Jalam Ford

3/16/22

Dr. Weaver

Hawai’i Pacific College: Research Project

Summary

            Hawai’i Pacific University was founded in 1965 by Loo, Eureka Forbes, Elizabeth W. Kellerman, and Reverend Edmond Walker. They wanted to create a private liberal arts college in Honolulu, Hawaii. The professors At Hawai’i Pacific University that a student would learn from are at the top of their field but also industry knowledge to receive the best education possible. The professors are also well equipped to teach online and in face-to-face environments. HPU is a private University where you won’t receive the same education experience anywhere else with hands-on learning. The education is affordable for all Hawaii students and HPU has a diverse, committed faculty meaning the students will be learning with top priority and learning from the very best. This website uses the APATSARC strategy purpose in the attempt to inform students what all they will be experiencing if they choose to attend HPU. Lastly, Hawai’i Pacific University works to improve its education strategies to best fit its students’ needs.

Analysis

            Hawai’i Pacific University’s website expresses their confidence in how well any attendees will fit in and the learning opportunities that their students will be exposed to. The website has a large range of different fields of study with four tabs regarding the undergraduate, graduate, military, and online-only routes of study.

            HPU receives 7 million dollars in grants for STEM education, student aid, and campus upgrades. Hawai’i prides itself in providing only the best for its faculty and students. “Receiving these grants will provide significant support for our students, staff, and faculty at HPU,” said HPU Senior Vice President Jennifer Walsh, Ph.D. “Nearly every facet of our university will receive an upgrade or enhancement. From our Makapuʻu campus to Waterfront Plaza, to the anchor of our campus at Aloha Tower Marketplace. It is a wonderful time to be at HPU.” 

HPU is ranked the most diverse university in the United States. This section of the website uses the rhetorical style logos stating that “The university reached the top spot out of 100 ranked schools, making HPU “the most evenly divided demographic composition of an accredited school with over 1000 students”. HPU is home to over 4,500 students from all 50 United States, U.S. territories, and nearly 65 countries.

Hawai’i Pacific University hopes to launch a global tech program so that its’ students will have the opportunity to work with peers from around the world and learn employer-demanded skills to help improve their career outcomes through applied case studies and projects from companies. This is HPU’s way of assisting their students to have the best chance of getting a better, higher-paying job. The Podium Education currently works with 40 universities across the US bringing a new perspective of learning for all participants.

Next, the university understands that moving far away from home to attend a university that for most students is not at all close, they encourage the transition because there will be many activities and events when you arrive on campus. There are many first-year programs for the students who are trying to find where they fit in. The first years are assigned a Peer Mentor and what the university calls a Hanai volunteer, which is “staff and faculty volunteers who serve as an “auntie or uncle” and support a group of new students. The Hānai volunteers help bridge the divide students often feel when engaging with professionals by making faculty and staff more accessible in a casual setting. Like the PMs, the Hānai volunteer can also help new students navigate the university.” So, first-years are very cared for and engaged with so no new students feel left out. The campus encourages students to get involved right from the start and continuing to seek out opportunities to learn and engage will help make lasting friendships, perform well in their classes, and develop skill sets that will help them succeed in the further years to come.

Hawai’i Pacific University’s Career Development Center provides the necessary resources to be highly competitive in the transition from college to career. The university also offers a student-to-professional pathway. The HPU recognizes that the workplace is forever changing, and they want their students to be prepared for anything that they may experience after leaving the university.

Response

              During this research project, I realized that Hawai’i Pacific is a good option to consider after graduation from Georgia State University Perimeter College. HPU cares a lot about its students and faculty as they’re constantly upgrading their campus and giving them opportunities to come into college well equipped to be successful throughout their time on campus. There are many opportunities for the students to have extra help. Nowadays the world makes it seem that college is mandatory to succeed in the world but doesn’t give too much help to assist in a good job afterward. HPU helps with every student’s financial situation making it more affordable. 

                 There are many opportunities for the first years to get better acquainted with their new space and find new friends to maximize the best college experience. I personally don’t know if I would fully commit to a school so far from home, but it most definitely sounds like a safe option with thoroughly reading the website. Out-of-state colleges are already harder to pay for and since the funds are still paid for by my parents, I’m not entirely sure if she’d be comfortable paying for a college out of state. From the knowledge, I have now I’d recommend this college to a high schooler looking for college options.

