Abstract

This qualitative exploratory study looks into motivators of engagement of students in college related events at RIT Croatia’s Dubrovnik campus and how students perceive their sense of belonging to RIT Croatia. Furthermore, this study tries to identify the impact of RIT Croatia’s communication channels on the level of engagement in college related events. The data for this study was gained through conducting in-depth, in person interviews with eight randomly sampled sophomore and junior year students of the International Hospitality and Service Management program, with equal representation of males and females per year level.

The findings of this study indicate that students are motivated to attend college related events by a relaxed and positive atmosphere, and for the purpose of socializing and creating relationships with their peers and professors, followed by getting long lasting benefits from networking with business representatives and Alumni. Choosing to attend the events is greatly impacted by the “crowd mentality”, students’ personalities, quality and diversity of the offer, and clearly conveyed messages of “what’s in it for me”. When it comes to promoting college related events and increasing level of engagement, the currently used RIT Croatia communication channels are not reaching out to students in a satisfactory manner, and there is a need for adapting the communication to the demands of Generation Z members.

Publication Date

7-15-2017

Document Type

Master's Project

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Service Leadership and Innovation (MS)

Department, Program, or Center

Department of Service Systems (CET)

Advisor

Jennifer Matic

Campus

RIT Croatia

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