Student Engagement – What Universities Must Know And Do

By Author: Engage2serve
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Delivering quality education to students is a challenge for almost all education institutions worldwide, owing to uninspiring par student retention strategy and techniques. The Huffington Post reports that nearly 30% of students drop out of universities in Latin America. The student attrition rate varies for each university, but a prime reason for dropouts in 90% of universities is the lack of student engagement and related initiatives.

What universities must know to increase student engagement
Universities must realize that student needs and behaviors have changed over the years, and they look for advanced communication channels to engage with universities and staff. And, only those universities that understand the needs of the new generation of students can survive today. Before getting started with improving student engagement, let’s understand what student engagement is all about.

What is student engagement?
One of the first steps in student engagement is for a student to be able to communicate with the university staff and with other students without any difficulty. A seamless communication will ...
... ensure quick conversations between a student and university staff, improving the student trust and engagement with the university. It is only possible to create an engaged student population if the opportunity to responsively act is taken seriously by the university staff. They must be super-responsive to any issue or concern raised by a student, and act decisively and quickly. This will be a measure of how student engagement is taken seriously by the campus staff. There should also be sufficient channels for the student to self-serve for common issues and questions, without having to approach anyone on the campus. Students also enjoy peer networking and learning from each other on campus. University should create enough opportunities for the students to engage through student communities and forums.

What universities must do to increase student engagement on campus
To enhance student engagement, universities must rethink their digital strategy and invest in advanced solutions. Unfortunately, many universities still hold on to legacy systems and tools; because of that engaging students is becoming a nightmare, contributing to higher attrition rates. Realizing this, innovative institutions implement a broad scope of digital technologies and solutions to boost student engagement and retention. Of the many, one of the ways top universities deploy to engage students within the campus is through innovative mobile applications for students, giving students access to all the resources they need to succeed in their education journey.

Driving student success with a mobile app
Many universities in the US and worldwide have started deploying mobile apps due to the whopping rise of smartphones and tablets. It is common knowledge that the millennial and Gen-Z students rely totally on mobile devices to interact and communicate, and trying to engage them without a mobile app will only lead to lost opportunities. A mobile helps universities in 3 ways.
Increases marketing performance and enrollments
Improves student-staff-campus relationship
Enhances the brand equity of the university.
Below are some of the other reasons why universities across the globe are widely considering the use of mobile apps or have already launched them to increase student engagement.

Key advantages of student engagement app for higher education
Students can ask questions, anytime, anywhere
Staff can respond to queries immediately
A FAQ knowledgebase would lead to student self-service
Centralized notes, communication history, and documents
Automated administration operations
Quick access to 360-degree student information
Highly targeted persona-based communication
Communities and forums for student exchange
Cost-effective because less staff to be student-facing
Events for students managed effectively
Badges and kudos delivered to students swiftly
Class schedule and appointments with staff using mobile
Improved engagement, trust, and retention rates
Innovative education institutions have already started to add mobile applications as part of their engagement strategy to help them attract, engage, involve and retain students better. According to different reports, institutions are investing in mobile applications because they understand that today’s students spend most of their time on smart devices, and addressing their needs through these devices will enhance the relationship with the students. Starting right from enrollment to retention the mobile apps can impact the engagement at each phase of the student journey. By providing fantastic engagement to students via mobile apps, universities can retain students and turn them into brand ambassadors for them