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Official Write-up: Community Services

DIGITAL MEDIA, DISCOURSE ENGAGEMENT, AND GAINING STAFF

FOR ROHNERT PARK, “THE FRIENDLY CITY”

The City of Rohnert Park, Department of Community Services

Stephanie M. Moret

April 10, 2017

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Executive Summary

The following is an official write-up of current research findings regarding the cause of

the understaffed Community Services Department in Rohnert Park, California. It should be noted

that this project focuses predominately on the aquatic program’s staffing shortage for part-time

employees, which is under the umbrella of Community Services. The purpose of this write-up is

to display the background information about the cause of the staffing challenge and when it

became problematic. It also serves as a theoretical foundation for the second half of this project,

which is a strategic marketing plan that highlights ways that city officials can promote available

part-time positions and effectively train new employees. That being said, separate from this

formal write-up, the strategic plan functions as an official recipe which displays various ways

that the department can advertise for needed positions and properly train staff. In the end, the

combination of this formal write up, along with the marketing plan and training itinerary will

serve as a way that the department can obtain a full and well-equipped staff, which will lead to

an effective aquatics program.

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ................................................................................................... 2

Table of Contents ....................................................................................................... 3

Introduction ................................................................................................................ 3

Review of Literature .................................................................................................. 6

Methodology ............................................................................................................11

Data Collection & Analysis .....................................................................................12

Results ......................................................................................................................22

Overview of Final Project Portion ...........................................................................24

Conclusions ..............................................................................................................25

Recommendations ....................................................................................................26

Works Cited .............................................................................................................27

Appendices ...............................................................................................................29

Appendix A ...............................................................................................................29

Appendix B ...............................................................................................................30

Appendix C ...............................................................................................................35

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Introduction

The City of Rohnert Park, located in Northern California, is a unique town that was

founded in the 60s under the ideals of community engagement (A History of Rohnert Park), and

is home to approximately 40,000 people. Rohnert Park has always upheld the mission “We Care

for Our Residents by Working Together to Build a Better Community for Today and

Tomorrow.” One of the ways the city fulfills that mission is through the creation of programs

and services that bring the residents together, which is why Rohnert Park prides itself on

maintaining welcoming parks and pools in every neighborhood. Another unique aspect of the

town, is that there are a variety of sections, or neighborhoods, within the town. Each section is

named after a letter (please see appendix A for a map). The various districts of the city make it

easy for neighbors to meet one another and form a tight-knit community within the town.

While every department within the city is important, a highly vital department is

Community Services because it creates and hosts programs for all residents. Community

Services largely supports Rohnert Park’s mission of engagement. The department also

collaborates with Public Works to uphold the promise that the pools and parks will remain open,

safe, and tidy. The one current challenge, which makes it difficult for Community Services to

continue upholding the city’s goal, is that it has lost a large amount of part-time staff specifically

in the aquatics program over the last several years. The department was unable to open all 3 city

pools full-time last summer (2016) due to the low staffing numbers (see Appendix C for a

detailed programming schedule of aquatics). Having a small staff is problematic because with

too few employees, creating programs for residents is difficult; it becomes tough to strengthen

the town’s mission. The aquatics program is the second leading program that Community

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Services hosts (Herman). Therefore, it is a large contributor to the success of the whole

department.

Part of the understaffing challenge arose due to budget cuts and drastic changes that

occurred during 2009 recession (McArthur). In conjunction with the budget cuts, the city of

Rohnert Park also grew up: the teenagers in town graduated from the local high school and the

number of students now enrolled in the high school is lower than it was in the early 2000s. As a

result, there are fewer young people in the town to fulfill the needed part-time positions.

Furthermore, there is a shortage of lifeguards and aquatics personnel in the entire North Bay

Area region of California in general. The understaffed aquatics program in Rohnert Park is a

result of that. At this point in time, officials are eager to make a change and tackle the challenge

by looking at a variety of new methods to overcome the apparent constraints of finding part-time

staff and training them.

After considering the exigence and the constraints associated with aiding this challenge, I

came to the conclusion that by relying on rhetorical theory in conjunction with marketing

techniques, the Community Services Department will be able to recruit a well-equipped staff,

thus solving the staffing obstacle. This project’s goal is to identify ways to recruit a substantial

amount of staff. In doing so, it highlights how rhetorical theory and research enabled me to

create a strategic plan which will ultimately aid the issue. I propose that by relying on the

concepts of discourse engagement and identity, the project’s rhetoric will enable city officials to

obtain and retain a large, well-equipped part-time staff. With that in mind, the project will also

incorporate the new brand image, as shown in the recently released “Rohnert Park Style Guide”

to advocate identity and uniformity within the city as a whole. By strengthening the identity,

perception, and discourse of the town, the project ought to function as a tool to answer the

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understaffing challenge. The ideals of this project will enable the department to better serve the

desires of Rohnert Park residents thus supporting discourse engagement.

