Helix Education's 8 Steps to Cultivating Superior Engagement and Experiences for Online Students

Table of ContentsIntroduction: A Firm Foundation of Coaching

Step 1: Develop a Multipoint Communication Strategy

Step 2: Make it Social

Step 3: Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

Step 4: Create Unique Experiences

Step 5: Serve Critical Needs

Step 6: Embrace and Expand Support Systems

Step 7: Get Alumni Involved with a 360° Experience

Step 8: Mobilize All Key Players

Conclusion

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Introduction:A Firm Foundation of CoachingWhile student engagement and experience have always been critical to your institution’s success, they take on added meaning in the midst of a global crisis. So, how can you continue to foster exceptional relationships with students while doing so almost exclusively online?

At Helix Education, we’ve spent decades perfecting our approach to doing just that. In this guide, you’ll discover both time-tested approaches and promising new techniques. Our goal? To provide you with a jumping-off point for a strategy that works for your institution.

However, whatever course you ultimately take must be built on a firm foundation of coaching in order for it to sustain success.

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Whether you’re a recruiter addressing a student’s concerns, an academic advisor crafting a tutoring plan, or any other student-facing role, employing the RISE Method can help you and those you interact with to successfully navigate through their experience:

• Rapport. Establish meaningful relationships with students by finding common ground, making and keeping commitments (while expecting the same of them), and showing genuine, empathic care.

• Inquire. Creating authentic rapport with students makes it easier to get meaningful answers to your questions. It’s also vital that those questions are efficient, open-ended, and intentional—and that you recap a student’s answers to ensure you’re on the same page.

• Sell + Support. You may need to “sell” a student on a particular solution, or even on remaining at your institution altogether. While this may come more naturally to some than others, one constant that should give you confidence is that YOU are the expert in your field—including the features and benefits your students can take advantage of. The more effectively you’ve communicated in the Rapport and Inquire stages, the more your students will trust you.

• Empower. Even the most perfectly planned solution will fall apart if students don’t feel like they can achieve it. So, take time to ensure students have a clear vision of not only their next step but the entire process/timeline for the solution—and that you will be their biggest cheerleader along the way.

As you read through the rest of this guide, consider how applying this RISE Method can strengthen your institution—and, more importantly, your students—in the eight ways we’ve laid out. We wish you all the best in your continued transition. Stay safe!

Introduction:A Firm Foundation of Coaching

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Step 1:Develop a Multipoint Communication StrategyDesigning a proactive, persistent, and personalized approach to student communication has never been more important. But what does that actually mean?

Proactive Research shows that immediate contact with a prospective student is pivotal in helping them start their path toward enrolling and starting at your institution. If you’re not calling your new inquiries within minutes of acquiring them, you’d better start. Once you connect with them, be sure to ask for the best times and methods to remain in contact so that you can be...

Persistent As you learn students’ communication preferences, segment them together based on those preferences: evening contacts, email nurturing, text check-ins—the possibilities are endless. Of course, there are some inquiries where you’ll need to do a little bit of everything to get them to engage with you: phone calls, emails, social media, even postcards! And don’t underestimate the value of text messages—after all, they have a 99% open rate. Of course, you’re more likely to keep students engaged with you when your communications are…

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Step 1:Develop a Multipoint Communication StrategyPersonalized Message personalization provides an opportunity to connect with your prospects on a deeper level and help nurture them through the enrollment funnel. By identifying certain indicators such as employment status, family size, income, and program interests for each prospect, you can tailor communications with information that addresses their personal realities. Two critical ways to personalize your communications are:

• Stage-Based: No matter where a student is on their journey, there’s a specific action they can take. Stage-based nurturing campaigns with calls to action that respond not to a fixed calendar but to a prospect’s enrollment status make it more likely that they keep moving through your funnel.

• Obstacle-Based: There’s an increased likelihood that students are juggling other major life roles while they consider and attend college. So, whether they’re concerned about financial aid, time management, child care, technical help, or something else, make sure you capture these obstacles in their first contact conversation, so that your entire team can utilize this data to personalize your communication strategy throughout the student’s journey.

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Step 2:Make it SocialThe savviest institutions are putting more and more marketing dollars into social media each year. Not because they’re looking to increase the chances of creating that game-changing meme, but rather because of the advanced audience-targeting capabilities many social networks provide.

But sponsored posts should only be a portion of your social media engagement. Deepening your connections with students through social media must also include organic efforts that encourage and reward involvement. Consider how your institution could leverage and adapt these strategies to engage with your students:

• Marquette University created a “Father Marquette” social persona on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat to interact with current and future students in a “friendly, goofy, grandfatherly” way.

• After careful consideration and research, Indiana University has developed a winning TikTok strategy to better meet future students on this rapidly growing platform.

• Skidmore College launched its This Is Skidmore podcast to tell engaging stories about the Skidmore experience and spotlight high-achieving faculty and students.

One last pillar of a successful social media strategy? Generating alumni and current student referrals—a highly effective form of advertising. So, find ways to incentivize students to refer their friends and family to your institution.

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Step 3: Proper Preparation Prevents Poor PerformanceWhether students are entering college for the first time or returning after years away, successfully acclimating them to student life is doubly important when they can’t come to campus. A well-structured, virtual New Student Orientation (NSO) experience can still cultivate connections and confidence that persist no matter how students attend class.

Use this five-question checklist to evaluate your online NSO program and identify where you can improve.

Do we present our institution’s history, mission, and values in such a way that they motivate students to be an active part of our community?

Do we effectively introduce our learning management system (LMS) and other technologies that students will frequently use?

Do our students know how to access key support services online, and where to turn if they can’t find what they need?