Abass Salat
Engl 1102 + Section 312 – Weaver
SAR Major Project
Date Due: Mar 9
asalat2@student.gsu.edu

Analysis of University of Minnesota’s Website

Summary

            The website of the University of Minnesota appeals to ambitious over achievers by using the case study strategy. They also use the purpose strategy by carefully using phrases that attract a student that is not content with being an average person in society but rather someone who wants to change the world. A student that fits this profile would also really enjoy their experience in the University of Minnesota. There are a multitude of opportunities and programs over achievers could benefit from at this university.

Analysis

            What really indicates that the website is trying to appeal to ambitious students is the first phrase that viewers see on the website, “Bold minds don’t wait” (twin-cities.umn.edu “Landing Page”). The website used the purpose strategy here to draw the eyes of ambitious students. Saying a phrase like this would make a student that wants to have a great impact on the world feel as if this university was for them. Another example of the website of the University of Minnesota using the purpose strategy is how it says on the student life page “Something big awaits you” (twin-cities.umn.edu “Student Life page”). Similar to the other phrase, this phrase excites the mind of an ambitious student. It reassures them that they will achieve their goals and makes it seem to them that the University of Minnesota is the vessel that will take them there.

            The website also uses the case study strategy to pull-in ambitious students. It shows the ambitious students what could happen if they decided to attend the university. An example of this would be how the website highlights that the University of Minnesota has had twenty-five Nobel Prize recipients (twin-cities.umn.edu “Research Page”). This signals to the ambitious student that this could be them. It tells the ambitious student that people who did great things have walked this path so they should too. Another example of the website using the case study strategy is how it also highlights that seventy percent of health professionals in Minnesota are trained at the University of Minnesota (twin-cities.umn.edu “Health Sciences”). The website said this because this statistic would make it seem to an ambitious student that going to this university is an obvious choice. The website would attract that student because it is telling them that if you want to work in a health profession this is where to be.

            The way the website tries to persuade prospective students to come to their school is by using the purpose strategy and the case study strategy to appeal to ambitious students. The website uses the purpose strategy by saying phrases that excite ambitious students. The website also uses the case study strategy by highlighting statistics that tell ambitious students that this could be you someday. With these tactics, the website for the University of Minnesota appeals to ambitious students. As a result, this attracts the ambitious students to the university and will think that attending this school is necessary to achieving their goals.

Response

            The University of Minnesota seems like a wonderful place. There are many opportunities and programs that I could benefit from. If distance, tuition cost, and other technicalities were not an issue, I would for sure choose to attend the University of Minnesota. The University of Minnesota just seems like it fits well with my preferences. This is mainly due to the community around health professions, the ambitious environment, and the emphasis on diversity at the institution.

            Considering that I want a career as a health professional, this is a major attraction for me. I really admire that seventy percent of health professionals trained at the University of Minnesota. Having a community around health professions would help me make productive connections and be around people with similar interests. This would boost my career as a health professional and would make making friends easier.

            Another reason why I am drawn towards attending the University of Minnesota is because of the ambitious environment. There seems to be an atmosphere that promotes successfulness in this institution. An atmosphere in which everyone wants to achieve something great could benefit me. The competitive environment could make me feel a sense of a necessity to compete and even make me more engaged in extracurricular activities. This could fuel my motivation and make me strive harder.

            Another reason why the University of Minnesota feels like a good fit for me is because it cares about diversity. It says on the University of Minnesota website that diversity is considered a core value at the University of Minnesota (twin-cities.umn.edu “Life at Minnesota”). This is something important to me because I would not want to go to anywhere in which I am not welcome at. Diversity is even part of my values inventory. The University of Minnesota emphasizing this makes it that much more of a good fit.

            Going to the University of Minnesota looks like a good choice. I like that there is a massive community of health professionals and I see it benefiting my personal career. The competitive environment could also act as a motivator. Also, the emphasis on diversity makes me feel like I would actually be welcome there if I ever decided to attend the University of Minnesota. With all of these factors at play, it makes much more sense to go this university than to not go. If there were no technical issues in the equation, I would make the choice to attend the University of Minnesota.

Work Cited

University of Minnesota Twin Cities, twin-cities.umn.edu/.

Stephanie Vazquez 

Professor Weaver 

English 1102-312 

9 March 2022 

Major Project 3: Summary, Analysis, and Response Essay 

Summary 

Rice University is a private research university in Houston, Texas. The type of student that Rice University wants to see in their school is someone who values diversity, small classes, and who’s interested in building relationships and an unconventional top university. A student who is looking for a top school with high rankings, a close community, and looking for someplace to belong would be happy to attend here. The website made by Rice University uses two strategies to reel in students… knowing whom their Audience is and Imagining Ideal Readers.  