Review of Literature

The review of theoretical literature highlights the rhetorical concepts of discourse

communities, genre, collaboration, and authentic communication. These overarching concepts

support the goal of promoting identity in the city. By relying on theoretical literature, I was able

to connect the challenge that Community Services is facing to a larger context. While the

understaffing issue is a local challenge, the concepts of strengthening discourse engagement

extend to a larger rhetorical discussion. By relying on research literature, I am able to analyze

how other theoretical concepts connect to this local obstacle in Rohnert Park.

The Power of the Discourse Community

The first rhetorical theory that my project utilizes is the concept of the discourse

community and how it shapes the way individuals interact within the town. Based on my

experience of growing up in the City of Rohnert Park and after working as a seasonal employee

in the city for the past eight years, I understand that it has a unique culture. It is a small town that

was originally designed in sections to specifically create a unique and safe environment for

neighbors to meet each other. It is a tight-knit community that is easy to navigate and make

friends (Whitlock-Colmenero). Essentially, the strategic marketing plan designed to solve the

understaffed Community Serves Department mirrors the familiar identity that is apparent to the

residents in the town.

I discovered the fact that Rohnert Park has a unique discourse community after reading

several theorists who specialize in researching ways that culture shapes how each person

socializes, behaves, and interacts within a group. For example, Bizzell and Porter, two separate

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rhetoricians, point out how discourse communities shape the way each person within a space

interacts. In this case, their point highlights the idea that the discourse of a group influences how

each person communicates and acts. Their concept here also collides with Bitzer’s idea of the

rhetorical situation: circumstances in specific situations (like culture) influences the way that

individuals interact within the parameters of the group.

Both Porter and Bizzell uncover the realization that a discourse community binds people

together based on similar interests. Therefore, a way to strengthen a discourse community, or

create one, happens when individuals itemize a common interest in a group of people. For

example, in a Ted Talk by Ron Finely, titled “A Guerilla Gardener in South Central LA,” he

highlights the fact that he is able to bring his community together by teaching them that they can

solve obesity by working together in a community garden. In this case, Finley demonstrates a

way that he has strengthened the discourse community of South Central, LA: he makes their

commonality gardening and eating healthy. Furthermore, his talk also proves the point that

Bizzell and Porter make: there is a sense of power in creating a discourse community because

people bond together over a common interest. Just as Finely proves Bizzell’s and Porter’s

theoretical research, an element that this project includes is strengthening the community of

Rohnert Park by reinforcing the mission of the town, thus supporting it’s discourse community.

How Genre Shapes the Message

Another rhetorical concept in addition to discourse communities that helped me achieve

success in my overall project is analyzing genre: genre shapes the way listeners perceive and

anticipate a message. In an article by Amy Devitt titled “Generalizing about Genre: New

Concepts of an Old Concept,” she explains that genre is a classification of any type of text or

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language. For example, it extends beyond literary classifications. Rather, genre is a sorting of

any type of text that helps readers make sense of the situation: “If I open an envelope and

recognize a sales letter in my hand, I understand that a company will make a pitch for its product

and want me to buy it. Once I recognize that genre, I will throw the letter away or scan it for the

product it is selling” (575). In this case, Devitt points out that even before reading the letter, the

apparent genre helps her obtain the purpose of the message, which in turn influences how she

perceives the message and reacts to it. Again, to reflect on Bitzer, genre shapes the information

the same way that the rhetorical situation influences how listeners make sense of the message.

Beyond what Devitt points out about ways that genre influences how one perceives truth

through language and writing, it also connects to the digital atmosphere. For example, two

business experts—Solomon and Howe who both specialize in promoting a mission through

digital media—also highlight the importance of knowing genre and audience before posting on

social media. In each of their articles published on the Business Insider, they both explain that

social media managers need to take time to research ways to appeal to people through specific

language choices in different digital spaces. Managers essentially can communicate effectively

with their audience by understanding the discourse community and by using genre, which in turn

helps them advocate their company’s mission.

The application of genre studies uncovered in Howe and Solomon’s articles largely

connects to my final project. For example, the strategic marketing plan that I created highlights

how city officials can utilize each different social networking site in order to effectively appeal

to the audience and genre within that space. By appealing to the space, and the people within that

digital community, users ought to be persuaded by the campaign. For example, the project

identifies ways that the officials can utilize Facebook differently than Instagram. In other words,

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I propose that Facebook can be used to promote and advertise the positions that need to be filled,

while they could use Instagram to engage with their residents by showing pictures of the current

staff to advocate for their type of work-environment. As rhetoricians like Devitt point out, and as

Howe and Solomon prove, paying attention to genre is the main reason why a digital media user

can succeed in spreading a mission, or in the case of my project, the identity of a town, which

identifies how the understaffing problem will be solved.

