Understanding Today's Incoming Traditional Student

1 Confidential © InsideTrack

Understanding today’s incoming traditional student

A webinar for InsideTrack partners

Confidential © InsideTrack


InsideTrack has already coached thousands of this year’s prospective and incoming students

Through multiple yield coaching partnerships, we’ve been getting to know next year’s class since as early as January We wanted to share our insights and ideas with our partners to help you engage and support your incoming freshmen for long term success



Our Panelists

Ann Werbach Kristin Gurrola

Andrea McFaddin Catherine Parkay, Moderator


Our Moderator

Catherine Parkay oversees InsideTrack’s research and thought leadership agenda with higher education luminaries and industry partners. Catherine was previously responsible for Program Development at InsideTrack advising institutions in designing student support programs to improve enrollment, retention, and graduation, and managing those programs as a Campus Director for numerous universities. Additionally, Catherine spent several years working directly with students as an InsideTrack Master Coach. She volunteers her time and expertise as a mentor to first-generation students and as President of the Junior League of Portland, OR. Prior to InsideTrack, Catherine was Assistant Director of Enrollment Management at Washington State University where she holds a B.A. from the Honors College in Anthropology and English.

Catherine Parkay Research Programs Director InsideTrack


Our Panelists

Before coming to InsideTrack, Andrea utilized her degree in political science to work for a political action club. While she loved the people she worked with, she quickly found that she didn’t enjoy the “politics” of politics and wanted a job where she felt like she could make a difference, have purpose, and enjoy coming to work each day. InsideTrack was a perfect fit. Andrea joined InsideTrack in 2008 and has served in a variety of roles, including both enrollment and retention management. Andrea brings a unique perspective to the company as she was coached as a student throughout her 4 years of college. She tries to bring her personal style of balancing professionalism and fun in working with students and her teams.

Andrea McFaddin Campus Director InsideTrack


Our Panelists

Ann got her BA in Sociology and Anthropology from DePauw University in Indiana and has worked in Education Management for the past 10 years. She worked for SCORE! Educational Centers in Chicago and InsideTrack in Portland. She came to InsideTrack in 2008 and has spent her time both coaching and managing teams from a variety of institutions for both prospective and enrolled student populations. She enjoys spending her free time traveling, outdoors, hiking, playing with her puppy, camping, mountain climbing and has climbed and reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Hood.

Ann Werbach Campus Director InsideTrack


Our Panelists

Kristin Gurrola is an InsideTrack Campus Director and has managed several different campuses within the traditional segment. Kristin has experience in both coaching and managing enrolled student coaching and prospective student (yield) coaching programs. Kristin believes in the power of coaching and values her experience working with traditional aged students. She strives to build strong coaches and coaching teams that will bring positive change for students and their universities. Prior to joining InsideTrack over 5 years ago, Kristin was the Associate Director of the Center for Academic Service Learning and Research and adjunct faculty member in the Leadership Studies program at Azusa Pacific University. Kristin earned her Bachelor’s from Pepperdine University and a Masters in Education in College Student Affairs from Azusa Pacific University.

Kristin Gurrola Campus Director InsideTrack


Today’s incoming freshmen

•  Digital natives who multitask across 5 screens

•  Short attention spans •  Multi-generational households and

“boomerang” older siblings •  Practical, entrepreneurial, and civic

minded •  FOMO (fear of missing out)

“With GPS, they have never needed directions to get someplace, just an address.”

•  More likely to come from interracial or Spanish speaking families

•  Comfortable with online learning •  Communicate with images •  All about connection •  Beloit Mindset list for the class of 2017



They are different than Millenials in some important ways

“A small but growing revolution of kids who think about their education differently.”



Recognize the context of your communication

Information overload is not communication

Well timed, “snack sized” communication will be most effective



Tailor communication to keep them on track

•  Leverage technology to give students control over communication recognize preferences may change throughout the year

•  Simplify, simplify, simplify! Limit the amount of information on a page, streamline wherever possible, provide checklists, and make processes consistent and next steps easy to find

Improve student satisfaction, engagement, and responsiveness to important messages


Digital natives are accustomed to a personalized experience with 24/7 support

Empower staff to see a student situation through to resolution Provide options for self-directed learners to find answers on their own Create online self-service resources backed by live people and brick and mortar offices Students see your use of technology and customer service as a reflection of the quality and sophistication of the education you will provide them

“Customer service” is not about lowering the bar, it’s about making sure students perceive value



Factors that may influence their expectations and behavior

•  Student demographics and family experience

•  Institution type and proximity to campus

Students with a financial need of >$10k must have a conversation about their plan to pay for school

•  Regional considerations •  Double depositing or plans to transfer •  Financial gap



Don’t forget the parents!

•  Gen Z respects their elders and values input from their parents, guardians, and grandparents

•  Tailor communication for parents too and understand who wants to be involved and to what degree

•  Spell it out, avoid abbreviations or student-centric terminology •  Give parents a checklist of next steps

Parents want and expect to be included and are major influencers when it comes to assessing a school’s value



Contact

To learn more about adapting to the needs of Gen Z, contact [email protected] This webinar was originally provided exclusively to InsideTrack partners to help them prepare for the 2014 incoming freshman class. A recording is now available for on-demand viewing from our website. Please visit http://www.insidetrack.com/webinars to download.

About InsideTrack Society thrives when students succeed. Since 2001, InsideTrack has used a proven combination of coaching, analytics, consulting and technology to unlock potential in millions of students and the institutions they attend. We invite you to join the leading colleges, universities, foundations and others working with us to enhance the transformative power of higher education. Please visit us at www.insidetrack.com and follow us on Twitter @InsideTrack.


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insidetrack.com [email protected]