Analysis  

The rhetorical strategy that Rice University’s website mainly uses is Audience. This strategy is simple, the author must know who their audience is, whom they are writing for, and whom their message should be read by.  One of the first examples of this comes from the landing page. As the reader scrolls down there is a quick facts section. This section of the page is straightforward and lets us know facts about the university such as its rank in USA colleges and student to faculty ratio. “Top 20 in USA” “6:1 Student-to-Faculty Ratio” The university knows that most of the school website’s readers are soon-to-be students and students who are currently college searching (Rice, “Rice Facts”). The idea of having facts on the first page is not new and is used by many. A facts page means that the schools know that researching students will want to know about the college’s achievements.  

It isn’t until the reader goes on to the office of admissions page that it becomes even more persuasive. Keeping in mind the focus on the audience, the admissions page is catered for the students who are looking at applying for the school. There is one more fact page here that details an explanation of their “loan-free institution”. This is important because if they know that their audience will be students that are seeking a school that will help with financial aid, they will be drawn in by this statement. Rice University says, “It’s no secret that many students from middle-class families are increasingly taking on loans in order to afford private colleges and universities.” (Rice, “Office of Admission”) They are now appealing to the part of the audience that may be of a lower social class. Meaning that the school is trying to include every one of any social class. They continue saying, “As a loan-free institution, we invest in our students so they can graduate without the burden of student debt.” (Rice, “Office of Admission”) They are trying to reel in the students who may fear student debt. These strategies will work in answering the biggest questions students have about attending college which is ‘how am I going to pay for this?’ 

A second rhetorical strategy that is being used throughout the whole website is Imagining Ideal Readers. This is similar to the previous strategy ‘audience’ as they both focus on the reader and how they would be reacting to reading the material. The biggest point is that the author often asks the reader questions. The first thing the reader sees on the admissions page is “What if your next four years exceeded all expectations?” (Rice, “Office of Admission”) The school is depicting all these questions throughout the site. This is because the author is catering to that student who will be thinking about the questions asked. For example, another example of this happening is when they ask, “What if one of the top research universities didn’t act like all the other selective schools?” (Rice, “Office of Admission”) The student looking will start thinking maybe I do want to go to a top school that is unique in its approach to helping students. The author is using this strategy of asking questions to reel in that ideal reader. Another question they ask is, “What if a prestigious school looked for ways to open doors instead of close them” With this statement, we can deduce that they want students who seek out prestigious schools and who are invested in trying to help the students (Rice, “Office of Admission”). If a student reads that and thinks to themselves that this school might be offering what they are looking for, then this website did a good job in imagining the ideal reader of their university page.  

Response 

Rice University is a seemingly prestigious research university in the heart of Houston, Texas. This school has a lot of things I am looking for, diversity, and small classes are a big win. I do enjoy the idea of being in a city where there are a lot of fun activities to do. Whether the university stayed in Houston or moved to Atlanta I think the school would be a good choice. It is a well-respected institution with a variety of majors to choose from. Personally, if I were to choose a path as a scientist, I think this school would be a wonderful choice because of its research focus. Science is one of my interests, but I am mainly looking for schools that offer a variety of music degrees such as music technology or music therapy. This school does not offer those degrees but does offer a more classical approach to a music degree.  

Admission to the school is estimated to be around 17k after financial aid. (Rice “Cost of Attendance”) However if money was not a problem, I think Rice university would be a good stable option for someone to spend their time in. I can tell from the website that they are proud of the traditions of the school and all the majors they offer. One of my values in life would be creativity, I think this university would do a great job in fulfilling that value in my academic life. The school often has events going on, community bonding events, and as well as musical concerts that students may attend. This type of thing is important for me in school, I think it would be wonderful for a school to unite students together through more creative means.  

Citations 

“Cost of Attendance.” Office of Financial Aid | Rice University, Rice University, 2021, https://financialaid.rice.edu/cost-attendance.  

“Rice.” Rice University, 2022, https://www.rice.edu/. 

Jaslyn Hamilton 

Weaver 

English 1102 

8 March 2022 

 
 Summary 

Georgia Southern University is a public university in South Georgia that has three different campuses. GS University is a school that looks for diversity in students, not only in gender and race, but also in income. A student should go there especially if they have a STEM related major. A student should attend this school if they are looking to go to school in a less busy city, but also somewhere where they can follow their passion.” (GSU Home Page 1) Georgia Southern is large enough to provide endless opportunities, but personal enough to feel like home.” 