Collaboration and Strengthening Community

The concept of collaboration is a pedagogical theory that I use as a teacher on a daily

basis in my English composition classroom. Even though my final project is not about education,

the concept of collaboration highly relates to this capstone project since my goal here is to bring

a town together and strengthen identity, which I argue, will help solve the staffing problem

(Marjan Laal, and Mozhgan Laal). In two articles written by Marjan and Mozhgan Laal,

“Collaborative learning: what is it?” and "21st Century Learning; Learning in Collaboration,"

they explain that collaborative learning is a newer educational goal, but it is also one of the most

useful teaching approaches in education, especially in the humanities. Instead of teachers giving

students answers (or lecturing), they argue that collaborative learning is more effective because it

pushes students to work together in order to help each other grasp the concepts of a lesson. Their

idea also reinforces the blank slate methodology (Locke). Similarly, in this capstone project I

utilize the concept of collaboration and togetherness to help strengthen and spread the identity of

Rohnert Park. The theory will work for the employee-side as well as the resident-side of the

town. In the end, I claim that the identity of the city, which is advocated on the strategic

marketing plan, will help the department recruit a substantial amount of well-equipped staff.

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The concept of collaboration collides with several other communication theorists such as

Peter Drucker and Sheryl Sandberg. In Drucker’s article, “What Can Business Learn from

Nonprofits,” he explains that many non-profit organizations are successful in spreading their

mission because they rely on a “functioning board,” and CEOs are reviewed annually by a

committee. Drucker argues that some non-profits can become stronger organizations than

businesses because they take more time to communicate authentically about what is happening

and why it may be successful or unsuccessful. His concept of giving time to allow for

communication also highlights ways that collaboration in the employee-aspect of the city should

ensure that all departments work together in order to solve problems and advocate the message

of identity and how to spread discourse engagement.

Similar to Drucker, Sheryl Sandberg also brings up the means of authentic

communication in order to obtain success in her article, “Seek and Speak Your Truth.” The

overarching concept that Sandberg identifies is that everyone has a different version of truth.

Therefore, in order to solve an issue and achieve successfulness in spreading a mission,

individuals need to identify what they believe, and why they believe it. But most importantly,

presenters must give room for their colleagues to respond. Her encouragement for authentic

communication collides with Drucker as well as Pratt in the sense that they all encourage

speaking effectively with one another in order to collaborate and eventually find a greater sense

of truth. These major concepts of collaboration through communication efforts enabled me to

point out why it is important that the employees in the city help spread the identity of Rohnert

Park by collaborating and effectively communicating with one another in order to carry out the

job campaign’s mission and to adjust the project as needed.

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As explained in the beginning literature review, the project ought to succeed based on the

theoretical blue-prints that have been considered. By looking at the larger theoretical discussion

of discourse engagement, authentic communication, and genre, it has enabled me to create a

well-thought out marketing plan, which will solve the staffing challenge. With that in mind, it is

also important to point out that my project extends beyond posting on social media to help spread

a message. Rather, the rhetorical, collaborative, and communication theories that I address here

in the review of literature invites for a logical and thought-out approach.

Methodology

The research used for this project includes a mixed-methods approach, but does focus

more on qualitative over quantitative methodologies. The theoretical literature (as pointed out in

the review section) was also used in conjunction to the mixed methods approach. Qualitative

research was conducted through observing the daily operations in the Community Services

department over the past 7 years; however, most of the observations that were considered for this

project have taken place within the past year (Summer 2016—March 2017). In addition to

ethnography, qualitative research was also conducted through several interviews: 3 with city

officials and 1 with a resident. The qualitative research overall provides background information

regarding when the understaffing issue became problematic and why it remains a challenge. The

ethnographic studies also helped to identify the constraints that the understaffed department has

dealt/is dealing with on a daily basis because of having too few personnel. Qualitative research

was also used to help identify an analysis of the approach that city officials can take in order to

overcome the staffing issue. The last way that qualitative research was used was through the

creation of the pilot project (see appendix B), which functioned as the trial run of the strategic

marketing campaign: it is very similar to the project portion of the capstone. The goal in creating

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the pilot project was to test the effectiveness of marketing: I wanted to see if promoting the open

positions through various mediums and for multiple target market regions actually solved the

staffing issue.

Quantitative research was conducted through 2 different approaches: (1) a survey

launched for all residents created by city officials, and (2) a survey that I created and distributed

to current staff. The survey that was launched by the city officials happened a year ago—April

2016. It was designed to question residents on their future desires that Rohnert Park can fulfill

for them. It also asked them about their preferred communication tactics for city-wide updates.

The survey was distributed through a series of different mediums and reached 984 residents total:

all major demographics of the city. In addition to this, the survey that I created and distributed

targeted the current aquatics staff and was created based on the intent to identify how many

employees from last summer plan on returning to work during this upcoming summer (2017).

Data Collection & Analysis

Quantitative Studies

The survey that was launched in April 2016 by city officials was created to obtain general

feedback from Rohnert Park residents including preferred communication tactics, feedback

regarding safety, quality of life, interaction with Public Safety personnel, and ways officials can

improve Rohnert Park. This project mainly focuses on 4 main parts of the survey: (1) who it

reached, (2) the mediums participants answered through, (3) the age demographics of

participants who answered, and (4) the preferred communication tactics that residents desired to

obtain information from officials. These four sections were analyzed because it gave insight on

which social networking sites should be used to help promote the part-time jobs in the project

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portion of this capstone. Further, it also gives information on the amount of young people in the

town that can be targeted for part-time positions.

