The Center for Urban and Public Affairs (CUPA) has a long history of working with Wright State University and of partnering with other universities around the State to complete scientific research projects. A summary of our Center’s contributions to the University and other state universities can be found in the sections below:

Alumni Surveys

• Since 2006, CUPA has conducted annual surveys of alumni in the Master of Public Administration program as a requirement of the program’s accreditation. CUPA also conducts annual surveys of alumni in the Departments of Urban Affairs and Geography.

• In 2005, CUPA partnered with the College of Education and Human Services to conduct a survey of CEHS alumni. This survey was designed to assess satisfaction with CEHS, as well whether students would recommend the program. 214 students responded to this mail survey. In 2007, CUPA conducted another alumni survey for the CEHS, obtaining 153 responses to a mail survey. (A previous survey of CEHS alumni was also conducted in 2002).

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Program Development and Growth

• In 2002, CUPA conducted a comprehensive evaluation of business education and training programs offered by the University. The evaluation surveyed two populations: 1) chief operating officers of businesses located in eight Miami Valley counties; and 2) alumni who graduated from the Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 1996 to 2001. The Business Community Survey (200 completes) evaluated demand for education program offered by the Raj Soin College of Business and training programs offered by the Kettering Center for Continuing Education. In contrast, the MBA Alumni Survey (227 completes) evaluated the quality of education programs.

• In 2004, the Department of Social Work and the College of Education and Human Services partnered with CUPA to conduct a survey of human services agencies in the Miami Valley to assess the need for a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree. The survey provided social service agencies an opportunity to voice their opinions and views regarding the need for an MSW degree at Wright State. Questions were asked of respondents pertaining to their knowledge of an MSW degree, whether such a degree should be offered at Wright State, and whether employers would encourage their employees to obtain such a degree.

• In 2005, CUPA partnered with WSU’s College of Education and Human Services to assess student interest in a doctoral program. 365 respondents participated in this telephone survey.

• In 2006, CUPA partnered with WSU’s College of Education and Human Services to conduct a survey of university alumni from several different programs regarding their interest in a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership. 142 alumni and over 200 local business leaders participated in this research, which led to the development of this new degree program.

• In 2006, CUPA partnered with WSU’s Raj Soin College of Business to conduct a survey of employers regarding expansion of the university’s MBA program. 135 employers completed this survey, which broadly assessed the education needs of employers for their employees, as well as views of Wright State’s MBA program.

• In 2007, CUPA partnered with the College of Education and Human Services to conduct a survey to assess student interest in a doctoral program in Sustainable Renewal. 254 respondents participated in this mail survey.

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University Research

• Community Magazine is a publication produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing at Wright State University. In 2000, Communications and Marketing partnered with CUPA to conduct a survey of WSU alumni to evaluate their satisfaction with Community Magazine. Questions dealt with magazine content, design, and delivery as well as the demographics of those who read the magazine. 191 surveys were completed.

• In 2003, WSU’s Office of Student Life contracted with CUPA to conduct a perception survey regarding satisfaction with and awareness of various aspects of WSU student life. This telephone survey provided all WSU students who currently commute to campus an equal opportunity to voice their opinions and views regarding services provided by the University. A total of 601 interviews were completed.

• In 2006 and 2007, CUPA conducted a research project for a university based research team (Second Mile) regarding enrollment management. This project consisted of a series of focus groups of students at the Dayton and Lake Campuses of WSU, as well as synthesis of secondary data provided by departments across the university, including Admissions, Financial Aid and Student Services.

• In spring 2007, CUPA was contacted by the General Education Coordinator to conduct a series of focus groups with WSU faculty, staff and students to obtain their perceptions about the role of general education at the University. Focus groups were conducted with faculty and students in spring 2007, and in fall 2007 with staff. A total of 12 focus groups were conducted, with each focus group addressing opinions concerning general education classes at WSU.

• In 2008 and 2009, staff and students from CUPA partnered with WSU’s Second Mile Group to help impact the strategic direction of WSU. As part of the Second Mile committee, CUPA staff and students worked with other committee members to conduct a series of focus groups with university students regarding communication, as well as other concerns related to the university. Over 100 students participated in 15 focus groups in 2008 and 2009, which helped the Second Mile Group assess messaging provided to the university.

• In January 2010, CUPA collaborated with the Second Mile Group to gain the perception of transfer students about their experiences at Wright State University (WSU). A total of 33 students participated in five focus groups that were conducted during the week of January 25, 2010.

Residence Services 

Since 2002, CUPA has partnered with WSU’s Office of Residence Services to conduct over 20 survey or focus group projects. A brief summary of these projects is listed below:

• In 2002-2003, a resident perception survey (654 completes) was conducted regarding satisfaction with various aspects of WSU’s campus housing. This survey provided all WSU students who currently live or previously lived in campus housing an equal opportunity to voice their opinions and views regarding services provided by the University.

• During 2003-2004, CUPA conducted another resident perception survey (822 completes) relating to satisfaction with various aspects of WSU’s campus housing. This iteration of the survey was complemented by several focus groups conducted with incoming freshman who were living on campus. Initial focus groups took place in September to assess students’ immediate opinions on campus life. In January, the same students participated in focus groups that assessed if their opinions had changed and why or why not.

• In 2004-2005, CUPA conducted a resident perception survey (648 completes) regarding computing and telecommunications services provided on campus by Computing and Telecommunications Services (CaTS). Another resident perception survey (600 completes) was completes concerning maintenance services provided by WSU’s Residence Services. Finally, CUPA conducted a series of focus groups assessing resident’s opinions concerning alcohol use.

