Facebook pilot Engaging incoming UWA students

Dr Lisa Cluett

W2C Forum. 15th July 2009

The page

• fan page

• range of features

• open permissions

• ‘easy’ admin

• f2f promotion

Background and justification

• Start relationship-building earlier

• Create a sense of belonging

• Add a ‘layer’ to existing programs and web services

• Refer students to appropriate and relevant information

• ‘professional autonomy vs. command and control!”

Careers, Counselling, StudySmarter, UniSkills,

UniMentor, UniStart, UniDiscovery, UniAccess, Chaplains, Housing, Student

Finance

Student ServicesC.E.L.T.

Medical Centre

Student Support Services

SIMS

Admissions

Administration

UWA Childcare

Student ServicesC.E.L.T.

Medical Centre

Student Support Services

SIMS

Admissions

Administration

UWA Childcare

Support

• Documents for staff and students

• Tracking best-practice examples

• Providing scaffolding and advice

WebOffice Legal Services ITS policy

Accessibility Dir. Student Services

Mgr. Student Support

‘Student Services Emerging Technology Advisory Group’

Content

• Options for fans to post wall messages, photos, video, links etc

• Feeds of existing content – RSS of UWA events calendars, Student Services Flickr and YouTube content

• Links to Facebook groups (UniSkills, ASPIRE)

• Admin monitoring, commenting, posting etc

• Finding a balance!

Benefits and risks

• Early pathway and referral

• Capture ‘intangibles’

• Provide ‘real-time’ encouragement, advice, contact, information etc

• Be present in students’ pre-question phase

• Personal connections

• Unwanted content

• Staff workload issues

• Unintentional exclusion

• Escalating complaints

• …the unknown

Evaluation

• Built-in ‘Insights’ function for page admins

– How users are interacting– How engaging the content is– Comparison to other pages – Fans over time– Location and language of fans– Exportable results

• Range of performance indicators

• May use Facebook ‘polls’

Questions?

Facebook pilot Engaging incoming UWA students