 Analysis 

When first going on this website it was very interesting, the structure and Kairos are two rhetorical strategies that can easily first be seen. When seeing how the website was formatted, it shows great structure and seeing the motto of the Georgia Southern website itself shows Kairos, because of how the author of the website chose to put it right at the beginning. “To belong. To shine. To dig in and make a difference. Georgia Southern is large enough to provide endless opportunities, but personal enough to feel like home.” (GSU Home Page 1) This is the motto of Georgia Southern University which goes hand in hand with the values that the university has which is “People, Purpose, Action: Growing ourselves to grow others.” The mission that they have is centered around their learners and making an environment that prepares them to think, lead, teach, and serve. Also known as GS, Georgia Southern, like the name entails, is in South Georgia. GS has three different campuses, located in Statesboro, Savannah, and Hinesville, with more than 27,000 students and 140 different degree programs. Georgia Southern’s main campus is in Statesboro and was established on December 1, 1906. GS has many different values for their university including collaboration, academic excellence, discovery, innovation, integrity, openness, inclusion, and sustainability. The mascot for GS is the eagle and they are NCAA Division I athletics.  

On the website itself, it was easy to navigate and find all this information out, because of the structure. The structure, when first going on the website, starts out showing the name of the University, the motto, and having a button to click for the admissions to apply for the school. The homepage of this website looks more as if it is sent in place for people who are interested in or applying for the school. The homepage has more information about admissions, majors, and different interests on why the reader on the website should choose GS as the university they should attend. Also on the home landing page, they make sure to prioritize the “apply” button at the top, by putting it in a distinct color. GS then, in my opinion, puts what they would think would be the most important to a new student looking at their website, in order from greatest to least, with labels of information about the school. Under each of these labels there are distinct categories that specify and make it easier for someone going on to the website to find what they are looking for. These various categories going from the top to the bottom are also in order from most to least appealing to a new student that might be thinking of applying. 

When students are thinking of applying to GS they want to know as much as possible about the school and they want to have all the questions they have answered. GS website caters to appealing to a new student, it is set-up to show a student of interest what the school has to offer. The website does this by using many different rhetorical strategies, one of them being Kairos. The GS website does a lot of thinking within the text and strategic placement, for example putting a specific link in a place where a student is guaranteed to see it. In the world right now, we are going through a global pandemic, which concerns many people, especially a fresh high school graduate that might be moving away from home to go to GS. On the home landing page, in a bright color that can be very easily seen and is near the top of the page, the website has a link to their plan of action against the global pandemic. They put this there, because they know this specific topic would be of urgency for someone to know. They were strategic in choosing what to put from left to right, knowing that in general most people read from left to right and being a new person would click the first tab, which is the “about” tab. Under this tab they make sure to mention their high rankings in categories that might be important to someone reviewing the website and thinking of applying.  

Response 

From writing this paper and learning about Georgia Southern, it is apparent to me that they prioritize new students. This raises the question: would I go to this school? So, just from what I know from researching on the website and trying to dissect what I have read, I would say yes this would be a college I would go to. I also feel like in my first year going there, I would be a priority for the school as would all the other first-year students. Excluding all the structural barriers, Georgia Southern would be a college I would go to, because of all the things that I read about that can be different interests for me. One of the words that I related to the most from the in-class value list was the word “trust.” When reading this website, the word trust did come to my head, especially when reading the motto of Georgia Southern. Part of the vision says “Growing ourselves to grow others” (GSU Missions and Values 9) and the word that correlates with that the most to me is the word trust. Not only if I chose to go to this university, am I putting trust in them to think that they have my best interest in mind and at heart, but they are also putting their trust into me. When the university chooses to accept me and enroll me in their school, they trust me to make their school a better place. So, in a nutshell, Georgia Southern would want me to help their school grow while they are helping me grow when I am enrolled there which requires them putting trust into me and me doing the same back to them. 

University Associates & Staff, Georgia Southern University, 8 March 2022, https://www.georgiasouthern.edu/

Chloe Richey  

24 March 2022 

Professor Weaver  

English Comp 1102.  

Richey Major Project 3 

Summary: 

The University of Tennessee is in Knoxville, Tennessee, which is known as the Big Orange country. The University of Tennessee is a college that is filled with engaging different people from different backgrounds of students doing what they would like to major in. In addition, a college where is full of enthusiasm for having a fun college experience. UTK would also like a student who would have an amusement of a diversified community coming together and being involved in different activities.   

