PowerPoint Presentation

From Stealth Applicant to Proud Graduate: Data Driven Solutions for Enhancing the Virtual Student Experience

Good afternoon. I am delighted to be among such distinguished and accomplished colleagueshere in the beautiful city of Denverwhereas it so happensI completed my doctoral degree and began my career. (Pause) In the many years that Ive spent working in adult and distance education, I have led dozens of efforts to grow enrollment, retention and completion rates. So when Im asked how I accomplished these feats, I invariably reply that its all about creating a truly holistic and meaningful student experiencefrom the first point of contactthrough graduation and beyond. PauseTruth is, an exceptional experience not only enhances brand affinityit also promotes persistenceby adding considerable value to the academic investment. This is especially true for the busy, working adults who choose online education as a convenient path to professional advancement, as well as personal achievement. And intentional designgrounded in solid empirical datais the best way I know to inform and continuously improve a virtual experience that meets our students unique needsat every phase of the academic life cycle. PauseSo at Drexel University Online, we are developing high-tech, high-touch, data-driven solutions, intentionally designed to build a virtual student experience that is increasingly more consistent, connected, and customized. Slight pauseWe believe this experience gives us a big leg up in meeting both our strategic and our operational goals around student recruitment and enrollmentretention and completionby differentiating our university in a highly competitive online higher education market. 1

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORSKPIsALIGNEDATTAINABLEACTIONABLEACCURATE

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In developing these solutions, we always begin by identifying both the outcome we want to achieve and the key performance indicators we need to measure our success. And in choosing the right KPIs, we are careful to ensure that they not only align with our goals, but are also accurate, attainable and actionable. In other words, they are based on legitimate dataprovide a practical process and context for reliable measurementand empower us to effect the desired result. PauseOne of the challenges we all face when it comes to online student recruitment and retention is something my team calls the fitness factor.

PauseAlthough the promise of earning a degree on your own schedule, without ever leaving home, is certainly an appealing onewe also know that online education isnt a good fit for everybody... which is why students often drop out of the enrollment funnel oreven worsethe online program they have begun. To be sure, student marketing, recruitment, and enrollment teams regularly find themselves fielding questions and concerns from prospective students who arent quite sure if they are readyor even ableto take the online plunge...for any number of reasons. From personal attributes and busy lifestylesto technical know-how and academic experience. By the same token, program advisors and instructors often struggle to keep students moving, who were, in fact, not ready or able to learn online. PauseIn addressing these concerns at the front end, online education providers have developed a variety of student fitness assessments, most of which are quick checklists or quizzes. And while these assessments may be a good first stepthey are not data-driven solutions for enrolling online studentsmuch less reinforcing their potential for a successful academic experience.

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TEST DRIVETest-drive your online educationAward-winningOnline Learning ExperienceInteraction with Drexel Ambassadors

TEST DRIVETest-drive your online education

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Hosted in Blackboard, our award-winning Test Drive empowers participants to engage in a robust and authentic online learning experience. They submit practice assignmentsand take part in interactive discussion forums with Drexel Ambassadorsan ever-growing cadre of nearly 100 online faculty and staff, current students and alumni.

They also learn more about individual programs, admission requirements and support serviceswhile accessing tried and true tips and tools for online success. And they have a unique opportunity to think through their academic goals and motivationsas well as connect with other prospective Digital Dragons, who may have many of the same questions and concerns about online learning.

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I HAD CONCERNS ABOUT HOW STUDYING ONLINE WAS GOING TO BE POSSIBLE; BUT AFTER PARTICIPATING IN THE TEST DRIVE, I FEEL MORE CONFIDENT THAT IS A GOAL I CAN ACCOMPLISH. SO MUCH SO THAT I HAVE PAID MY ENROLLMENT FEE, RECEIVED MY ACCEPTANCE LETTER AND LOOK FORWARD TO REGISTERING FOR MY FIRST CLASSES. GUESS I CAN CALL MYSELF A DREXEL DRAGON!Test Drive Participant

5,500+TEST DRIVE PARTICIPANTS

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Well, I am happy to say that in two short years, we have enrolled more than fifty-five hundred Test Drive participantswith well more than half of them reporting that this course influenced them to attend Drexel. Indeed, they frequently post personal comments like this one: I had concerns about how studying online was going to be possible; but after participating in the test drive, I feel more confident that this is a goal I can accomplish. So much so that I have paid my enrollment fee, received my acceptance letter and look forward to registering for my first classes. Guess I can now call myself a Drexel dragon!

