UU continues using unofficial data collecting method despite SA legislation

Throughout my time at Syracuse University, University Union has not only catered to a relatively small set of musical genres in booking its large spring performances, but it has also distributed its survey material in an inaccurate and unapproved fashion.

As someone who is neither a fan of rap or electronic music, my interests have been misrepresented at every large spring concert during my undergraduate career. Certainly Ke$ha represents a shift to pop and a change from past years. However, my disappointment with this year’s selection, someone who represents nearly everything wrong with this generation of unaccountable 20-somethings, is not where my primary concern with the organization lies.

On Oct. 17, 2011, the Student Association (SA) voted to approve Bill 55.243, Disbursement of Surplus Funds, which granted UU an immediate sum of $1,005,172, taken from surplus amounts in the budget from that year, and a later sum of $505,172 if it complied with the bill. The legislation states, “that the surveys done by University Union which gauge interest in potential entertainment shall henceforth be conducted with the assistance of the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) to ensure that a broader base and more representative sample of the student body is surveyed.” Essentially, for UU to continue receiving this funding, it agreed to utilize the university’s office that conducts surveys and collects data.

However, the November 2012 email from UU asking for suggestions for Block Party artists contained the organization’s sole method of data collection: an unsecure Survey Monkey link. SA has informed me it has not received official survey results from OIRA, either.

Certainly, if the organization could prove with certainty that most students would prefer to have Ke$ha perform, I’d understand. Perhaps my musical interests just don’t match up with most of my peers. I also understand the challenges associated with booking these large concerts. But when the organization collects data using an unreliable process, it calls into question the validity of these important performance decisions.

For example, what stops a student from completing the survey on multiple browsers and skewing the results? The survey merely asks for an SU email address, so what prevents that individual from taking different email addresses listed on the SU directory and perverting the data?

The continued use of inaccurate survey results is a disservice to students who are continually left disappointed and misrepresented in these decisions. While it’s impossible to please everyone, UU can work harder to ensure each student is heard both fairly and with accuracy.

Jesse Feitel
Political Science Major, Class of 2013