Do we leave students with a firm understanding of key institutional policies such as academic integrity and personal code of conduct, particularly how they apply to online interactions?

Does the scheduling of our NSO provide students adequate time to tie up any loose ends regarding registration, financial aid, and other matters before the first day of class?

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Step 3: Proper Preparation Prevents Poor PerformanceYou may also consider an introductory or “gateway” course that allows students to familiarize themselves with learning online—not to mention college-level learning in general—while still receiving credit. This course would be offered at every start point in the academic calendar and could cover such topics as:

• Professional development and career planning

• Time management

• LMS and other educational technology training

• Research strategies and resources

• Personal development through exploration of learning styles, personality preferences, and goal planning

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Step 4: Create Unique ExperiencesThere’s nothing quite like college life...but how can you replicate it online? And do it in such a way that students still feel school pride—and even a little FOMO (fear of missing out) on meaningful events? Consider the following examples of schools across the country leveraging multiple online tools to create can’t-miss experiences:

• California State University, Dominguez Hills has “gamified” its support services by rewarding prizes to students who learn about and utilize various institutional resources.

• A pilot program by Berkeley College testing the use of virtual reality to immerse students in a variety of learning experiences resulted in 79% of students saying they felt more engaged with their curriculum.

• Going beyond virtual office hours, UC-Irvine faculty make a concerted effort to personalize their interactions with individual online students, like videos with dog introductions or backyard tours.

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Step 5: Serve Critical NeedsThe COVID-19 outbreak is one of those rare events that has truly impacted everyone in some way—with many groups hit particularly hard. Colleges and universities play a vital role in providing those impacted with hope for a brighter future and a pathway to get there. This is especially true of low-income and disadvantaged students, along with those who have contracted COVID-19 or are caring for someone else who has.

One particularly effective model to empower students to overcome obstacles is F.E.E.D. This process allows both you and the student to view the problem objectively and make a decision considering all of the options on the table:

• Facts. Discover as many factual details as possible about a student’s situation and summarize your understanding.

• Explore. Based on the facts, work with the student to explore multiple possible solutions to their concerns.

• Evaluate. Once you have drafted all possible options, evaluate them with the student to determine which one is most helpful and feasible for the student.

• Decide. Confirm the solution the student will move forward with and how you will support them.

One final thought: The online transition may accentuate certain students’ disabilities. Make sure you have adequate staffing to serve a higher and/or more complex population of ADA students.

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Step 6: Embrace and Expand Support SystemsThere are countless other needs that students will have during their program—and coaches can’t necessarily handle them all. Don’t let doubt about meeting needs online creep into a student’s mind.

The quickest way to instill confidence in your students is for them to have consistently supportive conversations at every turn. Your coaches should feel confident that they can work collaboratively with and refer students out to the appropriate specialized resource. These resources should include, but are not limited to:

Tech Support. For those that are having technical difficulties as a result of being 100% online, how can your team support with walkthrough and FAQ resources, as well as live help with appropriate hours of operation?

Tutoring. What extra resources can your team provide specific to course requirements as they assist learners that may struggle in an online environment?

Career Services. How have students’ post-graduation plans been impacted by COVID-19? What information can your career services team provide relative to opportunities, unemployment and relief related to their specific

Here’s another consideration: If you don’t already have a robust intranet that offers students easy access to these and other support resources—such as writing and math centers, library services, health and wellness amenities, and others—now’s the time to create one.

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Step 7: Get Alumni Involved with a 360° ExperienceWe’ve focused a lot of time and energy on current and future students so far, but alumni can also play an important role in this transition. This goes beyond asking for donations—it’s encouraging alumni to give back to current students through:

• Networking. Graduates can introduce current students to others in their inner circle who can provide ways to enhance their learning or simply have others to lean on for advice.

• Online Familiarity. Recent graduates are more likely to have completed at least part of their degree online. Encourage them to share their perspective with current students who need additional help adjusting.

• School Spirit. Just because the learning format changes doesn’t mean an institution’s soul has to, too. Alumni can add their voice to yours regarding what makes your school worth being connected to, even if only virtually.

One other avenue worth pursuing: Now may be an ideal time for recently completed undergrads to return for their graduate work. If you haven’t already, develop a nurturing strategy that encourages them to choose you again.

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Step 8: Mobilize All Key PlayersNo one person can achieve all of this on their own. Every administrator, faculty member, and staffer is a key player in the short- and long-term success of this transition.

So, how can you tighten up your processes and rally everyone behind this cause? Start with this evaluation of your “student-first” approach:

Do we really understand who our students are and what they need? If not, how can we gain that understanding as soon as possible through our first-contact coaching scripts?

Have we really thought about the students we’re trying to serve, and how do we adjust our operations to best align with the needs of these students?

Are we providing our students with the best service we can to ensure they are successful and able to persist and graduate within the desired timeline?

What do our students need, in addition to what we are providing, to stay engaged and successful with our institution?

(Don’t forget the students themselves in this evaluation! They should have a say in how each department is doing.)

Based on this evaluation, goals can be set and plans established to achieve them. Make sure those goals are SMART! (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely)

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ConclusionLet’s be clear. You can do all of this on your own...if you have the budget, the runway, the collective team experience, and the buy-in to run with these strategies. But sometimes, there’s the right time for the right partner to help you get there. Helix Education provides colleges and universities a comprehensive suite of technology and services to cultivate superior engagement and experiences for online students. If you feel your institution would benefit from partnering with us, let us know!

Contact: Carly Pace Strategic Partnerships801.651.2544 newfutureinfo@helixeducation.com

© Helix Education - 2020