The first section of the community survey that was considered for the project includes the

demographics of who responded to it (Figure 1) as well as the age ranges of people currently

living in the city. Figure 1 points out that the survey reached every different neighborhood. Since

the survey reached all demographics, it can be concluded that the data is trustworthy and

representative of the whole town.

Figure 1

The second section of the survey that was considered includes the various types of

mediums that were utilized to reach all demographics on this specific survey. As figure 2 shows,

Facebook was the most common method used by residents to answer the survey. This

information helped me recognize that residents utilize Facebook frequently, which makes the

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social networking site a great tool for advocating available positions. The medium demographic

of people who answered was age 44 (figure 3). This information led me to believe that Facebook

is a great medium to use when informing teenagers’ parents about open summer jobs. By

appealing to the parents of high school students and informing them, they can help advocate the

mission. I also know that this method worked in times past, like last summer: the parents of

several employees had encouraged their kids to apply for the open summer positions.

Figure 2

Figure 3

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In addition to recognizing that Facebook was the number one medium through which

people found the survey and answered it, the data also concludes that most residents (54%)

expressed that email was the number one way that they preferred to obtain updates provided

from city officials. Facebook followed as the number two desired medium with 35% of residents

(figure 4). Based on this information, it inspired me to add email promotions to the strategic

marketing plan: this was not originally included on the pilot project.

Figure 4

The other aspect of quantitative studies used in the project includes the survey that was

distributed to current part-time aquatics staff members. The intent of the surrey was to ask

employees questions regarding if they planned on returning to work this summer (2017). With

that, it asked questions regarding their return date and if they intended on taking any major

vacations over summer. It also asked them how many weeks that they planned on working over

summer. The data collected demonstrates that 90% of employees from last summer intend on

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returning this coming summer. However, in that group, approximately 48% of the staff who are

returning intends on working full-time (40 hours a week). The other 42% of returning staff plans

on working approximately 10-20 hours a week (Figure 5).

Figure 5

Qualitative Studies

The ethnographic data for this project has been collected over the course of several years,

since I have been working in the Community Services department of Rohnert Park as a seasonal

employee since 2009. Over time, I have observed daily operations and challenges due to the

understaffed department specifically in aquatics. However, most of the qualitative research was

collected over the course of this past year (May 2016—March 2017). In addition to observing

daily operations in the department, I have also collected data through interviews with 4 different

people beginning in August 2016 and ending in January 2017: I conducted 2 interviews with the

Assistant City Manager, Don Schwartz; 2 interviews with Community Services & Public Works

director, John McArthur; 2 interviews with Community Services Supervisor, Nelle Herman; and

1 interview with a long-time Rohnert Park resident of 40 years, Shelli Whitlock-Colmenero.

The variety of interviews gave me insight on the history of Rohnert Park, as well as

multiple perspectives regarding the future goals for the city as a whole and Community Services.

I was also able to obtain versed understandings over the reasons that Community Services has

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faced the understaffing issue; each person was able to contribute a new and interesting

perspective. For example, each person highlighted a various reason behind when the problem

arose. From this obtained information, I was given insight on ways to solve the understaffing

issue, which is highlighted on the strategic marketing plan.

Ethnographic Observations

Over the last 7 years of my employment with the Community Services Department, I

have witnessed multiple changes: some of these include new staff members, programs, facility

renovations, and facility closures. When I first got hired in May of 2009, the aquatics program

consisted of three city pools—Benicia, Honeybee, and Magnolia. Each pool had at least two

managers (one regular manager, and an assistant manager). The three facilities hosted programs

such as morning and evening swim lessons; family-evening open swim; public swim; lunch-time

lap swim; and water aerobics.

After 2009, it appeared that every year after that, the aquatics program started to lose

staff, and the numbers of families that utilized the pools started to lessen as well. According to

McArthur—department director—one of the main reasons for the lower numbers in participating

families was mainly prompted due to the recession. Also, as I pointed out in the introduction, the

town also grew up: there aren’t as many kids living there now than there were 10 years ago. As a

result, city officials decided to close Magnolia pool in the pre-season of 2010 because of cost.

From here, every other year after this the city continued to lose staff. Part of the rapid decline in

employees is also because the city had to cut each worker’s pay by 5% and lay off some staff

members as well.

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The biggest problems associated with too few personnel didn’t arise until last summer,

2017. I was called at the end of April and asked by upper management to come back and work

over the summer as the seasonal Aquatics Coordinator. When I accepted the position, we had to

hit the ground running: there were approximately 12 lifeguards on staff and we needed to open 3

city pools. Each pool is supposed to host 10-12 hours of programming per day. Having only 12

aquatics members on staff, I knew that it would be impossible to open all of the pools (please see

a detailed programming schedule in Appendix C). From my experience of working in aquatics,

12 staff members is only a third of the people needed to effectively run 3 city pools. As a result, I

told city officials that we would need to cancel much of the programming that was promised to

residents, such as swim lesson classes, and recreational swimming.