Analysis: 

The University of Tennessee uses the APATSARC strategy of structure and the Large Rhetorical strategy of Imagining Ideal Readers. The structure of the University of Tennessee website played a huge factor in distinguishing what type of student they are looking for. At the very top of the visiting page, you would see six subtopics split up including “About UTK, Academics, Admissions, Diversity, Outreach, Research” (University of Tennessee, Visiting Homepage). Diversity has its part of the webpage. This part of the structure can catch the eye of people of color by emphasizing how it’s important at UTK. When looking into the diversity subtopic of the website, you would witness different bullet points of plans and partnerships with diversity. The ending of the page presents various activities for people of color and sexuality. Some of them are visiting a black historical museum and producing quilts with the pride center. Because of that structure of having an event with people of different sexualities being up under of the diversity subtopic, indicates that diversity does not only involve race but also sexual orientation tying together as one.   

When first visiting the website, you would see a slideshow with a different race of people such as white, black, Hispanic, etc. During the slideshow, the people laugh and smile like they are getting along with one another. Suggesting that diversity does exist at the university, showing that all races can attend the school and get the same treatment. As you scroll down on the visiting page, the pictures would start moving and you would see the scenery of Tennessee downtown at sunset. At the bottom of the picture in white bold lettering, it states “We are Tennessee volunteers. We light the way for others” (University of Tennessee, Visiting Homepage). This indicates that just because a university has a motto of focusing on grades does not mean the University of Tennessee would go by that same motto. Because of the bold lettering of “volunteering” (University of Tennessee, Visiting Homepage), as an activity, it must be a big element that students must have. Scrolling down more of the visiting page, you would see more diverse pictures and students doing different activities such as kayaking, volunteering, and being part of the festival. Encouraging that students can do more than just focus on studies, but also have the enjoyment of being in college.   

The University of Tennessee uses a large rhetorical strategy of imagining ideal readers to reach students who would have a beneficial outcome at the college. The readers and viewers that the university is trying to target are students from divergent backgrounds. One of them is people of color of people who struggle with financial problems. There are stereotypes of people of color, mainly black people not being someone who just sells drugs or ends up in a jail cell. On the other hand, the University of Tennessee uses that opportunity to prove those stereotypes wrong by sharing the Kojak Wells story. According to the website of the University of Tennessee, it states “Kojak Wells, the first in his family, to graduate from college, went from the stock room to a Fortune 500 company” (the University of Tennessee, Invest in your future”). Kojak Wells is a young black man who has his own family and was struggling financially. So, he decided to attend the University of Tennessee, majoring in finance, and later graduated. Because of his story being on the university website, many young black men and women would acknowledge it as you can accomplish goals too just like Kojak, who is the same race as you.   

Furthermore, women could be a target of the list of ideal readers. Since we are in a time where the world is full of girl power and feminism, the University of Tennessee makes it clear about women can also be more than just people who are responsible for house chores and babies being born. On the University of Tennessee website, there are many pictures of women being in front with different occupations like nursing and majoring in mathematics. Especially, when it comes to so-called “men’s work” like shoveling or doing hard handy work. The university shows that women could be a part of so-called “men’s work” by illustrating a picture of a young woman shoveling with men next to her. Overall, showing that no matter what race, sexuality, nor gender all students are welcomed and unified to be in projects together. 

Response 

If there were no financial problems or traveling issues, would you attend the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee? The answer to that question is yes, I would attend the University of Tennessee. A life value that I commit to every day is an inspiration. Inspiration to me is someone or something influencing you to not think so little of yourself but bigger than you ever thought about yourself. As a person of color, inspiration plays a huge factor in it. They are many ugly and hateful voices that like to make POC (people of color) people think less of what they truly are. When I read the Kojak Wells story, inspiration influenced my way of thinking because a guy who is black like me was able to walk across that stage and prove so many people wrong. At the University of Tennessee, it is shown that students with the same skin color as me can become anything that wants to as long, they put their mind to it. Making a difference is another value that I reflect on every day. My mom is a nurse at Grady Hospital and every day she makes a difference by helping the patients and doctors. As a result, I consider it to be giving back to the community. For me now, I haven’t participated in volunteering in my life, and attending the University of Tennessee would bring me a good opportunity to be involved in a community with a diverse community. 

-Drew Beamer, Unsplash

Citation  

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Website. 23 March, 2022. www.utk.edu/.