Emma Franklin
Hospitality and Event Management
Fall 2020 - Spring 2022
Ferris State University
Prakken Building
420 Oak Street, Big Rapids, MI 49307
(231) 591 - 3947
HSMG 292 - Spring 2022
Supervisor- Jennifer Thede
Ferris State University Auxiliary Services
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Operations
a. About the Property
b. Work Environment
c. Marketing
d. Human Resources
e. Administration
f. Planning
2. Manager Interviews
3. Personal Assessment
4. Artifacts
Section 1
Operations
About the Property
Ferris State University a public university and is located in Big Rapids, Michigan, and has both regional and national competitions. As a public university, they are competing regionally, nationally, and internationally for students interested in various degree programs, athletics, and more. Some of the largest local competition includes Grand Valley State University, Saginaw State University, Michigan State University, Central Michigan University, and Michigan Tech University.
Ferris Auxiliary Services includes all revenue-generating outlets at Ferris State University. These outlets include Ferris Dining, Ferris Housing, Ferris Outfitters, Katke Golf Course, the Bulldog Service Center, Early Learning Center, Shuttle Services, the Online Bookstore, Ferris Racquet, and Tennis Center, and Ferris Printing Services. All of these services encompass a large majority of campus activities and overall campus life and make up a big aspect of the overall competitiveness of the University. Ferris includes over 10 Residence Halls and over 5 dining facilities with multiple retail style outlets.
The Work Environment
Ferris Auxiliary Services is owned and operated by Ferris State University. This University has a main campus located in Big Rapids, Michigan with multiple satellite campuses located around the state of Michigan. It also is the parent company of Kendall College of Art and Design located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ferris State University has an elected President of the University along with a Vice President and a board of elected advisors. Ferris Auxiliary Services on the other hand is headed by Gheretta Harris who is the Auxiliary Services Associate Vice President. The following official organizational chart is current as of December of 2021:
Ferris Auxiliary Services also employs a team of student employees that are separated into different specialties. These specialties include Social Media Specialists, Graphic Design Specialists, Photographers, and IT Interns. These students work under Jennifer Thede, the Operations and Marketing Specialist. The following official organizational chart is current as of April 2022:
In comparison to other professional experiences that I have had and other jobs that I have worked, students working in this sector experience a more informal work environment with less formal communication. All work communication is done orally in the office, over text, email, or through Microsoft Teams. As the environment is more of a creative style, students are free to come up with ideas, execute them as they desire, have brainstorming circles, try new things, and work directly with their supervisors to create new strategies. I would describe the work environment as pleasant and fun, but can sometimes be too informal, which students may take advantage of when they are not feeling motivated. The other employees find the position fun and as a good job to have in college, but full-timers tend to be stressed by the amount of work asked of them. Personnel problems that I have identified within the work environment come from the inexperience of the typical college students that are employed. These employees value school and outside fun more than they do work, and that can show in their attitudes and task execution. I would say that the job gives a great starting point for students looking to dip their feet in marketing, but the laid-back atmosphere may not be the most challenging and will only give as much success and growth as the student puts into it.
Marketing
Ferris State Auxiliary Services and Ferris State University as a whole are both focused on multiple key target market groups. Not only are they focused on marketing to and retaining the current student body, but they are also committed to attracting high schoolers looking into secondary education, parents of students in high school and college, and alumni and donors.
Ferris markets itself as a top value for money paid university, quoting some of the lowest tuition costs in the state. Students and parents alike appreciate the overall cost of the university, the small-town community, the excellence in athletics, the professor-student ratio, and the overarching emphasis on hands-on learning. On the other hand, Ferris consumers tend to dislike the outside community, noting a lack of things to do, and are often unhappy with the campus dining options. They note a sense of dissatisfaction among faculty, staff, and educators and tend to be dissatisfied with the age of many facilities and residence halls.
Direct competitors include Grand Valley State
University, Michigan State University, and
Central Michigan University. These
Universities are all in larger cities and tend to
have larger campuses with newer facilities.
On the other hand, competitors in the
Michigan college markets are typically more
expensive than Ferris State University.
