The Office of Summer and Special Academic Programs (SSAP) serves UVA students and visiting students from other universities, high schools, and the Charlottesville community and beyond. Courses are offered over three sessions from May through August and are taught by instructors from the undergraduate schools at the University.  

SSAP wants to identify the motivations that drive students to enroll in Summer Session.

After conducting qualitative research, the group will apply findings to inform a refreshed digital marketing strategy. This includes identifying effective channels, messages, and formats for promoting Summer Session to students, as well as producing example content and creative assets. 

The findings will support SSAP’s efforts to refine course offerings, improve outreach, and develop both immediate and long-term enhancements to Summer Session programming. 

SSAP wants to identify the motivations that drive students to enroll in Summer Session.

What factors need to be present for students to enroll in classes? Is it the content? Instruction mode? Does it complete a degree requirement? Conversely, why do students skip summer classes altogether? Is it financially related? Do they have other commitments, like an internship? Perhaps they want to enjoy their much-deserved time off. Whatever the reasoning, we would like to hear from students about how they think (or don’t think) about Summer Session. 

The group will run focus groups with UVA students to ask them about summer classes. After speaking to students, we are looking for data that answers the following question: Why did you, or didn’t you, enroll in Summer Session classes at UVA? 

Once the focus groups have concluded, please analyze the data to determine common themes and create recommendations of what we should be doing to improve the program in the future. Please include both short-term and long-term recommendations for improvement. 

Sample questions to be explored in the focus groups include: 

If the student was enrolled in a Summer Session class: 

• How did you find out about Summer Session? 
• What matters the most to you: the dates and time the class is offered, the instruction mode (online vs. in person), the class itself, the instructor, or other factors? 
• Were you satisfied with the course you took? 
• How could we better inform students about Summer Session? 
• Are there certain classes we should be offering? 
• What specific improvements should we make to Summer Session? 

If the student did not enroll: 

• Did you hear about Summer Session during the academic year? If so, how? If not, do you have recommendations for promoting the program? 
• What do you think Summer Session is about? What are your impressions of the program? 
• Why did you choose not to take summer classes? 
• Are there specific classes we should be offering? 
• What suggestions do you have for us to improve Summer Session? 

DELIVERABLES 

• Focus Group Plan & Implementation: A structured plan to recruit and facilitate focus groups with UVA students, ensuring a diverse range of perspectives (students who have and have not taken summer classes). 
• Thematic Analysis Report: A summary of focus group findings organized around key themes, including motivations for enrollment, barriers to participation, and perceptions of the program. 
• Strategic Recommendations Report: A set of actionable short- and long-term recommendations for improving Summer Session. This report will include insights on course offerings, marketing approaches, instructional modalities, and student support strategies. 
• Digital Marketing Strategy Brief: A memo summarizing key insights from focus groups related to communications and marketing. It will outline strategic approaches for engaging students through digital channels (e.g., social media, email, UVA websites). 
• Marketing Mockups & Content Suggestions: A set of 3–5 sample creative assets or mockups (e.g., Instagram story, email banner, digital poster, TikTok script, carousel post) tailored to key student motivations and communications preferences uncovered during research.