To help aid the problem, so that we could eventually open up more programming

throughout the rest of summer, the management team and I quickly began advertising throughout

the town promoting the open positions. We mailed out brochures to local high school students

about the positions and I created an Instagram for the department to help advocate. Lastly, we

coordinated and advertised 2 lifeguard courses throughout the summer. One of the ways we

encouraged local students to enroll is by reimbursing all candidates if they ended up obtaining a

lifeguard job with the city upon completion of the course. It was a good incentive because

typically lifeguard courses cost participants close to 200 dollars. By the end of last summer

(2016) the management team and I were able to hire 22 individuals. In other words, within a

matter of 2 months, we were able to more than double the staff.

The experiences from last summer proved to me that it is possible to fix the issue of the

understaffed department, but it takes teamwork, marketing, collaboration, and the ability to train

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new guards. Therefore, the ethnographic observations of how everything functioned last summer,

inspired me on how to adjust and create the final project portion of this capstone.

Interviews

One of the first ways that I started to conduct research for the project was through a series

of interviews. From the interviews, I gathered a more detailed narrative on the history behind the

low staffing challenge. I also obtained a wide-array of information that helped inspire me to

create the strategic project portion of the capstone. Through interviewing, I learned about future

goals of the department, general desires of Rohnert Park residents, the newly created brand

image, the current uses of digital media, and the future goals of digital media usage. The people

that were interviewed included 3 city officials and 1 long-time resident.

Shelli Whitlock-Colmenero, who has been a resident for the past 41 years, taught me that

her and others in the community desire engagement through events. She also explained that she

and others prefer to obtain information from the city though social media, Facebook in particular.

Nelle Herman, on the other hand, who has been working under this title of Community Services

Supervisor for the past 6 years, enlightened me on the how the Community Services department

hopes to expand with staff, programs, and engagement with the community in the physical and

online setting. Both Nelle Herman and Shelli Whitlock-Colmenero helped me learn that the

major goal of the city is to expand and engage more with the residents. That being said, I

concluded that one of the ways to make that goal happen is with a fuller staff, which

demonstrates part of the exigence considered for the project portion of the capstone.

In my interview with Shelli Whitlock-Colmenero, I learned that the Rohnert Park

community would benefit from having more fun events that bring the town together. For

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example, Whitlock-Colmenero serves as the Games and Contests Coordinator for the yearly

Rohnert Park Founder’s Day Celebration. This event happens in the beginning of October each

year. It is essentially a big party that brings the city together: there is a parade, fun games, beer

and wine, as well as a car show. According to Whitlock-Colmenero, residents would greatly

benefit from having more events such as the Founder’s day: “We need more community

engagement, and we need to support the kids in the town” (Whitlock-Colmenero). She explained

that these types of events help people get closer and more involved with their neighbors, which is

what “makes living in this town so great; it’s a tight knit community.” By understanding that

Rohnert Park residents would benefit from more events like Founder’s Day helps me recognize

how I can help advocate that message of engagement and city programs similar to Founder’s

Day by starting with ensuring that the staffing issue is solved.

While Shelli Whitlock-Colmenero gave me an idea about the needs and desires of the

residents in the town, my interview with Nelle Herman offered insight on the Community

Service Department’s goals on how to appeal to the residents and expand. One of the first major

goals that Herman identified is fully staffing the department: “We need to be fully staffed. Once

we have several more full-time staff members, we will be able to expand and engage more with

our residents.” This is where I learned that the Community Services Department made several

cuts to their budget during the recession in 2009; they lost 5 full-time employees. In addition to

that, the part-time staff suffered losses as well. Losing this many people has made it consistently

hard to expand. She explained that right now, they essentially just “have to get through each and

every day.” Once they are fully staffed she said that they intend on expanding and creating more

programs for the community, such as teen and children programs, while also spending more time

on social media. Obtaining her perspective on the goals of finding more full-time staff and then

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eventually collaborating with each employee to expand the use of social media helped me

understand that the city does want to expand their use of digital media in order to strengthen the

discourse community, but it will take time to achieve that goal.

After interviewing both Nelle Herman and Shelli Whitlock-Colmenero, I decided to turn

to two other city officials for interviews including John McArthur, director of Community

Services and Public Works, as well as Don Schwartz, Assistant City Manager. From here, I was

able to gain more information regarding how the recession ignited the overall challenge as well

as the future goals of what the department can do to fix it. I also gained a substantial amount of

information based on the newly designed brand image as showcased on the city’s new website

and in the recently released “Rohnert Park Style Guide” distributed to each of the different

departments in the town.

