Sharing the Campus Culture Through Social Technology: Unifying the Academic & Extracurricular Experience for the Admitted Student

Presented by:

Laura Zuppo and Davina Gould

Agenda

Overview of Case Study: Stetson Law and Project Goals

Explain and discuss content strategy for admitted student website

Review approaches for using social technology to engage admitted students

Share examples of assessment techniques Provide tour of the site Discuss lessons learned and tools you can

use

Stetson Law

Founded in 1900; Florida’s first law school University has main campus in DeLand, FL Decentralized admissions and enrollment

functions 763 FT and 227 PT law students Enroll new students in the fall only Average age 24 for FT and low 30s for PT Culture:

Warm, collegial, active campus community Commitment to pro bono service Proud of experiential learning opportunities

Goals for Admitted Student Network

One-stop shop for all admitted student information

Engage students by sharing Stetson’s friendly campus culture through the online experience

Takeaway: Assess, address and adjust throughout the process

StetsonConnect Content Strategy

Traditional website content Campus life and academic information Financial information Forms/documents How to prepare for law school

Personalized information based on admitted student profile “Your Interests” pages

StetsonConnect Content Strategy

New student announcements Event invitations/reminders Deadlines Housing, orientation and IT information Archived announcements for students admitted later

in the cycle

Multimedia content Videos Live chat with staff Online chats and chat transcripts Blogs

Content Strategy Approaches

Integrate with post-admission recruitment plan Calendar/timeline Staff responsibilities/roles Integrate with “gap” and orientation content

Develop mind-map/outline to organize content MS Word or Office outline tools MS Visio (flowchart software) Web search for “mind map software free”

Engaging admitted students

Private social network technology Password-protected with administrator approval Personal profiles with photos and status updates Groups and discussion forums Direct messaging Email notifications

Engaging admitted students

Interaction with Stetson community Admissions professionals Select administrators, faculty

Student life, residential life, academic success Ambassadors and selected students

Student social media group

Engaging admitted students

Interaction with future classmates Entering student group Special interest groups: part-time students,

international study, veterans, intramurals “Life Off Campus” forum

Housing Activities in the community Places to eat

Assessment techniques

Quantitative Compare user statistics against final enrollment data Student satisfaction survey (multiple-choice questions)

Qualitative Student satisfaction survey (open-ended questions) Interviews and focus groups Comments from non-matriculants Comments from orientation leaders

STETSONCONNECTWALKTHROUGH

Lessons learned

Frame the conversation Streamline navigation for ease of use Designate roles Schedule announcements and content

updates Ask for feedback/perform assessments Keep audience needs in mind Broaden constituent participation Remember to keep it personal and not let

technology take over recruitment process

Tools you can use

Private social networking tools/software Groups on major social networks

Facebook, LinkedIn Open-source software

JomSocial for Joomla, BuddyPress for WordPress Third-party private social networks

Ning, SocialGo, Grou.ps Higher ed firms: Hobsons, Inigral Schools app

Participant Information

Laura Zuppo, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Student Financial Planning Zuppo@law.stetson.edu

Davina Gould, Director of Publications and Online Communications Gould@law.stetson.edu