For junior psychology and public communications major Rachel Nierenberg, staying in Central New York after graduation is not something she would consider. With her family and friends in New York City, she plans to leave Upstate after she graduates.

To help determine why she and other students leave the Upstate region, Nierenberg and 18 other students in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications’ public relations department have spent the semester developing and administering the KEEP US Project survey, whose results will be released Dec. 13.

‘There didn’t seem to be any research done in the 12-county area,’ said Brenda Dow, vice president of client services at Vincent McCabe and the students’ client contact for the project, dubbed the KEEP US survey.

The survey polled students attending colleges in the 12 counties of Central New York.

‘The main purpose of the survey is to add to the knowledge base about students when it comes to retaining area college graduates,’ said Jean Vincent, adjunct professor of public relations research at Syracuse University and president of Vincent McCabe, Inc., which sponsored the survey. ‘We were trying to determine if students in the area were staying, leaving or undecided.’

Before beginning the 15-week research project, students collaborated to determine the best method to gather their information, and then conducted in-depth interviews with other students from the colleges to determine the questioning. Vincent then posted the questionnaire on the Internet and used student e-mail directories to gather attention.

‘The research was done in a fairly scientific way,’ Vincent said. ‘They did a very professional study in much the same way as if they were working in the company. My company allowed them to use the software they use that wouldn’t be available to the (university). There was a large response rate.’

While the results of the survey will not be released until Dec. 13, Vincent said over 2,300 students responded to the survey.

‘Many times our leaders are looking for ways to reach students,’ she said. ‘But we actually went out and asked students what motivates them.’

Vincent believes the results of the survey will benefit leaders of Central New York communities who have been struggling to bring forth initiatives to keep students in the area after they graduate from college.

Because of Vincent’s ties with Vincent McCabe, the students were able to conduct their research as if they were a part of the company.

‘The students all helped organize the study from creating exactly what we were studying (in class),’ Nierenberg said. ‘Once we had all the surveys we needed for the sample we analyzed the data.’

Nierenberg came away from the experience with a positive outlook.

‘It was a really amazing experience for someone who wants to go into PR,’ she said. ‘It shows how important research is throughout the whole public relations process. It really helped give us insight.’

Published on December 6, 2004 at 12:00 pm