Slight pauseConsequently, the enrollment conversion rate among those who have taken part in this event is double that of those who have not.

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DREXEL DRAGON DAYSOrientation for new and returning online studentsDREXEL DRAGON DAYSOrientation for new and returning online students

4X3XWatch a videoShare and like an infographic

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In a similar vein, DUO unveiled a week-long virtual onboarding course to help newly enrolled online students get off to a good start. It is designed to provide a roadmap to the online services, systems, and technologies they must have to succeedsuch as digital library resources; virtual access to Drexels writing and career development centers; and self-service portals for tuition payment, course registration, and financial aid. On top of that, this onboarding experience provides tools and tips for a successful academic journeyincluding downloadable calendars for tracking assignmentseasy-to-use digital apps for managing precious timeand infographics with steps for getting organized to study online. And like the Test Drive, it enables new students to connect and network with their professors, advisors, and classmates...an essential step in building a dynamic learning community.

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In looking for ways to increase online student retention, we have also created a comparable virtual eventcalled Drexel Dragon Daysfor returning students to take part in at the beginning of the academic quarter. As such, it facilitates interactive discussionand provides consumable contentaround a themed topic of interestsuch as time management and digital library research work/life/school balance and career development.

PauseAs with any tool we build, these courses incorporate plenty of engaging content in various forms, based on solid data around user preferences. For example, research shows that four times as many of our student consumers would rather watch a video than read written text. By the same token, infographics are liked and shared three times more than other types of content.

Our virtual events also integrate a series of learning activities and Qualtrics surveys, designed to yield both quantitative and qualitative data around online student behaviors and preferences, motivation and experience. Not surprisingly, this information lays the groundwork for continuously improving these events, and, in turn, the virtual student experience. Equally important, it provides us with valuable data to use in developing effective marketing campaigns.

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BEING A DREXEL DRAGON MEANSBEING SUCCESSFUL. LANG RYANBS in Business Administration

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Thanks to the Test Drive, we know that prospective graduate students have significantly more experience with online learning than prospective undergraduatesand that personal satisfaction is every bit as important as professional advancement when it comes to their motivation for pursuing further education. We have also learned that work/life/school balance and tuition financing are the top two concerns of prospective studentswell ahead of academic ability or technology know-howand that convenience and flexibility are still the biggest selling points for online education. Slight pauseAt the same time, we can measure perceived self-efficacy in using the Blackboard learning management system before, during and after Test Drive participationdata we may then employ to compare ongoing academic success rates between those students who took part in this event and those who did not. And because this is an authenticated site, we can also track both the frequency and the duration with which participants log in to the courseas well as the course modules they visit most oftenall important information for continuously refining the Test Drive experience.

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digitaldragontoolkitvideosinfographicsblog postscould use orbit graphic

DIGITAL DRAGON TOOLKITDIGITAL DRAGON

VIDEOINFOGRAPHICS

BLOG POSTSTOOLKITEngaging, easily consumable contentEngaging, easily consumable content

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Equally important, we are using this data to assemble what we call our Digital Dragon Toolkitfilled with engaging and easily consumable, visual and written content like short videos, infographics, and blog posts. Designed to encourage enrollment and build retention, this content is purposely built as separate or discrete objects that can be reassembled, based on individual student needs, to promote a more customized virtual experience. It can also be deployed through multiple digital channels, including emails, web pages, virtual events, and social media platforms.