They are larger schools with higher
enrollment and tend to draw many students
away from Ferris State that are wanting
more nightlife and recreation, newer facilities,
or more diverse academics. Ferris State
University has many advantages despite some of the larger weaknesses compared to competitors. Ferris offers smaller classroom sizes, specialized programs with graduate education opportunities on property, an abundance of nature-related activities, and a less busy atmosphere. They have a very strong alumni network filled with school pride and boast a smaller but committed enrollment for a more tight-knit community feel.
Ferris likes to focus on the "Bulldog Country" and its meaning in its marketing. The University pushes a lot of advertisements that feature the diversity of the small campus and how involved and successful Bulldogs tend to be. They strongly market the hands-on education that the small class sizes have to offer and rely heavily on athletic success. They also utilize a market strategy focused heavily on diversity and inclusion, often targeting low-income and diverse students. They push heavily for programs and services such as TIP, OMSS, international education, and more.
Although Ferris has been successful in many marketing strategies, there have been some that haven’t quite met the mark. Some marketing campaigns that have faced backlash at a rate higher than normal included the “Vax Up” campaign, Ferris Dining campaigns, and some Ferris Housing marketing campaigns. The “Vax Up” campaign was a push for students to get the COVID-19 vaccination in the fall of 2021. This campaign featured thousands of dollars in prizes for students who had been vaccinated. Prizes of note included MacBook Pro computers, Apple products, parking passes, cash prizes, gaming systems, and more. As the COVID vaccination was a very controversial topic, especially in rural Michigan, many consumers became angry that the University was using large financial incentives to influence the decisions of younger minds. There were also many consumers that were unsettled and voiced angry opinions that the University was asking for donations and raising tuition while offering massive giveaways at the same time. Ferris Housing and Dining campaigns are fairly straightforward and don’t face a lot of controversies, however, they are sometimes less successful than employees would hole. Ferris Housing encourages students to stay on campus in their marketing campaigns, noting affordable prices, good facilities, close proximity to classes and food, and a community for students. However, students who are unhappy with their experience tend to voice their narratives, often disagreeing with some of the campaigns and voicing why students should decide to live off-campus instead. This, in my opinion, is not necessarily the fault of the marketing campaign itself, rather than the lack of funding into fixing student concerns. The marketing has proven to be successful considering the overall struggles that the university has faced during the pandemic.
Ferris State Auxiliary Services relies heavily on social media marketing opportunities. Each outlet features a Facebook and Instagram page, and the overall office also boasts the University’s most successful TikTok account. (@ferrisbulldogs) They rely heavily on enticing students through the use of giveaways and promotions, especially for outlets such as the campus store and housing contracts. They typically use the website, email, Instagram, and TikTok to get messages out to the student body while Facebook is utilized primarily for the parent and alumni demographic. Instagram is used mainly for informational posts and giveaways while TikTok is used as a comedic outlet for building a sense of Ferris community.
The overall pricing for tuition, dining, and housing is determined by higher-up officials or the government with Ferris’s advisory board. Prices for things in the University store, on the other hand, are determined by our department in conjunction with competitive analyses, student surveys, and product pricing. Recently, Ferris has been marketing the rebranding of the campus store. After ending a contract with Barnes and Nobles and beginning a bookstore contract with Akademos, they have turned themselves into a fully online bookstore with an independent retail location inside the University Center. This allows the store managers and decision-makers to communicate closely with students to discuss their needs, affordability, and desires for products.