In my interview with John McArthur I came to the conclusion that the department doesn’t

only need more staff members, but they need a well-equipped staff capable of excelling in their

job. McArthur explained to me that his main goal for the future of Community Services is to be

“recession proof.” Like Nelle Herman, he also explained that in 2009, the department took a very

hard hit due to budget cuts. As a result, he had to cut programs, employees’ pay, and full-time

positions. Now, even though the city is doing well financially, he explained that when the next

recession comes, he doesn’t want to have to lay-off anyone employee or cut any program. One of

the ways that he explained the department can ensure that it will withstand another financial

crisis is by finding a well-equipped group of people who are capable of functioning together to

produce great work. My interview with him made me realize that the best approach for this type

of project isn’t just about finding staff, but rather, it is also about finding a substantial and well-

equipped group of individuals who will function as strong employees. My conversation about

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having a well-equipped staff also inspired me to create the training portion of the capstone

project.

Lastly, my interview with Don Schwartz helped me realize that part of the goal with the

new brand image is that it reinforces the nostalgic ideals of “family friendly” and community

engagement. Furthermore, he helped me discover the point that Rohnert Park is one town with

one mission, and the new brand image helps advocate the foundational ideals while it also

ensures uniformity. Though it should be noted that he also explained how the initial inspiration

for the new brand image appealed to businesses. It was also designed to appeal to young families

who might work in San Francisco, but want to raise their family in a safe, small and tight-knit

community. The interview helped me conclude that in marketing and advertising the open

positions, I will need to advocate for the overarching identity and culture of the town and the

new brand image can help me achieve this goal.

The Pilot Project

The intent of the pilot project was to test the successfulness of the marketing and

promotions strategy that I planned on using in the final project portion of the capstone. The pilot

advocated for using mediums—paper, Instagram, Facebook—differently. For example, I

explained that by using more pictures on Instagram, we could appeal to a younger generation and

advocate the culture of the department. Whereas on Facebook, I claimed that it would be more

beneficial to post advertisements that informed residents about the positions (see appendix B).

Results

When I first started the project about a year ago, my initial assumption was that the main

reason the department didn’t have enough staff was due to a lack in promoting available

positions through multiple mediums. In other words, I assumed that the reason for not having

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enough personnel was due to insufficient marketing especially on digital spaces. What I ended

up concluding based on the results gained through the pilot project, interviews, surveys, and

ethnographic observations is that there are several factors that have caused the department to lose

staff and not fully recover. For example, I explore 4 reasons:

The first reason that I concluded is that there is currently a shortage of trained aquatics

personnel in the entire North Bay Area region of California and the City of Rohnert Park has

suffered as a result. The lack of personnel certified to train lifeguards makes it difficult for the

city to find and properly train staff. Second, during the recession in 2009, the department had to

make a large amount of budget cuts, which included cutting all part-time employees’ pay by 5%.

They also laid-off 5 full-time employees. After the recession, it is evident that the department

recovered financially, but did not recover in re-hiring a substantial amount of staff to replace

those who were laid off and those who quit based on the cut in pay. Third, because the

department has faced a day-to-day struggle due to the low part-time staff, it makes it challenging

for full-time staff to get ahead and aid the issue, let alone, find personnel who are certified to

teach a lifeguard class. And finally, fourth, the city grew up: there are fewer young adults in

town to fulfill the needed aquatics positions (McArthur). For example, there are currently fewer

high school students enrolled in the local high schools than there was five years ago. With that,

this has added to the understaffed department because young adults, especially high school

students, have always been the target market for these specific types of aquatic, part-time

positions.

Based on the research conducted through the pilot project, it found that promoting the

message through different mediums worked—people applied. For example, the department was

able to find 20 candidates for the open part-time positions. However, of that group, only 2 of the

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candidates were certified lifeguards. Therefore, even though promoting the positions worked, it

is apparent that there is still a shortage of lifeguards and aquatics personnel in the entire North

Bay Area region of California.

The outcome of the pilot project reshaped my approach to the project portion of the

capstone because it reinforced the concept that the department doesn’t solely need help with

marketing and promotions. Rather, they need help finding a well-equipped and trained staff. For

example, while the marketing side of the pilot worked, it encouraged me to also include a section

on how to effectively train the new employees as well. Therefore, as you’ll see on the project

portion of the capstone, the research conducted from the pilot, inspired me to create two sections.

The first section looks very similar to the pilot: it provides sample advertisements and an outline

on how to effectively utilize each of the different mediums based on genre. The second portion

of the project is a detailed schedule on how to train the new employees within a 2 week period at

the beginning of summer.

Overview of Final Project Portion

As identified in the previous sections, the project portion of the capstone was inspired by

the research discussed in this write up in conjunction to the rhetorical theories addressed in the

literature review. The pilot project was a large contributing factor to the outline of the project.

The project portion functions as a strategic marketing plan and itinerary on how to train the

entire aquatics staff: it suggests a way that management can train new staff members into

becoming certified lifeguards and swim instructors within a two week period at the beginning of

summer.

