Vartalaap

Client

Ambedkar University

Role

Social Designer (2nd Semester)

Area of Work

Voter Rights and

Citizenship in university

spaces

Duration of Project

January to May 2020

About the Project

As students step into a university space, they are expected to become “thinking” individuals, who participate in the various activities of the university space and engage as active “citizens”. As a university space allows opportunities for students to participate in political spaces and demand their rights, they also learn to practice what it means to be a “citizen” from the perspective of the university first, eventually leading to the state as a whole. With the framework of the fourth Sustainable Development Goal, which is, to "ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all", this project was situated at Ambedkar University to understand the need and importance of a student council and its election processes.

As part of the 2nd Semester Studio, an integrated communications strategy was imagined as an intervention to promote the need to vote, elect council members and actively participate in student political spaces.

Process

Through desk research as well as online primary research, the hypothesis that "Students and the existing council face a communication gap that causes less participation in the various activities of the student council - from actively participating in the organization to voting processes to participate in other events organized by the council", was tested.

The objectives of the project thus became:

Creating an environment that allows engagement of the council
Creating a sense of transparency and trust
Creating opportunities for engagement through varied communication channels

This project focused on –

Re-imagining a space that can reflect the values of the university and the political environment of the campus, be able to conduct small discussions, conversations, and events; and become a one-stop space for any information about the student council and its work
Create a phase-wise communication strategy that can give information about all the processes of the council, how to reach out to the council, and the kind of work the council is doing, along with providing opportunities to students to provide suggestions and feedback to the council

This strategy is a blueprint that can be used and tested by the student councils to bridge the gap between themselves and the students.

A detailed write-up of the entire process can be found below.

DESIGN RESEARCH - JOURNEY AND ANALYSIS

PRIMARY RESEARCH - Group Process

The initial research focused on collecting data from the university students on three things – one, access to resources of the university and its organizational structure, two, students’ experiences of the university’s infrastructure, and three, students’ participation and social interactions in the university.

The group consisted of three members, each having one focus out of those mentioned above. Using the medium of google forms, this research was conducted.

PRIMARY RESEARCH and ANALYSIS - Individual Process

After gathering all the data through the form, each member set out to analyze data based on their individual focus area. For this project, the focus was understanding students’ participation and social interactions in the university. The research goal was to understand -

The kind of participation of students in activities in the university
The existing knowledge of the students about the council
The perspective of students about the council
The modes of interaction used between the council and the students

While there is visible participation of students in various activities organized in the university, there was a gap in terms of participation in the election and voting processes of the council.

Therefore, the next step was to understand the existing student council system and students' engagement with the council through two modes of research - phone interviews with students (past and present) and through an online survey.

The existing system of the student council was mapped using the Constitution created for the same. As it is visible, the system itself is elaborate and complex.

The analysis of the students' engagement with the council and their knowledge about the same threw light on the challenges that emerge in this context.

After this, the next step was to analyze the existing channels of communication that the student council uses, and the type of content for each channel, along with understanding the frequency of each communication channel.

The gaps identified after the analysis were as follows:

1. There is a less politically active/engaging environment for students to be interested in; there are more uncontested councilors along with those who are not proactive in their work

2. Limited/few modes of communication is being used by the council such as emails and flyers; this is creating a feeling of a lack of transparency or reach

A Stakeholder Map and User Personas were created to highlight the various stakeholders that become an important part of the design process of the strategy. With a multi-stakeholder approach toward voter rights and building transparency, these design tools become helpful in imagining the strategy itself.

RE-IMAGINING A SPACE IN THE UNIVERSITY: This is the first part of the design idea, with the focus on creating a dedicated space, for students and the council, that can:

reflect the values of the university /political environment of the campus
have a space to conduct small discussions/conversations or events
become a one-stop space for the information about the council and its work

This was created in collaboration with fellow group member and classmate, Avanti Kalkar.

A separate space allows a sense of identity to be established for the council. If there is a dedicated space that the council uses, eventually, that space's identity is associated with the council itself and its activities. There are possibilities of interaction that otherwise get lost in smaller pockets of the campus.

CREATING A PHASE-WISE COMMUNICATION STRATEGY: This is the second part of the design idea, with the focus on creating a phase-wise strategy that can:

give information about all the processes of the council
give information about how to reach out to the council
give information about what kind of work the council is doing
opportunity to students to provide suggestions or feedback

Prototype of a brochure or pamphlet that can be created that creatively introduces the student council. The prototype was made keeping in mind stringent budget, and use of minimum paper.

Prototype of a brochure or pamphlet that can be created to promote election dates, voting processes, and FAQs about the council. The prototype was made keeping in mind the stringent budget, and use of minimum paper.

The dedicated space imagined for the council would be where this activity can take place. This will help in not only creating awareness, but also re-inforce the identity of the space as that of the students and their council.

MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PLAN: The parameters for measuring the effectiveness of this strategy are as follows -

Amount and type of feedback received
Number of students using the 'space'
Number of students participating in various processes of the council
The frequency of engagement of students and council through the various channels suggested