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CAREER DEVELOPMENT CENTERJust-in-time career content for online studentsCAREER DEVELOPMENT CENTERJust-in-time career content for online students

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For example, because so many of our online students are pursuing an education with professional advancement in mind, we wanted to furnish them with user-friendly, just-in-time career development. So we created a series of self-service resourcesincluding high-quality videos, blogs and infographicsthat provide a wealth of career enhancement tipsfrom resume writing and job interview tipsto professional networking and personal branding.to freelancing and telecommuting. 8

INFOGRAPHICS

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Although this content lives on our website, where students can view it on demand, according to their individual interests or needs, we have also embedded it in virtual events like the Test Drive and Drexel Dragon Dayswhile promoting it through our social media channels. PauseOf course, for all of us, self-service content is, in fact, becoming essential to successful recruitmentgiven the rapidly growing number of so-called stealth applicants in the online student marketwith figures as high as seventy percent at some institutions. PauseIts no secret that todays prospective adult students are savvy online shoppersadept at, and increasingly comfortable with, searching the web independentlyto identify and compare reputable institutions and online academic programs that meet their individual needs. And in this market, there is plenty to shop.

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PROSPECTIVE STUDENT SUPPORTApplication resources for prospective online studentsPROSPECTIVE STUDENT SUPPORTApplication resources for prospective online students

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At DUO, we are rethinking our traditional lead generation and cultivation strategies to better accommodate these stealth applicantsby investing in sophisticated search engine optimization and a mobile first websitewhile creating plenty of customizable, easy-to-navigate, self-service content that truly enhances the user experience. For example, not long ago, our enrollment counselors asked their colleagues on the marketing, communications, and virtual student experience teams to help them come up with a way to keep prospectsboth stealth and knownmoving more quickly and seamlessly through the enrollment funnel.

Slight pauseAfter looking at the datathey decided that far too many of these prospects were getting hung up at the application stage. So working together, they came up with an engaging, self-service content solutionusing short, animated videos and downloadable infographics to explain each step of the application processfrom ordering transcripts and submitting resumes...to obtaining letters of recommendation and writing personal essays.

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VIDEO

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VIDEO: Letters of Recommendation animated video. 45 seconds long.

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Whats more, in addition to featuring this content on our websitefor stealth applicants to find and usewe also incorporate it into the Test Drive, push it out on our social media channels, and embed it in emails we send to known prospects at various stages of the funnel.

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We have also found that these prospects engage well with content that captures the online experience through the eyes and words of successfuland satisfiedstudents. Consequently, we produce high-quality video and written student stories, which we post on our website and social media platforms. Here is one such compelling story about an online business student at Drexelwho is also a member of the Joffrey Ballet company.

Play video

Max Baud video. 2 minutes long.12

IM VERY PROUD TO BE A DREXEL DRAGON. ITS DEFINITELY HARD BUT ITS WORTH IT BECAUSE ITS A GREAT SCHOOL AND A GREAT PROGRAM. KENDYL DAVIDSONRN to BSN

As with our virtual events, we continuously assess our self-service contentusing a variety of methodologiesfrom Google Analytics, A/B testing and social media engagementto student surveys, interviews and focus groupsall of which generate useful data for informing and improving the virtual student experience. To begin with, we analyze content consumptionlooking at data around how many prospective students are using itthrough which channelsand with what frequency. We also measure its effectiveness among these consumers. For example, is it holding their attention beyond the initial point of contactand are they sharing it with others. Slight pause And of course, we want to know if it is prompting actionby driving prospects into and through the enrollment funnelor encouraging current students to complete their academic journey.

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Drexel University OnlineSOCIAL MEDIA

Social media has also rapidly become yet another data-driven solution for improving the virtual student experience among our Digital Dragons. PauseWhile social media is an effective marketing and communications tool in the world of higher education, it serves an equally important purpose when it comes to building affinity and community among online students, who often feel disconnected from the college campus experience. Slight pauseBecause they are learning in cyberspace, online students dont have the option of interacting and bonding with one another in on-campus settings like dorm rooms, coffee shops, and student centers. Which is why in assessing the data we gather through sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, we know that these students use social media as a place to virtually create that campus experience.

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SOCIAL MEDIA

And although Drexel University Online has long succeeded in developing a social media presence for program marketing purposes, we are now stepping up our efforts to use the social space for building community among our online students. So working with their colleagues across the university, our communications team has implemented an effective complement of engagement strategies and activitiesacross all of DUOs social media platforms. PauseFor starters, we promote university-generated content that highlights groundbreaking faculty and student research, innovation, and accomplishments. At the same time, we inspire Drexel Dragon affinity among our online students through recurrent posts around nationally trending Twitter hashtagssuch as #Monday Motivation and #Friday Followwhich are related in some way to the Drexel community. Most recently, our communications and enrollment teams joined forces around a newly trending hashtagFreeAdviceIn5Wordsto share five-word admissions tips with prospective students. And in another successful effort to drive enrollmentwe conducted a Facebook Live Q&A session, with two of our enrollment counselors on board to connect with interested students.

