Adviser Update Adviser Update Fall 2017 | Page 9

9 core leadership team—for us, have used it for several surveys the Editors-in-Chief, Managing since then. Editors then began Editors, and Chief Investigative designing and testing questions Reporter—collaborated on a in the SurveyMonkey platform. shared document to develop their Once they built the survey, they list of survey questions. This was completed numerous tests and a free-flowing and wide-ranging figured out the expected survey brainstorm at first, with some duration: most students could fantastic questions. The EICs began complete the 39 questions in sorting the questions into general three to five minutes — a crucial categories—demographics, photo gallery of infographics on https:// academics, sports and activities, and culture. They argued about friar.news/2tlRiil the questions in comments and feedback on that document, and occasionally sought my feedback. By early August, they had the survey organized and narrowed down to 39 questions. They also discussed survey platform. Google Forms seemed like the easiest option, since our students were familiar with the Google platform and felt comfortable designing questions on the interface. Yet they knew they wanted to keep the survey anonymous, and senior editors raised the concern that even if they survey did not request a login, some students might be hesitant to share responses to sensitive questions in a familiar Google interface. They tested out and eventually decided on SurveyMonkey. We invested in a paid account and benchmark they determined was necessary to get student participation. It was a challenge to test out infographic creators before we had data. Our Managing Editors tried out a few options over the summer and decided on Infogram, although Piktochart and other options also work well. When it came to production time, they ended up using a combination of Infogram and Photoshop to get the desired effects. I helped the editors to reserve a set of classroom laptops for survey administration from our technology staff, and to ensure that tables would be ready at the survey location. A smart Managing Editor decided to create a print version of the survey, just in case the wireless was slow or out at implementation. Although the wireless worked fine on the survey date, we were able to use these print copies to share the list of questions with curious teachers and administrators who visited our tables. With all the pieces in place, the last logistical plan involved incentive: they decided to order some rubber bracelets printed with 'Class of 2019' and our publication website, and enough candy to feed the freshman class. With only a little coaching from the adviser, a motivated team prepared all of the logistics prior to our August workshop so they were able to focus on training. TEAMBUILDING The implementation and design of the survey served as a jump- start for the core leadership team to dive into their new roles. The