Progress Magazine Annual Report 2011 - Eller College of ...

connections
the social network
digital natives decode
facebook for tucson seniors
About 30 percent of
Facebook’s 500 million active
users are 35 years and older.
Now, thanks to 12 honors
students in lecturer Gail
Fey’s BNAD 314: Business
Communication course, that
pool of users got just a little
bit bigger. The students
developed and hosted
Facebook classes for residents
of Fellowship Square, a
retirement community
in Tucson.
“A lot of people retire in
Tucson, but they still have
family in other parts of the
country, and they don't really
interact anymore,” said Sam
Burns (Eller Management '12),
one of the students who
participated in the project.
Along with his father, Burns
co-hosts a radio program
called Care Connection, which
provides resources to seniors
in the region. His experience
working with seniors was
a boon to the project,
which came together when
Fey hit upon the idea of
connecting UA students with
Fellowship Square residents.
Fey’s close friend and mentor
is a resident; her friend put
her in touch with Fellowship
Square activities coordinator,
Carolyn Gorst.
“From there, it all came
together,” Fey said. “Carolyn
suggested a Facebook focus;
I thought the benefit to
students and residents would
be perfect; and the students
embraced the idea when I
told them about it." Fey's
honors student then
applied the skills they were
learning in their Business
Communications class and
developed a full project plan,
designed and administered a
survey, advertised their idea
at Fellowship Square, held
info sessions, and taught
the classes.
Emily Copperud (Eller
Management and Entrepreneurship
'12) was the team
lead and survey analyst.
“We developed a survey to
pinpoint exactly what the
seniors at Fellowship
Square were looking for in a
Facebook class,” Copperud
said. “We found that there
was a general interest in
Facebook, but not necessarily
in creating a Facebook
account. They had heard of
it, but they didn’t know how
it relates to them.”
The students conducted
basic training, but also
devoted time to demonstrating
privacy settings and
debunking perceptions
that joining Facebook
means making all personal
information public. They
also established a follow-up
mechanism to provide
ongoing support to the
residents, and Fey has
arranged for a new set of
students to continue the
project in the coming year.
“This was a class project, yes,
but it was also a real-world
work experience,” Copperud
said. “We were working for
actual clients, and it certainly
opened our eyes as to our
strengths and weaknesses
that we can continue to
refine in each of our ongoing
Eller educations.”
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