Inside Illinois - readership survey

Two hundred and eight readers responsed to the Inside
Illinois readership survey carried in the Jan. 19 issue.

Respondents included 95 staff members, 56 academic
professionals, six assistant professors, 10 associate
professors, 30 full professors, eight retirees and three
"others."

Their comments, overall, were very positive, and included a
number of constructive criticisms, which are being
considered thoughtfully by the Inside Illinois staff.

What did respondents like most?

"Best overview of what's going on, especially in academics.
Far better than DI or News-Gazette."

"Variety. Exposure to facets of UI that I would not
otherwise see."

"It clearly communicates the university's position on
selected issues."

"The excellent photographs."

"Calendar."

"Pictures and articles about people I know or talk to on the
telephone."

"Features on employees; thorough updates on employee-related
changes."

"Achievements and ongoing research projects of people in
other departments - the paper 'unifies' the university."

"Personal touch."


What did respondents like least?

"How the calendar reads backwards through the paper."

"Too faculty driven."

"That it is biweekly. I would like to get it weekly."

"Too much information about too few topics."

"Caters to academics, even in job listings."

"Too stuffy."


As a result of the survey, a few layout changes have been
made. Instead of beginning on the back page, the calendar
now begins inside, and the Job Market's smaller type has
been enlarged.

The lack of staff job openings - the most common complaint
of staff members - is not an arbitrary omission. According
to Denise Hendricks, director of Personnel Services, job
listings are generally not made available to Inside Illinois
because "when a department declares a vacancy by sending in
an Employee Requisition card, the job register of eligible
employees is frozen. That means the deadline for testing has
expired, and no one can apply to be tested for that vacancy.
The only eligible candidates are those listed on the
register for that classification at the time the register is
frozen."

However, advertisements may be allowed for periodic extra-
help employees, such as apple-pickers, or to "build up the
register" for very specialized or technical jobs for which
there are few applicants available, such as a glass blower,
Hendricks said. There is an ongoing need for clerical-
support and food-service employees because of turnover, she
said.

In addition, staff employees can monitor the vacancies for
classes represented by local 3700 through Gopher on the
campus network.

Information has been added to the Job Market section that
reminds readers that open and continuous testing occurs for
Civil Service positions on campus.

What do the respondents want to see more of in Inside
Illinois?

"Opportunity for expression of opinion - forum for ideas."

"More breadth, less depth, with additional contacts or
resources listed."

"Student activities."

"More staff stories; more historical pictures of the
university."

"More 'people' features."

"Human interest."


What do respondents want to see less of?

"The trivia!"

"Long, boring articles."

"Calendar."

"Administrative and professors."

"Hot shots. There is more to educational news than awards."


What did the respondents think of the quality of the
reporting and writing in Inside Illinois?

"Objective, to the point. Good information."

"Surprisingly accurate, especially when covering research.
Professional and fair when covering controversial issues and
unfavorable stories."

"Adequate."

"Concise, factual with the right ingredient of lemon juice."

"I have no complaints. If I don't see something in one
issue, I generally find something in the next."

"OK."

"Middling."

"Good."

"Too academic."

"Basically OK; can be depended on."

"Articulate briefings of top-priority news. Objective. I can
read it completely in short order and feel informed."


More than 90 percent of the respondents read the paper often
or always, and more than 90 percent said Inside Illinois is
important or very important in learning about what is
happening at the UI. About half said they read it thoroughly
and/or skim to find stories that interest them that they
read thoroughly.

More than three-fourths of the academic employees rated
Inside Illinois' efforts to represent the interests of all
segments of campus good to excellent; however, only half of
the staff employees did so.

About three-fourths of the respondents thought the length of
stories was just right, and about 90 percent thought the
right number of photos are used. Respondents split about 50-
50 on the question of wanting more coverage of campus issues
or keeping it as it is. Almost 90 percent said the layout of
the paper make it easy to read always or most of the time.

Of the options listed for possible inclusion in Inside
Illinois, the most popular were letters to the editor,
campus services, point-counterpoint essays, personnel
changes, training opportunities and regular comments from
the chancellor and/or president.

The survey is the first readership survey done since 1979,
the faculty-staff paper's inaugural year.

Suggestions, story ideas and comments are welcome from all
segments of campus at any time. Notices for the Achievements
section and the Calendar are contributed by individuals. The
editor may be reached at the News Bureau, 807 S. Wright St.,
Suite 520 East, MC-314; 333-2895; m-payne@illinois.edu.