The project also includes recruiting for camp staff positions in addition to aquatics

personnel, which is another program under the umbrella of Community Services. Camp staff was

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accounted for in both the pilot project and the final project because last summer, the aquatics

management team was able to train a few of the camp staff employees to become cross-over

employees in aquatics: they were able to teach swim lesson courses in addition to working with

the day camps on different days. The project is broken up into two parts: the first part closely

mirrors the pilot project as demonstrated in the appendices. The second part that I added based

on the outcome of the pilot is the schedule and detailed lesson plan on how the department can

train the new and returning staff members at the beginning of summer.

Conclusions

Based on the current outcomes of the research that I have been conducting over the

course of this past year, it is apparent that the department needs to add at least 40 more staff

members or in other words, obtain a staff of at least 80 employees. By tripling the staff, the

department should be able to effectively run the 3 city pools by this coming summer. And with

that, the department will be able to effectively carry-out the mission of hosting programs and

keeping aquatic facilities open for residents. Considerations that also went into this number

include the amount of hours each employee can work per week. As the current data shows, only

18 staff members—or 48%--intend on working full-time over summer, while the rest of staff can

only work 10-35 hours per week. Therefore, even with 80 staff members, it can be anticipated

that more than half of them cannot work full-time (40+ hours per week).

While it is apparent that achieving this much staff may seem ideal, I am confident that the

department will be able to gain the amount of staff that I recommend if they utilize the strategic

plan that I created in the project portion of this capstone. Furthermore, I claim that the project

will not only enable the department to gain more staff, but it will also be able to ensure that the

staff is trained, well-equipped, and can fulfill the city’s mission and the department’s goals. After

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considering the combination of rhetorical theory; the mixed method approach used for research;

and the outcome of the pilot project, it is anticipated that the capstone project should yield

positive results. That being said, I also recommend that the department continue to analyze and

adjust the project as needed while carrying out its plan.

Recommendations

While it has been suggested that a combination of the write-up and project should solve

the department’s challenge, I also recommend that city officials continue to analyze and adjust

the project as needed when carrying out the plan. Since the 2017 summer season is closely

approaching—it is currently April—I would also advise that city officials utilize the full version

of this project over the course of the next year—2017-2018—in addition to this coming summer.

The ongoing analysis is needed because situations within the department can change, which

wouldn’t have been accounted in this write-up, i.e., new full-time staff, funding, number of

participants enrolled in community services programming, etcetera. The research conducted and

the use of foundational rhetorical concepts leads me to believe in the value of this project, but

with that in mind, it is always important for managers to think critically about changes,

constraints, and context surrounding the project.

27

Works Cited

Bitzer, Lloyd. “The Rhetorical Situation.” Philosphy and Rhetoric (1968): 1-14. Web. 26 Sep.

2015.

Bizzell, Patricia. “What is a Discourse Community.” Academic Discourse and Critical

Consciousness (1992): 222-227. Print.

Porter, James. “Intertextuality and Discourse Community.” Rhetoric Review 5 (1986). 34-47.

Print.

Blackburn, Mollie. “Humanizing Research With LGBTQ Youth Through Dialogic

Communication, Consciousness Raising, and Action.” Humanizing Research. Paris,

Django and Winn, Maisha, 2014, pp. 43-53.

Creswell, John. “The Selection of a Research Approach.” Sage. Sage Publications, 2014, pp. 1-

23.

Crusius, Timothy. “Understanding Argument.” The Aims of Argument. (1974): 3-10. Web. 9

October 2015.

Devitt, Amy. “Generalizing about Genre: New Concepts of an Old Concept” College

Composition and Communication44 (4): 573-586. Print

Drucker, Peter. “What Can Business learn From Nonprofits.” Classic Drucker. Harvard Business

School Publishing, 2006, pp. 169-178.

Finley, Ron. “A Guerilla Gardener in South Central LA.” Ted: Ideas Worth Spreading. 2013

February. Web. 30 October 2016

Herman, Nelle. “Personal Interview.” 12 October 2016.

Howe, James. "10 Social Media Basics Every Nonprofit Needs to Know." International

Association of Business Communicators. Web. 30 October 2016

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Laal, Marjan, & Mozhgan Laal. “Collaborative learning: what is it?” Procedia - Social and

Behavioral Sciences. 31. (2012): 491-495. Web. 29 October 2016.

Laal, Marjan, Mozghan Laal, and Zhina Kermanshahi. "21st Century Learning; Learning in

Collaboration." Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 47 (2012): 1696- 1701. Web.

29 October 2016

Merriam, Sharan. “Types of Qualitative Research” Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and

Implementation. Miley, 2014, pp. 21-38.

Merriam, Sharan. “What is Qualitative Research?” Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design

and Implementation. Miley, 2014, pp. 3-18.

Pratt, Marry Louise. “Art of the Contact Zone.” Profession 91 (1991): 1-6. PDF.

Sandberg, Sheryl. “See and Speak your Truth.” New York: Random House Inc., 2013. 6-18.

Print

Solomon, Helene. “"Social Media for Nonprofits" International Association of Business

Communicators. Web. 30 October 2016

Schwartz, Don. “Personal Interview.” 11 August 2016.