.png)
Human Resources
The Ferris Auxiliary Services Marketing department currently employs 3 full-time employees, 1 part-time employee, and 10 student employees. There is 1 Department Director, 1 Operations and Marketing Specialist, 1 Business Applications Support Specialist, 1 Assistant, and 1 Student Social Media Manager (Me). As there is a very low turnover rate for the full-time employees, there is not much recruitment involved, however the positions are typically posted on the University’s’ employment page and on local job listing sites. The positions are also often marketed to employees in other departments who may be looking for a change. There is a higher rate in turnover for students due to the nature of the campus environment. Students recruited via online job postings, campus hiring events, and social media. Many of these job openings are also spread by word-of-mouth by students and faculty. They are then brought in for an interview with either just Jennifer or Jennifer and I as a team, depending on their area of specialty. From there they complete on the job training and practice tasks with the help of their team members and supervisors in order to prepare them for completing real tasks on their own. Student employees’ range in ethnicity and backgrounds but are typically either design or marketing majors and are primarily females who are interested in design and social media, however there are male marketing and IT students as well. The starting wage for hourly students is $10 per hour with semester and merit raises available and opportunities for growth and promotion.
The most successful tactics for increasing productivity and reducing turnover have been empowering employees and increasing accountability. Allowing students to be creative and take control over their own work and creative designs has given them a sense of pride and a desire to put more effort into their work. At the same time, however, accountability processes have had to be implementing to ensure that students are actually completing their work. Keeping daily check-ins and task logs have caused an increase in effectiveness and productivity while also producing better results, as they know that they will be held accountable for their work. Students who show more work ethic, desire, and initiative are often rewarded with tasks that have higher visibility and more desirable content. These programs have increased the communication between hourly employees and their management greatly and resulting in higher quality products that are more aligned with the overall vision of the university.
Operations and Administration
As this internship is a Digital Marketing focused internship, it does not directly involve any form of lodging or housing-related activities and is very limited in event management. The department does help sponsor the occasional Housing and Dining community events but typically focuses more on online giveaways and content generation. The department utilizes a budgeting system to purchase all its own digital
content creation equipment. Management spends
a lot of time in meetings with the various University
departments and partners, often talking about
priorities, negotiations, and the vision for the
overall strategic plans. They balance requests
for marketing for other departments and
managing their student employees. They spend
a lot of time practicing inter and intradepartmental
communication, as they are almost always
participating in at least two meetings per day.
They help decide which events they would like to
sponsor and spend time planning those while their
students market them.
The entire office depends on the use of technology, and most of the jobs would be nonexistent without it. Computerization in this case has allowed students to become more creative in their work and has streamlined many of the processes for management. It has allowed students and management alike to work remotely, resulting in happier and more flexible employees. It has also allowed the marketing style to shift with the needs and desires of the target market. On the other hand, technology issues and campus WIFI struggles greatly impact the ability to perform in this department. When there are technology issues, students and management are prevented from completing or accessing any of their work, where Microsoft Teams is used as the hub.
.png)
Strategic Planning
Ferris State Auxiliary Services' main goal is to increase revenue in all outlets under their marketing control. Some strategic objectives include increasing enrollment through positive social media interactions, increasing return contracting with Ferris Housing, and increasing the sales of meal plans and university merchandise. Currently, the department is utilizing fun and interactive approach by featuring lots of giveaways and creative posts, however, in the future, it is to their benefit to rely less on giveaways and spending to retain their students. As the university recovers from COVID, there are many new short-term goals in place, especially surrounding safe campus involvement. Planning safe events to promote the campus life experience is a huge goal of the department as students missed out on the fun of living on campus for the last two years. In the long run, the goal would be to create a housing and dining program that is so desirable, it speaks for itself while using social media as more of a fun community and information spreading tool instead of the current use, which is to convince students that they need to stay on.
I think that this department will begin utilizing more and more student employees over the next few years. As this department is under relatively new management, it is still developing and changing constantly. The department will undoubtedly develop more work for Brand Ambassadors, resulting in hiring more employees. I think that the team will shift towards campus representatives that are attending every event, planning more interactive experiences, and diving more into campus life than just focusing on planning and creating social media content at a desk.
I also see the department placing a heavier focus on the student's opinions. As the department has started incorporating more student employees, they have begun to realize the actual importance of the student perspective. They have already begun asking for more student input through social media polls, surveys, and meetings in order to learn what they really want. I believe that the department and university will be forced to change the product offering over the next 10 years in order to fit within the student's demands, and the marketing will have to adapt along with it.
