Cora Hofstetter ’08 — Pittsburgh, Pa.

As an English major, Cora Hofstetter could easily have assumed that the 90 or so research opportunities available at The College of Wooster this summer were not meant for her. But when the Pittsburgh native heard about a project that involved working with local social service agencies to develop better ways to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs, she jumped at the chance to participate.

“I’d taken statistics in high school and liked it, so that was one reason I was interested,” she said. “Also I volunteered last year at a soup kitchen here in town and because of that experience I really wanted to help some of the non-profits in the area.”

Hofstetter and Alex Balloon, an urban studies major, worked with United Way of Wayne and Holmes Counties to evaluate the effectiveness of InfoLink, a free, confidential service offering information and referrals to a variety of social services and resources.

They analyzed a year’s worth of call logs to determine which towns were making the most use of the service and the types of information most commonly sought. They developed a new customer satisfaction survey, and administered another survey at a local senior center to test awareness of the information service.

Hofstetter and Ballon presented their findings and recommendations to United Way at a meeting in late June.

“We recommended that they gather more demographic information on each caller, and use the data they do collect more effectively to target specific populations” who would benefit from the service,” Hofstetter said.

“I was really pleased with the way our project turned out…It’s nice to think that the report might end up helping the Wooster community.”

Hofstetter’s summer research experience capped a busy first two years at The College of Wooster. In addition to her studies, she has played viola in the Wooster Symphony both years, and been active in both Hillel and Peace by Peace, a campus group focused on peacemaking. This fall, she will spend a semester in Cordoba, Spain.