The New School Free Press has conducted surveys over the past two semesters to better our understanding of the university community and its diverse voices. Beyond looking to engage in a open dialogue with our readers, we’re looking to identify the ways and places that information spreads at our school. This year, we’re making the results of our survey accessible to our readers. You can find a link to the raw data online — for now, these are the biggest takeaways.
The cafeteria seems to be a go-to spot for information.
With no main campus or quad area like other universities, New School seems to struggle with maintaining a distinct and centralized community. The cafeteria, however, has been adopted as a space for culinary delight, friendly conversation and the host of a communist occupation. It was the most frequent response to where information is shared in the school, appearing in more than a quarter of responses.
Smokers have their own channels of info.
In classic New School taste, spaces for a pre- or post-class Camel Blue are also hubs for information. When asked where students come together to share information, several respondents pointed to “the smokers in front of the UC.” Other responses included “small talk with friends if we happen to be smoking on the sidewalk at the same moment” and “The UC and after class (smoking cigarettes).”
We’re a school of stereotypical millennials.
It’s cliché but true that millennials can’t put down their devices. Respondents cited digital sources, such as social media and emails, nearly twice as much as IRL communication. At the very least, students maintain a diverse assortment of platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and according to at least one New School student surveyed: Snapchat.
The Free Press has some work to do.
Most of our respondents claimed to engage with the Free Press in some way, with just over half pointing to the website and various social media manifestations of the Narwhal news source. For the others (safe to say those reading this are not included), we’re still looking for new ways to engage and connect with students from all parts of this university.
We didn’t reach all of you.
As a newspaper composed of mostly Lang students, this may have been a little skewed in our surveying. We overrepresented Lang by about 20 percent, while under-representing Parsons by nearly 15 percent. NSSR and CoPA students were represented about proportionally, but we didn’t speak to enough Continuing Education and School of Public Engagement students in our survey. Like the rest of the school, we’re still working to tighten up our community relations.
At the Free Press, we think it’s important to be transparent with our methods and results of our audience engagement surveys. We think it’s equally important, however, to create and maintain an open discussion of how the campus newspaper can better represent and serve its community. We’re asking you to send questions, comments or news tips to nsfreepress@gmail.com to help us go forward. Or if you see someone familiar on our masthead — reach out!