Torres, Mirriam, and Reyes, Loui. “Announcing Possibilities with Research as Praxis: A

Counter-Hegemonic Research Approach.” Democratizing Education Epistemologies.

Peter Lang, New York, pp. 51-97.

Whitlock-Colmenero, Shelli. “Personal Interview.” 10 October 2016.

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Appendices

Appendix A

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Appendix B

The Pilot Project

Positions Needed:

Swim Instructor, Lifeguard, and Camp Staff

Intended Audience:

High school students (Rancho Cotate High School mainly), College students (Sonoma State

University + Santa Rosa Junior College), and education majors at SSU.

Media used to Promote:

1. Paper/Print

Purpose: Use paper to inform the public about the position and encourage them to

apply.

Examples of Print:

Brochure about the positions (send via mail and place at colleges + high school)

Example:

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Flyers (post on-site at SSU, SRJC, and Rancho)

Example 1: *audience—Education Majors*

Example 2: *Audience--High School Students*

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2. Social Media

Purpose: Use social media to engage with public and demonstrate identity/culture of

the staff. Also use it to inform and encourage people to apply.

Example:

Examples of sites

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a. Twitter—Post the flyers & use the hashtag

b. Instagram—Post pictures from last summer with a short caption, i.e., “Join the

team and make a difference” + use the hashtag

c. Facebook—Post the flyers

In addition to posting flyers on Twitter and FB, we can consistently post about

information about the job, where to find the application, etc. Pictures of last year’s staff

can also be posted to remind viewers that we are hiring, which will also advocate the type

of vibe we are looking for with our staff.

Instagram can be used for mainly pictures, which will advocate culture of our

staff/department; caption will reiterate the message that we are hiring PT staff.

Hashtag: #RPFriendlySummer OR #RPCSummer17

3. In-person Promotion (at career fairs)

Purpose: Give information to people interested in the position, promote the

position, make connections, collect resumes, and advocate the culture of our

workplace. Also pass out flyers and brochures at career fair.

Examples of career fairs

a. SSU--School of Education Career Fair

Date: April 7, 2017

Time: 1-4p (check in 11-1)

Cost: $150.00

Reg. due date: Mid Jan

http://www.sonoma.edu/education/jobfair/employers.html

a. SSU—Career Fair

Date: March 1, 2017

Time: 11am-4pm

Reg. due date: N/A

Cost: $350.00

https://www.regonline.com/registration/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1900404

b. SRJC—Career Expo (Main Campus)

Date: April 26, 2017

Time: 10am-1:30

Registration: Must email jmead2@santarosa.edu (Jill Mead—coordinator) to be

placed on invitation list

Due Date: N/A

https://careerdevelopmentservices.santarosa.edu/career-expo-information-

employers

For further research:

After the interview process/collect applications I recommend that the city creates a survey to ask

how each candidate heard about the position: did they find out about it via social media, flyers,

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word of mouth, etc. The data collected will help us understand how to modify the job search in

the future.

Timeline of Achieving the Plan

Timeline:

Media Targeted Audience via/sent by Date to be Sent

Brochures HS students In RP Mail Week of 1/23/2017

SM Flyers HS/College/Parents Twitter + FB 1/23-4/3/17

SM Posts HS/College/Parents Twitter + FB+ Insta 1/23-4/3/17

Printed Flyers HS/College Post on-site Week of 1/23/17

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Appendix C

Overview of daily Aquatics Summer Schedule, 2016

The following is an example of Honeybee Pool’s summer schedule from 2016. The below

schedule is what was promised to the residents of Rohnert Park. However, as pointed out in the

write-up, much of the programming had to be cancelled, such as classes during the evening and

morning swim school times. Also, since management did not have many lifeguards on staff to

work during the public swim times, they reached “maximum capacity” almost on a daily basis.

In other words, since Red Cross standards states that one lifeguard can only watch 25 swimmers

at a time, if the department only had 2 lifeguards working for public swim, they would have to

close the facility after allowing in 50 participants. It should be noted that in previous summers,

there were usually 100+ swimmers per day. Therefore, the following schedule demonstrates the

ideal numbers of employees needed per shift, although these numbers were rarely met on a daily

basis last summer.

Please note: Benicia Pool’s summer schedule looks similarly to the following example, but not

as extensive. For example, there is no morning lap swim at that facility. In addition, Magnolia

Pool’s schedule does not include morning lap swim or morning swim lessons.

Morning Lap Swim

5:30-8:00AM

2 lifeguards needed

Morning Swim Lessons

8:00-11:45AM

2 lifeguards needed

7-8 instructors needed

1 customer service representative needed

Noon Lap Swim

11:45AM-1:15PM

2 lifeguards needed

Public Lap Swim

1:15-4:30PM

4-7 lifeguards needed

1 customer service representative needed

Evening Swim Lessons

4:30-6:45PM

2 lifeguards needed

7-10 instructors needed

1 customer service representative needed

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Swim Team

6:45-8:45

2 lifeguards needed