Communication: English Course - Coursework Example

Communication: English of the [Audience] Assignment 3- Part B Introduction The survey conducted for this research report was meant to evaluate the effectiveness and level of satisfaction among the students and the staff members towards the car parking facility provided by Curtin University. At present, Curtin University allows both its staff and students to benefit from the car parking facility by providing a standard fee. This fee differs on the basis of the package selected by the user which include per semester payment, yearly payment, daily payment or pay-as-you go payment. For the purpose of this survey, 24 students and 6 staff members was chosen. They were asked to complete a similar survey that questioned about their usage of the facility and asked for their recommendations for improvement. In this report, we attempt to present the findings of the survey in a conclusive format using graphs and figures where appropriate. The survey would particularly be beneficial for the Curtin Administration since it would allow them to understand the issues that the students and staff are facing along with possible recommendations on improving the parking facility for future use. Discussion The sample population surveyed in this report was mostly individuals who drove. Out of the 30 people surveyed, 23 people used car facilities. Among these 23 people, 19 of them used the campus car parking facility. Figure 1 shows this in a tabular form. Of the four who did not use the campus car parking facility, all of them were students who found the university’s car parking to be expensive and lacking adequate parking space. The number of hours, students and staff members used the car parking facility greatly varied from as low as three hours to as high as forty hours. Figure 1 Driving and Non-Driving Sample Population The main problem with the parking facility as cited by many staff and student who used the facility was that they considered the facility to be too expensive and that did not allow them a guarantee of car parking at all times. Those who did not have any difficulty in finding spaces were people who came to the university early on to avail the opportunity of better spaces. The staff when compared to the students had little difficulty in finding spaces. This can be attributed to the fact that the staff benefited from a large space as compared to students and this same fact was mentioned by one of the students. On an average, it takes 15-20 minutes for the students to find a parking space in the facility. Most of the students and staff members complained that the car parking facility was quite expensive. According to them it should be free given the high costs of tuition paid by the students. They also complained that the fees for the facility increased every year without them being able to discern any improvement in the facility. Student and staff members were also asked to provide recommendations for improving upon the current car parking facility. The most common response was increase the number of parking spots. Most students also pointed out the staff parking were usually empty and thus staff parking can be reduced to accommodate the students. The second most common response was to decrease the fees charged for the parking facility and also to make it free. Another recommendation was to create a multi-storey parking facility which would allow for more parking spaces. The following figure represents the recommendations in a tabular form: Figure 4 Recommendations Conclusion In conclusion, we can say that the campus car parking facility leaves a lot to be desired. Even though Curtin University recently introduced its pay by phone service (Curtin University, 2012), it is still not good enough according to the results of the survey. There were almost no students or staff members who were fully satisfied with the service. Almost all of them believed that the administration is charging too much for a facility that they cannot adequately provide. Students have to waste almost 15 minutes of their time for a good parking spot and only those who arrive early find good parking spaces. It seems as if the administration is not focusing any attention on the car parking facility despite increasing its charges on a yearly basis. Neither the staff, nor the students are happy and have provided viable suggestions for improvement which provide a good basis of recommendations in the next section. Recommendations Considering the lack of satisfaction among both the students and the staff members, a list of recommendations can be provide to the Curtin Administration. This includes: Discounts for students who use the car parking facility for longer durations; Introduce pay by the hour system which would prevent excessive burden on the students and also would allow students to consider the option of car pooling (Shoup, 2008) In order to reduce costs, the university can also allow brands to be advertised in the parking area. The payment that the university administration gets from this advertising could be used for maintaining and even improving the parking space. At the same time, it would relieve the burden off the students and the staff members from the high prices charged for the car parking facility. Construction of a multi-storey car parking, possibly above the gym. This increase in car parking space would allow cost control to a certain extent due to economies of scale (Wiewell and Perry, 2008) Installing a Car Parking Assistant that directs the users to a free spot so that they do not waste time looking for a car space. This Assistant can also keep a track on the cars who could possibly be leaving in the next few minutes so that he could direct new cars towards the area; Keeping certain staff parking areas flexible so as to accommodate the students when there is not space available in the student area (Simha, 2003); Assignment 3- Part C Conducting this survey helped me develop a good understanding of the research process and the subsequent evaluation of the research. Since the topic of the survey was close to home and concerned my own university, I was strong in this area of research. Being a user of the car parking facility, I had a pretty good idea about the car parking facility which greatly helped me shape my questionnaire in the first place. It also allowed me to conduct the research easily. This was because I knew the people I could possibly choose as my sample population. Also when conducting the survey, I was able to develop a connection with the sample population because I understood their issues. Since the development of the questionnaire was a collaborative approach, it took time for the survey to take shape. Everyone had their own ideas and it was difficult to combine them in one place. In the end, it worked because of the leadership of a few people who believed in team effort and accepted the contributions of everyone. I believe that the final report is quite good since the conclusions are substantial and would help guide our primary audience which is the Curtin administration. This report provides a good overview of the situation despite its small scale. The report could be made more extensive by exploring the busiest times in the Curtin University car parking facility. This could be done by reviewing the number of cars present during different times of the day on an average basis (Levine, et. al., 2010) I find that the biggest strength of the paper is the recommendations part. The students and the staff members came up with good suggestions since they were the primary users of the facility. Their recommendations would greatly help the administration to come up with a better facility. Since the administration was meant to be the primary audience of this research report, I believe recommendations would greatly help them. Notes Levine, J. et. al. Transportation Team, (Michigan: Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute, 2010) “Pay by Phone” Curtin University (2012) Pay by Phone Parking, accessed on 15 May, 2012, http://properties.curtin.edu.au/parking/payg.cfm Simha, O. R. MIT Campus Planning, 1960-2000: An Annotated Chronology, (Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2003) Shoup, D. The Politics and Economics of Parking on Campus, In: Ison S, Rye T, editors. The implementation and effectiveness of transport demand measures: An international perspective (UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2008.) p. 121-149 Wiewell, W. and Perry, D. C. Global Universities and Urban Development: Case Studies and Analysis, (New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2008)  Read More