To Increase Enrollment, Retention & Donations

 What is a social network?  What do I need to know about social networking?  How can it increase enrollment?  How can it benefit student retention?  How can it increase donation and benefit alumni development?

 You may have heard of the most recent phenomenon called social networks. MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn and many other social networks have taken the world by storm – almost 300 million belong to MySpace and Facebook alone. (Both sites currently receive 100 million new visitors each year.)

 Social networks enable people to connect to each other through the Internet from anywhere, discuss anything, and network for any reason.

Academic Institutions can also take advantage of this phenomenon to better connect students, faculty and administrators even if they are located on different continents.

A secure social network within the larger framework of a learning management system (Scholar360, Blackboard, Moodle, etc.) can create webs of relationships that link your students based on shared interests. Conversations can emerge from these connections that result in increased collaboration and tailored educational experiences.

“Just in the span of my four college years, I am amazed at the difference between how my friends and I used social networking sites when I was a freshman and how everyone uses them now. We have a much higher level of maturity, and I believe our use will continue to evolve quickly.” -An undergraduate student

 Social Networks  Social Bookmarking  Collaborative Communities  Wikis  Discussion Forums  ePortfolios  Blogs  Micro-Blogs  Flat Earth Project Books

According to EduCause:  Fully 85.2% of respondents use one or more social networking sites (SNSs). The extent of SNS use has increased dramatically in the past two years.  SNS usage differs considerably by age. Almost all respondents 18 and 19 years old use SNS (95.1%), and only 37.0% of those 30 years and older do so. The majority of 18- and 19-year-olds have more than 200 SNS friends; the majority of those aged 30 and older have 25 or fewer SNS friends.

According to EduCause:  Facebook is the most commonly used SNS (89.3% of SNS users), with MySpace as second choice (48.3% of SNS users). Traditional college- age respondents (18 to 24 years old) use Facebook more than MySpace; younger respondents report spending more time than older respondents.  Half of SNS users use these sites to communicate with classmates about course–related topics; only 5.5% use them to communicate with instructors about course-related topics.

 We need to understand the fast-paced evolution and adoption of SNSs and how they are already ingrained into the daily communication practices of students  The next few years promise to be a time of much innovation, with much greater use and more varied uses for SNSs on campus  It is essential that higher education understand undergraduate SNS practices because these sites are fundamentally changing the social fabric of the university  We need to understand the widespread Facebook and (to a lesser extent) MySpace culture among undergraduates

 SNS users participate in a limited number of SNS groups (one to five) and average about an hour a day using SNSs.  SNS users keep in touch with literally hundreds of widely dispersed friends – most of whom they have already met in person  Communicating with classmates via an SNS is common; communicating with instructors via an SNS is not (yet)  Age is the most powerful predictor as to whether a respondent uses SNSs

 Fully 85.2% of respondents report using one or more SNSs. More than half (56.8%) report using SNSs daily, and another 22.7% report using them weekly or several times per week  Other demographic data collected – gender, on- campus versus off-campus residence, part-time versus full-time status, class standing, and student major – do not show meaningful differences once age is considered, and the same holds true for the institutions characteristics of Carnegie classification, institution size, and public versus private status

 Overall, about 45% of respondents in every age group actively participate in one to five groups. Younger students are more likely to participate in more than five groups, and older students are more likely to participate in no groups at all.  Low-income students are in many ways just as technologically proficient as their counterparts. 94% used the Internet, 82% go online at home and 77% had a profile on an SNS.

 From 2006 to 2008, an elapsed time of just two years, the 44 institutions that participated in all three years’ surveys had a decrease in respondents who never uses SNSs, from 25.2% to 11.2%. But the biggest change is in how many respondents now use an SNS on a daily basis, increasing from about one-third in 2006 to almost two-thirds in 2008.

SN Sites All Users Facebook95.5%92.9%60.6%44.9%89.3% MySpace44.0%45.1%79.5%73.2%48.3% Other8.2%7.8%13.7%17.6%8.9% Yahoo! %7.8%13.7%17.6%8.9% LinkedIn0.4%3.1%5.0%9.7%2.5% Friendster0.9%1.5%4.3%3.7%1.5%

The bottom line is that SNS usage has increased, and dramatically so. 44% of adult Internet users and 77% of teen Internet users predicted to visit an SNS at least once a day.

Almost half of the respondents (49.7%) have integrated SNSs into their academic life as a mechanism to communicate with classmates about course-related topics.

 Use recruiting sites such as Zinch.com and Kaarme.com to find prospective students.  Establish fan groups on SNSs to connect with prospective students and promote the school’s image (i.e. school projects, environment projects, etc.)  Publish a blog and utilize Twitter – use current students or recent graduates to provide student- centered perspective.

 Use social networks to disseminate the schools differentiators, without sounding like a sales-pitch.  Use Web 2.0 tools to provide potential students (and their parents) with a reality-style glimpse into life at the school. (But stay authentic.)  Use Second Life as a stage to answer questions, provide answers, demonstrate school objectives and community projects, etc.

 Host virtual open houses on Second Life.  Host virtual open houses via the internet.  Provide link to LMS/CMS to potential students (particularly potential online students) so they can explore their program-of-interest. (Don’t do this if the LMS is difficult to use – this could backfire.)  Encourage potential students to “meet” their program-of-interest advisors in online communities to understand their passion.

 College and university administrators consider personal attention to be the most critical factor in retaining at risk students. But what role should technology play in the effort?  While many consider technology-based interventions important to student retention, few seem to be using such solutions, and only 2 percent have any kind of early warning system in place to identify at risk students, according to Campus Technology.

 Online Advising Services  SNS Groups  Online Mentoring  Online Classes (for those who can’t attend classes on campus)  Individual Online Programs  Live Chat  Online Community Activities  Online Career Counseling

 Hundreds of college alumni associations have begun to offer their own online social networks, seeking to stake their claim on current and former students.  Colleges have tried to tap into Facebook by establishing affinity groups there, but they cannot easily mine the site for data or contact information. So, in order to embrace the social networking phenomenon themselves, many institutions have simply built their own networks.

 Social networks lend themselves to alumni development by providing a unique place for alumni to receive encouragement, share experiences, connect with former classmates and faculty, mentor current students, share resources, find answers to practical questions, network for job opportunities, receive prayer support, and more.

 Think of social networks as an interactive newsletter, database of contacts, and social club, all rolled into one location.

 By keeping alumni connected to the school and current in contact information (a difficult task otherwise), the school has a greater chance of providing timely service and support.  Bottom Line: When it’s time for alumni to make a donation, they feel the school has continued to be a major part of their life and are more willing to participate and share in the vision of the school.

 Donation Campaigns  Socializing  Alerts for Events  Career Development  Content Delivery  Publication Sales  Resource Sharing  Personal Branding  ePortfolio Access

1. Invite the right people, keep it small and private 2. View members as contributors to the school 3. Find the social glue, make it member-centric 4. Work at building the community 5. Just plain ask 6. Be genuine, encourage candor 7. Pay even more attention to what members initiate 8. Don’t squelch the negative 9. Don’t ask too much, too often 10. Keep experimenting

1. Facebook 2. Twitter 3. LinkedIn 4. Friendfeed 5. YouTube 6. StumbleUpon 7. GoogleReader 8. Social Median 9. Digg 10. MyBlogLog 11. Scholar360

To Increase Enrollment, Retention & Donations