positive attitudes and a greater sense of credibility, while the user-generated video and Facebook group page were not considered credible by as many of the participants. While students were not averse to using user-generated content online to form opinions and make decisions, they displayed more hesitation at trusting information found online versus information shared within their networks of peers or personal contacts. The results suggest that university-produced materials, particularly the housing department's comprehensive printed publication, continue to play a vital role in a university's promotional efforts, despite the widespread contention that students prefer to obtain information online and rely heavily on user-generated content. The study provides seven recommendations for future marketing efforts based on the students' preferences.
Open Access
Shh... there's some racism in these policies: a phenomenological study of Black student experiences with on-campus housing policies
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Crosby, Domonique, author; Basile, Vincent, advisor; Black, Ray, committee member; Oldham, Kyle, committee member; Sturdivant, Alvin, committee member
Black students are called to live on campus and promised a better college experience by doing so. However, when Black students move on campus, they continue to experience hostile environments and microaggressions from those around them. Black students not only experience these microaggressions, but they also experience difficulties when navigating on-campus housing policies and those who enforce them. Black students express concerns about interacting with their peers, staff, faculty, and campus police departments. This study used phenomenological methodology to examine the relationship between anti-Blackness and on campus housing policies. I center Black ways of knowing and being by using BlackCrit to analyze the data and situating the study in an Afro-pessimistic frame. I frame this study through a lens that recognizes the historical positioning of Black people as less than present in the afterlife of slavery. The study dives into the experiences of Black students who live on campus and how to best support them in navigating the negative impacts of on-campus housing policies. The study calls for housing and residence life professionals to interrogate whether their policies and practices create a welcoming environment for Black students to live authentically.
Open Access
Visual expression of liberal education mission
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Schimek, Gwendolyn Patricia, author; McKelfresh, David, advisor; Oldham, Kyle, committee member; Elkins, Becki, committee member; Siller, Thomas, committee member
The purpose of this photo elicitation study was to explore the experience of undergraduate students in the Midwest attending liberal arts campuses. Using the American Association of Colleges and Universities’ four liberal education outcomes, the study asked student participants at four different liberal arts campuses to take photographs of the visual expression of these outcomes on their campuses over a 4-week time period. Additionally, participants took part in a focus group on their respective campus to discuss the photographs and begin to assign meaning to the photographs. The 19 participants in this study shared insights into their experiences at college and the ways they saw the liberal education outcomes expressed. The emergent themes reflected the following observations: (a) Relationships comprised community, and the nature of campus, support, and friendship was student focused; (b) Environment and physical space played a role in the student experience; (c) Campuses provided a well-rounded, integrative, and interdisciplinary student experience; (d) Students viewed themselves as partners, not consumers in the fabric of campus; and (e) An uncapturable component, which included residential campus and classroom experiences, was also present and created an important student experience.