To Increase Enrollment, Retention & Donations. What is a social network? What do I need to know about social networking? How can it increase enrollment?

USING SOCIAL NETWORKINGTo Increase Enrollment, Retention & Donations

OVERVIEW

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?

What is a social network?

WHAT IS A SOCIAL NETWORK?

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

http://www.facebook.com/

SOME TOOLS:

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

What do I need to know?

WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?

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.

Respond to site advertisements

Find someone to date

Communicate with instructors about course-related topics

Other

For professional activities (job networking, etc.)

As a forum to express my opinions and views

Make new friends I have never met in person

Participate in special-interest groups

Plan or invite people to events

Communicate with classmates about course-related topics

Find out more about people (I may or may not have met)

Share photos, music, videos or other work

Stay in touch with friends

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

How SNS Are Used


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 18-19 20-24 25-29 30+ All Users

Facebook 95.5% 92.9% 60.6% 44.9% 89.3%

MySpace 44.0% 45.1% 79.5% 73.2% 48.3%

Other 8.2% 7.8% 13.7% 17.6% 8.9%

Yahoo! 360 2.3% 7.8% 13.7% 17.6% 8.9%

LinkedIn 0.4% 3.1% 5.0% 9.7% 2.5%

Friendster 0.9% 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.

How can it increase enrollment?

HOW CAN IT INCREASE ENROLLMENT?

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.

How can it benefit student retention?

HOW CAN IT BENEFIT STUDENT RETENTION?

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

HOW CAN IT BENEFIT STUDENT RETENTION?

How can it increase donations and benefit alumni development?

WHAT ABOUT ALUMNI DEVELOPMENT?

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


How to Be Successful

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

Top Ten Sites

1. Facebook

2. Twitter

3. LinkedIn

4. Friendfeed

5. YouTube

6. StumbleUpon

7. GoogleReader

8. Social Median

9. Digg

10. MyBlogLog

11. Scholar360

USING SOCIAL NETWORKINGTo Increase Enrollment, Retention & Donations

Documents

To Increase Enrollment, Retention & Donations. What is a social network? What do I need to know about social networking? How can it increase enrollment?