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ACCEPTEDONLINESTUDENTS

Likewise, our communications team collaborates across the DUO organization to launch campaigns designed to fuel engagement, through user-generated contentwhich in the social media world forms the real foundation of interactive exchange. One of our most popular such campaigns is #IGotIn. Developed some eighteen months agoit encourages virtual students to confirm their acceptance by posting pictures of themselves under the #IGotIn banner.

In just one year, weve posted more than one hundred photos of newly accepted students on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accountsusing a variety of formats from virtual albums and yearbooks, to collages and slideshows. Whats more, on Facebook alone, these campaign photos have organically reached almost fifty thousand unique site usersan important benchmark for measuring engagement. PauseWe also develop social media campaigns that enable online students to experience community-building campus traditionssuch as Homecoming Spirit Week and Veterans Dayby posting and sharing photos and commentsinspiring quotes and personal stories. And last year we ran a major campaign leading up to commencementto engage Drexels online graduates in commemorating their accomplishments from a distance.

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COMMENCEMENTIN A BOX

Because so many of these men and women cannot attend the ceremony in Philadelphia, we came up with a brilliant idea to bring commencement to themin a box no lessfilled with the basic elements they need to create their own celebrations. From a mortar board and tassel, to decals and a Drexel Dragon lapel pinwith a personal letter of congratulations from the president of our university. Slight pause

We then used our social platforms to drum up excitement for DUOs first-ever Commencement in a Box. In jumpstarting this effort, we documented the entire processfrom staging a box-packing photoshoot with our mascot, Mario the Dragonto providing sneak peeks of the boxs contents.

Once these boxes were mailed, we asked our virtual graduates to submit photos of their decorated capsa time-honored traditionas well as snapshots of and stories about their individual celebrations. And when commencement weekend rolled around in Philadelphia, we posted a running commentary through pictures and comments that captured the on-campus festivities. Slight pauseThis campaign was a big successacross all of our platforms. On Instagram aloneit not only boosted our following by twelve percentit also increased engagement by an astounding one hundred seventy-two percent during the months of May and June.

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Drexel University OnlineSOCIAL MEDIA METRICSHootsuiteBitlyUnmetric

Of course, in measuring our social media success at DUO, we collect a great deal of targeted data using a variety of tools, beginning with the native analytic trackers that are embedded in each platform. Likewise, we employ Hootsuite and Bitly to schedule posts and monitor link clicks. PauseBut our newest toolUnmetrichas proven to be a truly efficient and effective way to assess how we our doing in the big picture sense. In fact, before purchasing this analytics software, DUOs communications team spent literally hours sorting through complex spreadsheets and performing manual calculations to come up with what were only rough measurements for assessing social media engagement and reach. Slight pauseUnmetric, however, allows us to look at all five of our social media accounts at one timewhich helps inform our decisions around what content is performing best on which platform. It also furnishes precise calculations across a broad spectrum of performance factors, while automatically tracking specific campaigns and posts over timea previously grueling manual task.

And equally impressive, Unmetric allows us to compare our platforms with those of selected competitors to see how our online presence stacks up against theirs.

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FROM OUR CAMPUS TO YOURS, THANK YOU

There is no doubt that these data-driven solutions are moving us in the right direction at Drexel University Onlineby empowering us to create and continuously improve a far more holistic and meaningful virtual student experiencethat will continue to serve our university well as a strategic differentiator in an ever more competitive online education market. In fact, thus far, the student feedback has been reassuring; the analytics, affirmative; and the repository of transformative ideas among my staff, growing daily. Slight pauseAnd I hope that by sharing some of our success stories, I have provided all of you with a few replicable strategies for increasing enrollment and retention at your own institutions. It has been a privilege to be here and I thank you for having me.

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QUESTIONS?20Susan C. Aldridge, Ph.D.sca39@drexel.edu

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