Regional poll tests Rice recognition

By Jocelyn Wright     4/10/08 7:00pm

Students from outside of Texas may not be surprised to learn that about half of the professionals from the East and West Coasts have heard of Rice, according to a recent market survey by the Office of Public Affairs. The survey, which Vice President for Public Affairs Linda Thrane said is the first to ask about Rice's recognition, polled 800 people and found Rice to be best-known in Texas, with awareness dropping along the East and West Coasts. Thrane said the survey found that among those who recognized Rice, the majority had a favorable impression of the university. The majority of those surveyed surprisingly did not have a negative view of Houston, Thrane said. The Office of Public Affairs conducted a phone poll of 800 opinion leaders -- affluent people over 35 who are active in their communities - in Houston, greater Texas, New York, Washington D.C., Miami, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Participants were asked about their familiarity with Rice, what attributes they associated with the university, whether they had heard or read about Rice in the news, whether they had a personal connection with Rice and whether they had visited Houston. Thrane said the survey was intended as a benchmark for future surveys on Rice's reputation as part of President David Leebron's Vision for the Second Century.

The Office of Public Affairs shared the results of the survey with Leebron, the Board of Trustees Committee on Public Affairs, the Communicator's Forum and the Administrator's Forum. The results also appeared briefly on the Rice News Web site, although Thrane said she had the article removed because she was worried the article might be misleading.

"People easily misunderstand polls," Thrane said. "It's more for us internally to help measure progress."

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Thrane said the small sample size left room for error in the survey and that the results were not conclusive. She said this survey marks the beginning of future, more large-scale surveys.

"We were dipping our toes in the water," Thrane said. "It's a broad general market survey."

Director of Marketing Elisa Fink said the Office of Public Affairs chose to survey opinion leaders because they were thought to have the most influence.

"They are active in their community," Fink said. "We wanted to target a group that will be talking to people."

Thrane said the selection of cities surveyed was based on discussions with people around Rice. She said she would like to look at more cities, including some in the Midwest, in the future.

Thrane said the survey found no entrenched negative views about Rice, and people feel it is a quality institution for research and education.

Almost 90 percent of the 300 Texans surveyed were familiar with Rice. Thrane said these numbers dropped considerably on the East Coast, with 60 percent of the 250 participants from New York, Washington D.C. and Miami being familiar with Rice. She said the survey indicated that university recognition is strongly correlated with proximity to Rice. Thrane said these results were not surprising since the study was expected to affirm this.

Thrane said 80 percent of people on the East Coast who had heard of Rice had a favorable opinion of it, Thrane said. On the West Coast, 50 percent of the 250 participants were familiar with Rice, and of those people, 75 percent had a favorable opinion of it. Thrane said familiarity with Rice was highly correlated with an overwhelmingly positive view of the university.

Thrane said the only unexpected result from the survey was that Rice's location in Houston was not seen as a negative.

"Houston is not the big negative some people think it is," Thrane said. "It is a city with cultural and recreational opportunities for students. Our audience consists of people with businesses who recognize the services of a big city.

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