Management spends a lot of time communicating with students about trends and what social media strategies can be taken advantage of, which results and will continue to result in an ever-changing work environment. Social media is all about creating and following trends, and the university is learning the importance of utilizing students who place a large emphasis on them in order to adapt to the social environment. I think that Ferris will continue to hire more and more students and use them to stay on top of the game and bridge the gap between the faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
Section 2
manager interviews
Donald Dean. Business Applications Support Specialist 4/22/2022.
Q: What has been your career path up until your current position?
A: I worked in Information Technology. I was a software developer before I took my job here at Ferris State University. I went to Ferris State University for my degree in Computer Information Systems to prepare myself and get an eductation.
Q: If you could change anything about your career path what would it be?
A: I wouldn’t change a thing.
Q: What do you enjoy the most about your position?
A: I like interacting with the college students in the office. It makes for a fun and exciting environment.
Q: What do you least enjoy?
A: During the summer campus is a lot quieter since the students are gone. It completely changes the work environment and is not as fun.
Q: What are the biggest challenges you've faced in your position at Ferris Auxiliary Services and how did you overcome them?
A: I would say that the speed of the changes in technology is difficult. A big part of my job is learning new technology systems and I have to have a lot of knowledge about them which can become complicated with the constant changes in trends.
Q: If you could give me one piece of advice as I enter into the business world, what would it be?
A: I would say make sure that you are open to trying new things. You never know what you will actually like to do and you are never truly stuck in a position. There is always room to change and grow in whatever job you are in.
Jennifer Thede. Operations and Marketing Specialist. 4/22/2022.
Q: What has been your career path up until your current position?
A: I went to Ferris State University and got a degree in Liberal Arts. I was then hired at Ferris in Sports information and athletic advancement at first where I worked with donor relations, especially by mailing donors and working with statistics. I then moved into a part-time IT Services position where I answered call center questions and worked with technology. After 4 years I became the Office Coordinator and Assistant to the Chief Technology Officer where I worked for 15 years. In 2019 I accepted the Operations specialist role that I am in now, but after covid I adopted the marketing department as well.
Q: If you could change anything about your career path what would it be?
A: I wish I would have somehow gotten involved with marketing sooner. I really enjoy it and I get to connect with more people. I also get to work with students which area really fun and takes place in a more creative environment.
Q: What do you enjoy the most about your position?
A: I enjoy my team of social media and graphic artists and the collaboration that I get to have with people all around campus.
Q: What do you least enjoy?
A: With both positions I am extremely busy. Sometimes it prevents me from being as proactive as I would like to be with tasks and instead forces me to live in a reactive state. There is also always doubts as to whether I am marketing correctly. There is so much to remember regarding marketing standards and needs, which can be stressful.
Q: What are the biggest challenges you've faced in your position with Ferris Auxiliary Services and how did you overcome them?
A: I don’t really have a solid back-up person or assistant, so I have to constantly be available which is a challenge. I have had to learn to set work-life balance boundaries in order to protect myself.
Q: If you could give me one piece of advice as I enter into the business world, what would it be?
A: Always try your best and don’t be so hard on yourself. You are not meant to be perfect, and everyone makes mistakes, so make sure you are just trying your hardest and learn and move on from shortcomings. We are all human so give yourself some grace.
Section 3
Personal Assessment
Personal Analysis
This internship has taught me discipline in ways that I have never had to learn it before. As a manager in such a creative and unstrict environment, there were so many times that I had to rely on my self-motivation and discipline in order to get things done. Becoming the manager meant that I had to learn how to lead by example, especially when the structure of the work environment does not include micromanagement. I had to figure out how to be a good leader through managing them, but also through managing my time effectively and becoming self-disciplined.
Originally, I thought that I strictly wanted to go into event planning and possibly own my own wedding planning business. However, now that I have experience with marketing, I have fallen in love
with the advertising aspect of owning a
business. This has led me to a newer goal
of owning my own venue. Owning my
own venue would give me the
opportunity to plan events and design
spaces, but also to market my
the product however I would like.
Tapping into my experience from
this internship along with my
coursework would give me an
an excellent foundation for marketing
my own business or whomever I work for
along the way.
This position has also developed my creativity and my communication skills. I have had to become extremely articulate in communicating the messages I want to convey through this position which I believe will help me greatly in the future. I have had to develop my business creativity and communication skills to find ways to keep marketing interesting, even when I am advertising a product that may not be changing quickly. I have also had to change my leadership skills in big ways. Before this position, I never really cared much about the details of being a good employee. I always relied on my natural skills and attributes on the job and had decent success. However, I have had to learn that leaders don’t participate in gossip, complaining, and workplace negativity, and that is something that I have been learning and developing in this position. I am nowhere near perfect at this, but this position helped me realize that I must be a more conscious employee in the future. I have also learned a lot about managing different styles of people. There are some employees who love to be helped and others who would rather not take any form of advice or criticism and learning how to lead all different kinds of people is so important. Implementing programs that work for me and for my employees in order to reach our goals and making sure that the employees understand the mission we are working towards has been a learning curve, but very beneficial for the long haul.
I have loved working with Ferris Auxiliary Services for the last two years of school, however, I do think that there is room for improvement in any workplace. I think that a more professional work environment with a bit more structure would be beneficial for the students working there. Although I am not the type to take advantage of a relaxed environment, there are students who could benefit from a bit more of a push. I think that fun, creative, and relaxed environments are hard to come by and many students in this program are using this internship as a first-job experience. I think that this gives students a false idea of what the business industry is like and could be difficult for them in the future, as they are used to being able to do what they want. There is not much I would change about my personal experience though, as I feel that I did the best that I could to get the most out of the work.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
- I have various experiences in a variety of unique opportunities including with big industry leaders
- Possesses multiple Hospitality related certifications which have educated me on best practices
- I have experience in Event Management along with Event Competitions, which is unique and gives me a keen eye for detail
- Will have a Bachelor's degree in Event Management with a certificate in Digital Marketing, giving me a leg up on the competition
Opportunities
- A young college student entering an industry facing a very high demand for workers
- Art, design, and CAD classes to help with event design and floor plan organization
- Hospitality certifications for event planning, management, and safety
- Entering an industry with endless amounts of different job opportunites
Weaknesses
- I have a difficult time saying no, which can lead me to be overwhelmed and busy
- Although organized, can be very messy
- Can be forgetful when overwhelmed
Threats
- A large number of brides planned their own weddings during COVID and are now trying to become full-time wedding planners resulting in a spike in local competition.
- COVID-19 Pandemic has threatened the Hospitality Industry and could spike again and damage the industry once more
- Not being able to say no can limit my opportunities because I am too busy
- DIY Event planners and increased demand for smaller events can lessen the demand for my job.
Section 4
ARtifacts
Ferris Auxiliary Services
The images and graphics displayed throughout this page are all examples of my work with Ferris Auxiliary Services. These artifacts are a look into a piece of my daily work with the social media team. Along with creating informational graphics and advertisements, I also spent a lot of time analyzing trends, social media statistics, content acceptance, and creating content plans for the team.
Coursework - Consumer Behavior
This semester, I am diving into the studies of consumer behavior to finish up my Certificate in Digital Marketing. This class has helped me learn a lot about marketing and the benefits of getting to know the cognitive behaviors of the consumer. Attached is an example of coursework from the class, specifically an analysis of Generation Z.
Coursework - Business Capstone
As a senior in the Hospitality Management program within the College of Business, I am required to take Business 499. This class requires all students to do a lot of self-reflection about whom they are as an employee and as emerging professionals. This work must be completed along with a professional simulation. I have attached some examples of my self-reflection work along with an assignment about preparing for important interview questions.
Personal Experience - Mascot
Becoming the mascot, Brutus Ferris, taught me a lot about endurance and discipline. This position was extremely physically demanding but also was also very demanding of my time. I had to prioritize my health and balance it with my work, school, and outside life. Although this position was not a typical job, it was paid by scholarship and changed me as a professional in many ways. Attached are some pictures from my time as Brutus Ferris, many of which are after long hours of work and school.
