2010 - Public Relations Society of America

perceptions of administrative support for Web initiatives. The analysis yielded a
significant main effect for the four constructs: ease in ensuring delivery of accurate Web
content F(6,59) = 97.098, p < .05; ease in ensuring user-friendly navigation F(6,59) =
75.808, p < .05; ease in ensuring that the Web site is organized well F(6,59) = 87.745, p
< .05; and getting diverse interests to agree on the purpose of Web-based initiatives
F(6,59) = 80.999, p < .05. Post hoc tests could not be performed because at least one
group had fewer than two cases.
These results suggest that it appears likely that of the population means were not
equal for each of the four features. Based on the findings and the small sample size, these
results should be viewed with caution.
Organizational Support of Web Initiatives
RQ2 asked what types of internal organizational factors influence the creation and
formation of college-public relationships via college Web sites and new media tools.
Again, the respondents were asked to rank their level of agreement regarding perceived
levels of support on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from “very strongly agree” (+3) to
“very strongly disagree” (-3), with “0” indicating neutrality.
As shown in Table 2, although the respondents indicated that the
college/university administration understand the importance of Web-based initiatives (n =
61, M = .49, SD = 1.48), and they receive relatively low levels of administrative direction
(n = 73, M = -.16, SD = 1.44). The findings also suggest limited support for technical
training (n = 74, M = -.46, SD = 1.37), and conceptual training (n = 73, M = -.66, SD =
1.54).
Finding time to develop and refine Web sites is also a factor. The respondents
indicated that they do not receive necessary time to devote to Web initiatives (n = 76, M
= -.58, SD = 1.62).
The respondents also reported low levels of budgetary support (n = 73, M = -.51,
SD = 1.41), as well as staffing and resources (n = 59, M = -.79, SD = 1.52).
To test whether variability exists between the mean scores for the Web site related
functions, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was calculated on practitioner
perceptions of administrative support for Web initiatives. Again, the analysis yielded a
significant main effect all of the constructs and Post hoc tests could not be performed
because at least one group had fewer than two cases. As such, the results should be
viewed with caution.
To get a clearer understanding of the staffing and resource allocations, the
respondents were also asked what percent of the total budget and staff was allocated
toward the Web site development and what percent of the total budget and staff was
allocated toward new media strategies and tactics.
The budget allocations for the college/university Web sites varied considerably,
ranging from 0 to 50% (n = 70, M = 7.28, SD = 11.16). For new media strategies and
tactics, the budget allocations ranged from 0 to 95% (n = 70, M = 10.61, SD = 21.43).
The staffing allocations for the college/university Web site functions ranged from
0 to 100% (n = 70, M = 28.88, SD = 30.39), and for new media strategies and tactics, the
staffing allocations ranged from 0 to 95% (n = 70, M = 19.90, SD = 23.36). Given the
large standard deviations, these findings should be interpreted with caution.
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