• During 2005-2006, another iteration of the resident perception survey (401 completes) relating to satisfaction with various aspects of WSU’s campus housing was conducted.

• In 2007-2008, CUPA conducted a survey (758 completes) examining the opinions of students planning to attend Wright State University in the fall regarding their housing choices and roommate preferences.

• During 2008-2009, CUPA conducted a survey (1,307 completes) to examine the opinions of students living on campus in campus housing, as well as students who have lived in campus housing at WSU within the past four years. In previous iterations of this survey, data was collected from students living in campus housing, as well as from current students who live off campus, but once lived in campus housing. This iteration of the survey also added students who no longer attend WSU either due to graduation, transfer, or withdraw.

• In 2009-2010, two new surveys were conducted on behalf of WSU’s Residence Surveys. The first was a survey (802 completes) to assess how residents and non-residents viewed dining services and their views for the future direction of dining services. The second survey focused on residents’ housing plans for next year and was completed by both residents (607 completes) and parents (496 completes).

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Faculty Research

• In 2010, Dr. Mary Wenning received a grant to launch a national investigation of how local government administrators targeted Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) emergency funds and the results of those targeted efforts. Wenning partnered with CUPA to conduct a web-based and telephone survey of NSP administrators. Data from this survey (344 completes) will improve future federal initiatives, inform NSP activities in Dayton and surrounding counties, and fill a substantial gap in the community development, urban planning and public administration literatures.

• In 2009, CUPA partnered with MPA faculty (Dr. Killian and Dr. Choudhury) to conduct a survey examining the influences on and nature of change in the roles of City Managers/Chief Administrators across the United States. 427 completed surveys were collected via an online survey.

• In 2006, CUPA partnered with faculty from WSU’s Raj Soin College of Business to conduct a survey of Ohio residents concerning their views of real estate agents and buying real estate. 2,106 telephone interviews were completed with respondents from 71 different counties across the State.

• WSU’s Raj Soin College of Business to conduct a study concerning the ethics of real estate agents. 733 real estate agents from all 50 states and the District of Columbia were interviewed. Each respondent was asked questions concerning real estate agents’ ethics as a whole as well as questions about specific violations of the Realtor Code of Ethics that they may have witnessed in the past.

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Strategic Planning

• In 2008, CUPA partnered with the College of Education and Human Services to conduct the College’s 5-year strategic plan. 25 faculty and staff in the College of Education and Human Services participated in this planning process.

• In 2002, the Center for Urban and Public Affairs conducted focus groups and a survey to help Wright State University with their university strategic plan. A survey of 111 faculty was conducted concerning the classroom availability and equipment in the classrooms; Focus groups were also conducted with incoming freshman to analyze what makes WSU a desirable university and what could be improved. The study culminated with an analysis of where incoming freshman were coming from both on a national and state level.

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Research Partnerships

• Since 2003, CUPA has partnered with the College of Education and Human Services as well as numerous external partners to conduct evaluation related to the Teaching American History program.

• For five years (2003-2007), CUPA partnered with the Boonshoft School of Medicine to conduct telephone surveys related to “Know Your Numbers, a multi-county marketing campaign related to blood pressure and cholesterol awareness. CUPA conducted 13 surveys related to citizen awareness of marketing related to the campaign. Over 5,000 surveys were conducted over this five year period.

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Partnerships with Other Universities

For over 20 years, CUPA was a member of the Ohio Urban University Program (UUP), which was a collaboration of the state’s urban universities to focus on research topics related to Ohio’s urban areas. This partnership lasted from the founding of the Center in 1986 until the UUP was eliminated from the State budget in 2009. A few sample projects include:

• Ohio Historical Society (University of Toledo)

In 2008, CUPA at partnered with the University of Toledo (UT) to conduct an evaluation of the importance of history, Ohio's historic sites and their value to society. During this study, Wright State conducted 150 telephone interviews, which were then combined with the surveys completed by the Survey lab at the University of Toledo.

• Northeast Ohio Barometer (Cleveland State University)

In 2008, CUPA partnered with Cleveland State University (CSU) to identify Northeast Ohio citizens’ perceptions of the economy in Northeast Ohio. Questions primarily focused on satisfaction with the community and economic conditions in the region. Interviews were conducted from July 26th, 2008 through September 14th, 2008 with 2,300 individuals living within 16 counties in Northeast Ohio.

• Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) Internship Assessment

In 2009, Wright State University’s Center for Urban and Public Affairs (CUPA) partnered with Miami Valley Research Park (MVRP) and the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) to conduct a survey and focus groups with companies operating within Miami Valley Research Park. The goal of the study was to assess the needs of park residents pertaining to internship and co-op programs. 22 companies within the park completed the survey that was distributed, and 14 companies participated in focus groups.

• Ohio Urban University Program - Western Ohio Research Consortium (WORC)

In 2005 and 2006, the Center for Urban and Public Affairs (CUPA) at Wright State University (WSU) collaborated with The Ohio State University (OSU) to conduct a study analyzing the housing and neighborhood choices of people who had recently moved in either the Dayton metropolitan area or the Columbus metropolitan area. The results of the research supported the efforts of local elected officials and businesses as they attempted to provide the best houses, neighborhoods and services for residents. The survey was conducted via mail, and over 2,000 surveys were completed.

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For additional information on the Center for Urban and Public Affairs Survey Research Lab, or to inquire about a survey, please contact: