Seth Odell

Admissions Live host Ashley Hennigan delivers a solo show about college admissions basics. The state of college admissions is discussed along with the admissions life cycle and what communication projects Ashley is working on.

Taken from the live broadcast, May 8, 2012.

Topics discussed during the LIVE broadcast include:

• State of College Admissions
• Access & Completion
• Fit Factors
• Marketing Communication Strategy
  … and much more

SlideShare – Admissions Fitness #edugurusummit
http://www.slideshare.net/ashleyhenn/admissions-fitness-for-edugurusummit

NACAC State of College Admissions Report
http://bit.ly/Hxb3uF

College Board Open Letter to Professionals in Admissions, Financial Aid & Counseling
http://bit.ly/Hxbk0O 

RIT Admissions Google Streetview Campus Tour
http://www.rit.edu/emcs/admissions/tour/

RIT College of Imaging Arts & Sciences Path Finder for Prospective Students
http://bit.ly/vzHJKA

Video Blog Example
http://bit.ly/Hxceuc

RIT Student-run YouTube Channel
www.youtube.com/5RITstudents

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

INIGRAL, the creators of the Schools App on Facebook. Check out their latest white paper titled “Recruiting International Students with Social Media” and learn how to how to use social media to improve international student yield and retention. Looking to engage international students with social media? Read More

SCVNGR, Admissions Live is sponsored by SCVNGR, a Google-funded mobile game about going places, doing challenges and earning points. Learn how your institution can get started with SCVNGR, as well as read case studies and interviews with some of the 400 colleges and universities who have already  used the service, at SCVNGRU.com.

ZINCH.com has conducted an intensive research study on what things influence a student’s college decision making process and what recruitment methods work best at each stage of their college search.  Zinch will be presenting at nearly 40 conferences this year.  To find out if they will be attending your conference send a tweet to @socialadmission or e-mail outreach@zinch.com.  To schedule a private presentation of their findings e-mail gil@zinch.com or tweet @gilrogers.

WELCOME TO COLLEGE, home of MARV, the Mobile Automated Research Vehicle. The company announced exciting news today that MARV will be joining forces with SmarterBank to promote the #CrushStudentDebt Sweepstakes.  One lucky winner will be awarded $25,000 to crush their student debt. Check out the latest Welcome to College blog for more details and the colleges MARV will be visiting during the month of May to promote the sweepstakes. Read More

Your institution has a YouTube channel and you’ve been uploading video for years, so now what? Who’s really watching them, and is it really making a difference?

Sharing case studies and best practices from across the industry, this hour long conversation explores the true role of web video in higher education marketing. From targeted program-specific offerings to campus tours and alumni testimonials, we explore one of the most miss-understood marketing mediums, and shed light on how to make it work for you.

Thanks to our Sponsors
OmniUpdate is the leading web content management system (CMS) provider for higher education. The company’s web CMS, OU Campus™, is secure and scalable with great tools and features, deployment flexibility, and an awesome user community. Check out their new report Communication Expectations of College-Bound HS Students.
Inigral, the creators of the Schools App on Facebook. A private Facebook community to boost enrollment and retention. Looking to engage international students with social media? New research and best practices guide here.
SCVNGR is a Google-funded mobile game about going places, doing challenges and earning points. Check out what @jensenmoore’s PR class is doing to enliven the Baton Rouge community with SCVNGR.

Mike Petroff joins Admissions Live from Emerson College. We discuss what May 1st means to enrollment professionals and what college admissions offices face after this college decision day and throughout the summer months.

Taken from the live broadcast, May 1, 2012.

Topics discussed during the LIVE broadcast include:

• Enrollment modeling
• Waitlists
• Customer Service
• Social Media
• Post-deposit Retention
• Summer Melt
• Life-cylce management

… and so much more

Facebook Page, Group and Inigral Schools App Use by Accepted Students
http://doteduguru.com/id7363-facebook-page-group-and-inigral-schools-app-use-by-accepted-students.html

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

SCVNGR, a Google-funded mobile game about going places, doing challenges and earning points. Check out the recent article from The Chronicle of Higher Education about how Dartmouth College Admissions utilizes SCVNGR for fun admissions events and tours. Read More

INIGRAL, the creators of the Schools App on Facebook. Check out their latest white paper titled “Recruiting International Students with Social Media” and learn how to how to use social media to improve international student yield and retention. Looking to engage international students with social media? Read More

ZINCH.com has conducted an intensive research study on what things influence a student’s college decision making process and what recruitment methods work best at each stage of their college search.  Zinch will be presenting at nearly 40 conferences this year.  To find out if they will be attending your conference send a tweet to @socialadmission or e-mail outreach@zinch.com.  To schedule a private presentation of their findings e-mail gil@zinch.com or tweet @gilrogers.

WELCOME TO COLLEGE, home of MARV, the Mobile Automated Research Vehicle. MARV recently attended admissions events at Case Western Reserve University & Bowling Green State University and is leaving a memorable impression on the visiting prospective students. Learn how to get MARV on your event schedule by emailing info@welcometocollege.com. Read More > See Photos

Nicole Lentine, Senior Assistant Director of Admission, joins Admissions Live from Champlain College. We discuss customer service roles and applications in college admissions, from communication challenges with prospective students, their parents and school counselors, to the tools that help you meet your communication needs.

Taken from the live broadcast, April 24, 2012.

Topics discussed during the LIVE broadcast include:

• Customer service management
• Online and on campus customer service roles
• Print guides and checklists
• Facebook applications
• Text messaging services
• Live chat

… and so much more

Champlain College’s prospective student portal on Facebook
apps.facebook.com/champlain

Champlain College is using Mongoose Research to reach student via text message
http://mongooseresearch.com/

One example of chat software provider – Absolute Live Support
http://www.xigla.com/absolutels/index.htm 

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

SCVNGR, a Google-funded mobile game about going places, doing challenges and earning points. Check out the recent article from The Chronicle of Higher Education about how Dartmouth College Admissions utilizes SCVNGR for fun admissions events and tours. Read More

INIGRAL, the creators of the Schools App on Facebook. Check out their latest white paper titled “Recruiting International Students with Social Media” and learn how to how to use social media to improve international student yield and retention. Looking to engage international students with social media? Read More

ZINCH.com has conducted an intensive research study on what things influence a student’s college decision making process and what recruitment methods work best at each stage of their college search.  Zinch will be presenting at nearly 40 conferences this year.  To find out if they will be attending your conference send a tweet to @socialadmission or e-mail outreach@zinch.com.  To schedule a private presentation of their findings e-mail gil@zinch.com or tweet @gilrogers.

WELCOME TO COLLEGE, home of MARV, the Mobile Automated Research Vehicle. MARV recently attended admissions events at Case Western Reserve University & Bowling Green State University and is leaving a memorable impression on the visiting prospective students. Learn how to get MARV on your event schedule by emailing info@welcometocollege.com. Read More > See Photos

HackEducation‘s Audrey Watters and Philipp Schmidt, co-founder of P2PU join us to discuss the ever emerging role of massive open online classes in education. Hyped by many as the torch for democratizing education, we delve into the reality of how MOOCs really work, including varying delivery models, as well as clarifying who their primary users are today.

Going way beyond such usual suspects as MITx and Stanford, we discuss scalable open courses, technology based-assessment, and ultimately what needs to be done to truly democratize education after all.

Thanks to our Sponsors
OmniUpdate is the leading web content management system (CMS) provider for higher education. The company’s web CMS, OU Campus™, is secure and scalable with great tools and features, deployment flexibility, and an awesome user community. Check out their new report Communication Expectations of College-Bound HS Students.
Inigral, the creators of the Schools App on Facebook. A private Facebook community to boost enrollment and retention. Check out @inigral’s whitepaper The Social Side of Student Retention.
SCVNGR is a Google-funded mobile game about going places, doing challenges and earning points. The Chronicle of Higher Ed recently covered how Dartmouth College admissions utilizes SCVNGR for fun admissions events & tours.

Weekly 5
Virginia’s new high school graduation requirement: One online course
Facebook Launches Groups for Schools
How Facebook’s new Groups for Schools works
.@chronicle launches a redesigned faculty salary survey. Salary data & graphics on 1,000+ colleges
The failure of one laptop per child

Wendy Livingston, Senior Assistant Dean of Admission, and Tina Coleman, Director of Creative Services, join the show from the College of William & Mary. We discuss project management in cross functional teams, from breaking down university silos to producing innovating content for prospective students, we cover tips for collaborating and more.

Taken from the live broadcast, March 27, 2012.

Topics discussed during the LIVE broadcast include:

• Evolution of Creative Services
• Collaboration
• Training
• Social Media User Groups
• Integrated Marketing Communications
• Web Governance
• Marketing Strategy
• Blogs

… and so much more

Creative Services Blog: William & Mary Creative Services
http://creativeservices.blogs.wm.edu/

Ampersandbox Articles:
W&M News: W&M’s New Admissions Viewbook Out of the Box
http://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2012/wms-new-admissions-viewbook-out-of-the-box-123.php
The Chronicle of Higher Ed: For Courting Students, Glossy Viewbooks Lose Luster
http://www.chronicle.com/article/The-Glossy-Viewbook-Loses-Its/130851/
Washington Post: William & Mary Ditches Its Traditional Viewbook
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/campus-overload/post/william-and-mary-ditches-its-traditional-viewbook/2012/01/26/gIQAGeSGeR_blog.html

SMUG:
Social Media User Group – There’s a group for that.
http://www.wm.edu/offices/creativeservices/resources/smug/

W&M Blogs:
A peek into the lives of those who learn, teach, research and work at the College.
http://blogs.wm.edu
Admission Admit It! Blog: True Confessions from W&M’s Admission Officers
http://blogs.wm.edu/author/admiss

Griffin Gossip YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAE8AEBF0E8389C58&feature=viewall

Welcome Site:
www.wm.edu/welcome

Yield Program Sites:
www.wm.edu/admission/dfas
www.wm.edu/admission/escape
www.wm.edu/admission/monroeweekend

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

INIGRAL, the creators of the Schools App on Facebook. What are you doing with post-accept communications? Check out the Inigral webinar series about how to measurably improve yield with their private social network for colleges. Read More

SCVNGR, a Google-funded mobile game about going places, doing challenges and earning points. Check out Michael Stoner’s evaluation of SCVNGR and its use at several schools in their recruitment process. Read More

WELCOME TO COLLEGE, who believe it’s all in the visit and have created web & mobile applications to help institutions measure and manage their most critical recruitment tool, the college visit. With over 15,000 ratings on the Welcome to College site, check out how your institution is stacking up. Find out more about becoming a Welcome to College school partner. Read More

ZINCH.com, the preferred destination by over 3 million students to research schools and scholarships, and to showcase themselves as more than a test score.  Over 1,000 colleges and universities around the world partner with Zinch to attract and enroll best-fit students on the largest college-search social network in the world.  To learn more about Zinch e-mail outreach@zinch.com or tweet @socialadmission.

In one of our most controversial conversations to date, Joel Goodman, web marketing manager at Trinity International University, and Brandon Croke, community manager at Inigral, join the program for a heated discussion on the state of social media in higher ed. After an exciting social media roundtable episode a few weeks ago, we’re left wondering – does the approach our industry is taking even make sense?

We breakdown the realities of our industry’s current implementation, including goals, strategy and implementation, and pose tough questions we feel have gone too long without being properly addressed.

Thanks to our Sponsors
OmniUpdate is the leading web content management system (CMS) provider for higher education. The company’s web CMS, OU Campus™, is secure and scalable with great tools and features, deployment flexibility, and an awesome user community. Check out Pepperdine’s community newsroom, powered by @omniupdate.
Inigral, the creators of the Schools App on Facebook. A private Facebook community to boost enrollment and retention. See how other schools are predicting/improving yield with @inigral’s social enrollment data.
SCVNGR is a Google-funded mobile game about going places, doing challenges and earning points. Heading to the ACPA conference? Be sure to play SCVNGR when you are there. Lots of great prizes on the line.

Weekly 5
Cal State Plans to Freeze Enrollment
Franklin Pierce U. Puts Career Office in Freshman Dorm
Have you seen the Chronicle’s new site on US college completion rates?
A Boom Time for Education Startups
Continuing the Admissions-First Approach to Mobile Conversation

Unsolicited Shout-out of the Week
Great new geo-targeted higher ed news source from Knewton

Check out the show’s backchannel for a detailed look of real-time reactions

Caitlin Fields, Nutritionist and Dietetics student at the University of Maryland, joins the show to talk with us about maintaining a healthy lifestyle during recruitment travel. From eating out to managing stress and energy levels, Caitlin will share her tips, tricks and formulas for travel wellness success.

Taken from the live broadcast, March 20, 2012.

Topics discussed during the LIVE broadcast include:

• Recruitment Travel
• Weight Gain
• 5 Tips to Boost Energy Levels*
• Snacking on the Road
• Dining Out
• Per-Diem Food Budgets
• Combatting Stress
• Staying Hydrated

*Caitlin’s 5 Tips to Boost Your Energy Levels:
#1 - Maintain a balanced diet and focus on complex foods Focus on complex foods, such as complex carbs to maintain energy that lasts throughout the day (low-fat dairy, fruits and vegetables, whole grains), lean proteins and healthy fats (nuts, seeds, PB, avocado, fish). Limit foods that are high in refined sugars or simple carbs (cookies, sodas, etc.) These will spike and crash your blood sugar, resulting in decreased energy levels.
#2 - Don’t skip breakfast (or any other meals!) Eating breakfast kick-starts your metabolism and gives your body a jolt of fuel that can set the tone for the rest of the day. Eating breakfast has been associated with an increased mood, better concentration, and high energy levels throughout the day.
#3 - Power up with power snacks (protein + fat + fiber) Some examples include peanut butter on whole grain bread, or low-fat yogurt with a handful of nuts. The carbohydrates give you a quick energy pick-me-up, the protein keeps your energy up, and the fat makes the energy last.
#4 - Find some time to exercise Just a 10 min walk can dramatically increase your energy levels. Exercise is also a great way to combat stress, which is another contributor to low energy levels. Exercise decreases stress hormones and increase endorphins, your body’s feel-good chemicals, giving your mood and energy levels a natural boost. Take a walk, hit the hotel gym, bring along a yoga DVD.
#5 - More H2O, less alcohol Dehydration can often mask itself as fatigue. Even slight dehydration can leave you feeling tired and sluggish. Alcohol is not only calorie-dense but it’s also a diuretic, so it increases your dehydration. Do your best to drink water throughout the day and limit the amount of alcohol you consume. One drink for women and two for men per day.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:
The world’s largest organization of nutrition and food professionals.
A great site to visit for any nutrition-related questions and healthy eating tips.
http://www.eatright.org

The Nutrition Source  - Harvard School of Public Health
Another great resource to nutrition information and healthy eating tips.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

INIGRAL, the creators of the Schools App on Facebook. What are you doing with post-accept communications? Check out their new social enrollment data now available from 3 schools who are using their product. Read More

SCVNGR, a Google-funded mobile game about going places, doing challenges and earning points. Check out Michael Stoner’s evaluation of SCVNGR and its use at several schools in their recruitment process. Read More

WELCOME TO COLLEGE, home of MARV, the Mobile Automated Research Vehicle. MARV recently attended his first Admissions Open House at Tusculum College in Greeneville, TN and was a huge success engaging prospective students. Contact the team at Welcome to College to get your Open House on MARV’s spring schedule by emailing info@welcometocollege.com. See Photos

ZINCH.com, the preferred destination by over 3 million students to research schools and scholarships, and to showcase themselves as more than a test score.  Over 1,000 colleges and universities around the world partner with Zinch to attract and enroll best-fit students on the largest college-search social network in the world.  To learn more about Zinch e-mail outreach@zinch.com or tweet @socialadmission.

It’s been just over a month since I penned my post Rethinking Mobile in Higher Ed: An Argument for an Admissions-First Approach. The post, which has been one of our most popular all-time, took the stance that higher ed has been missing the mark by building mobile experiences targeted specifically to the needs of those currently on campus. Pointing to recent data from an E-Expectations Trend Report on mobile, I argued that our current mobile offerings are coming at the expense of the prospective student experience.

Following the post, the conversation continued with coverage in Inside Higher Ed, collegewebeditor, and other blogs, breaking down several key points of my argument, including the true state of mobile in higher ed, who should own mobile development, and who the primary audience ultimately is.

Karine Joly, of collegewebeditor, took issue with my initial claim that the majority of current mobile offerings were failing to cater to the needs of prospectives, as outlined in the Noel-Levitz research. In a great follow up post, Karine did several hours of detailed research based on the findings of the 2012 State of Mobile in Higher Ed Survey Report, finding 35% to 60% of institutions delivered at least some of the key items prospectives are looking for. Those numbers are just a few of her new findings, all of which did a great job of highlighting that, yes, the problem of failing to address all of prospective student’s needs via mobile exists, but perhaps we are not as far off the mark as I had initially suspected.

Karine’s response post, the additional blog coverage, and some great comments to the initial post all left me wondering…

Where do we go from here? How can we continue to constructively push this conversation forward and collectively make smarter decisions about utilizing mobile technology to support institutional goals?

For starters, while recently attending the 2012 OmniUpdate User Conference in Universal City, California, I tracked down two key players involved in the initial Noel-Levitz research. In the below brief interview, Stephanie Geyer, AVP of Web Strategy Services at Noel-Levitz, and Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, shared their thoughts on the key takeaways of the survey, and what they think we need to do next.

After the conversation with Lance and Stephanie I was more convinced then ever that it’s important for us to identify tangible next steps in this important conversation around the execution of mobile in higher ed.

Breaking down such a complex issue isn’t easy, but I’ve come up with the following 4 questions I feel need to be addressed.

1) Who Should Own Mobile Development?
In my original post I hinted that the admissions office should be owning mobile development, as a strategy to ensure prospective students’ needs are addressed. Dave Olsen took issue with this point in a great response comment. Ultimately, upon further reflection, I think this is an issue that can be put to bed. Who should it be? It doesn’t really matter. It’s not about who builds it. It’s about who it is built for.

2) What Prospective-Focused Information Needs to be Available?
While many of us have previously made our best educated guesses on what content our varying audiences may want to have provided to them via mobile, I feel this question has been answered, at least for the time being. The Noel-Levitz findings outline exactly what prospective students are looking for, and as far as I’m concerned every mobile offering shipping from here on out should feature it.

3) Who is the Priority User?
Clearly mobile can cater to more than one audience, but when it comes down to the really hard decisions, who do we prioritize? From what I heard 3rd party over Twitter, in a recent presentation Dave Olsen argued that it’s the on-campus students who should be prioritized over potential future students. That’s an argument I respectively disagree with. Just like our traditional website, our mobile site needs to be able to act as a sales support tool. While the initial Noel-Levitz data showed just 2% of students thought negatively of a school that failed to offer the information they wanted via mobile, I strongly believe that number will change – and fast – and it’s more important than ever for institutions to think longterm about their mobile strategy and how it relates to institutional enrollment goals.

4) What Does an Integrated Approach Look Like?
As Stephanie Geyer points out at the end of the above embedded video, an integrated approach for multiple audiences can certainly work. But what does such an approach look like? From the data we know it likely shouldn’t be an app, but what does a solution look like that caters to everyone? This is the tough question that has yet to be answered. Can you deliver the best on-campus experience – including bus schedules, directories, maps, etc. – while also providing prospective students admissions deadlines and academic program listings? If so, how do you deliver such detailed information in a dynamic and intuitive way?

One potential solution I’ve been pondering is self-identification. It’s an approach to traditional website navigation that I’m not particularly fond of, but in a mobile environment, could it work to simply ask a visitor directly? It may not be an ideal solution, but given the drastic difference in screen size, there may need to be sacrifices in the mobile space that we don’t need to make with the desktop.

Conclusion
Clearly the conversation around mobile in higher ed is far from over. But the big question remains, where do we go from here? Did I get it right with the identification of the above key questions, or am I missing a pivotal point to the problem?

It’s clear many of us are committed to engaging in dialogue around this challenge, and I hope you utilize the below comment field, Twitter, your own blog, etc., to continue to address the issue and help us push the conversation – and our efforts – forward.

mStoner Senior Strategist Susan T. Evans joins us to talk about project management in higher education. With more than 20 years experience collaborating on and overseeing top level marketing and communications projects, Evans share tips, tricks, how to avoid the dreaded death by committee, and ultimately lays out a strategy for successful project management in higher ed.

Save yourself time now and let this hour long conversation save your hours on your next project.

Thanks to our Sponsors
OmniUpdate is the leading web content management system (CMS) provider for higher education. The company’s web CMS, OU Campus™, is secure and scalable with great tools and features, deployment flexibility, and an awesome user community. See how CSU used OmniUpdate’s OU Campus to unify 155 separate university websites.
Inigral, the creators of the Schools App on Facebook. A private Facebook community to boost enrollment and retention. Are you measuring what Matters in social media? Check out Inigral’s Social Media Measurement Guide for higher ed.
SCVNGR is a Google-funded mobile game about going places, doing challenges and earning points. See how the UCSD successfully piloted SCVNGR within their LIBRARY!

Weekly 5
The Rise of Sub-Brands in Higher Ed
Are colleges really demanding student Facebook passwords? This article says yes. We cry foul.
More than 90 schools, including Brown & Harvard ban bottled water on campus
[Study] College presidents are getting older and less diverse
Students who don’t count

Unsolicited Shout-out of the Week
Our hats are off to Chegg who awarded a struggling student with a $35,000 scholarship on The Ellen Show

Mallory Wood, marketing manager at mStoner,  joins the show for an information-packed session on the use of video in student recruitment efforts. Mallory discusses strategy, reach, production tips and more. Whether you are a one-person show or have a highly equipped marketing team this is one show re-cap you will not want to miss.

Taken from the live broadcast, March 13, 2012.
Apologies for the audio-video sync!

Topics discussed during the LIVE broadcast include:

• Targeting Millenials
• The State of Online Video
• YouTube
• Projections for Higher Ed Video
• In-house Production Tips
• Outsourcing to Service Providers
• Marketing Strategy
• Storytelling

Data & Research from ComScore
Next generation strategies for advertising to millenials
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Presentations_Whitepapers/2012/Next_Generation_Strategies_for_Advertising_to_Millennials

2012 US Digital Future in Focus Report
http://www.comscore.com/2012USDigitalFutureinFocus

January 2012 US Online Video Rankings
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2012/2/comScore_Releases_January_2012_U.S._Online_Video_Rankings

Marketing with Mallory: Blog Post
Q&A with Joe Schuberth, associate director of undergraduate marketing
http://mallorywood.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/a-new-trend-in-higher-ed-video/

Video Examples
University of Huddersfield: Aliens in the Hud
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nZJqHjr_z6Y

Central Institute of Technology in Australia: It’s a snap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Am7oKBD3PU&sns=em

University of Rochester: Remember oUR Name
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NiCbfSXoftI

Murray State Anthem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Lguh7Cf95c

City College Norwich:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAQUsGMruv8

Towson University: I Tell ‘em
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK0RiOOiTTo

Yeshiva University: The Maccabeats
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSJCSR4MuhU

Andrew Stanton: The clues to a great story
http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_stanton_the_clues_to_a_great_story.html

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

INIGRAL, the creators of the Schools App on Facebook. What are you doing with post-accept communications? Check out the Inigral webinar series about how private social networks can increase yield and retention. Read More

SCVNGR, a Google-funded mobile game about going places, doing challenges and earning points. Check the link we sent out and learn how La Roche College has incorporated SCVNGR into its visit program to help differentiate itself from other colleges. Read More

WELCOME TO COLLEGE, who believe it’s all in the visit and have created web & mobile applications to help institutions measure and manage their most critical recruitment tool, the college visit. With over 15,000 ratings on the Welcome to College site, check out how your institution is stacking up. Find out more about becoming a Welcome to College school partner. Read More

ZINCH.com, the preferred destination by over 3 million students to research schools and scholarships, and to showcase themselves as more than a test score.  Over 1,000 colleges and universities around the world partner with Zinch to attract and enroll best-fit students on the largest college-search social network in the world.  To learn more about Zinch e-mail outreach@zinch.com or tweet @socialadmission.

Andy Akins, high school counselor from upstate New York,  joins the show and reveals what the college admission process looks like through the eyes of rural students and their families. From college search to those critical moments in the final decision making process, we discuss their concerns and offer strategies to help recruit this unique population of prospective students.

Taken from the live broadcast, March 6, 2012.

Topics discussed during the LIVE broadcast include:

• Rural Student Profiles
• College Readiness
• Test Prep & Performance
• Counseling Tips
• Access
• Recruitment Trends
• Connecting & Fit

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

SCVNGR, a Google-funded mobile game about going places, doing challenges and earning points. Learn how La Roche College has incorporated SCVNGR into its visit program to help differentiate itself from other colleges. Read More

ZINCH.com, the leader in social admissions. Is your program being bombarded with applications from Chinese students? The Zinch China team will review best practices in two critical areas. First, the applications themselves — evaluating credentials, assessing extra-curricular activities and awards, and conducting interviews.  Second, – they’ll cover managing Chinese social media, while ensuring that your brand name is being protected against misuse by agents and others. Read More

WELCOME TO COLLEGE, who believe it’s all in the visit and have created web & mobile applications to help institutions measure and manage their most critical recruitment tool, the college visit. Find them on Facebook or Twitter for live updates from their journey with MARV to SXSW. Read More

INIGRAL, the creators of the Schools App on Facebook. Check out their webinar series about how private social networks can increase yield and retention. That Wednesdays at 2pm Eastern time. Be sure to sign up, if you have not done so already! Read More

A Vision for the Future by @mpstaton from @inigral.  Disclaimer, the Inigral team makes the SchoolsApp.

At #SXSWedu, I’m excited to discuss the next generation of student supports with another entrepreneur and esteemed Program Officers at the Gates Foundation.  In order to discuss how technology is evolving the way that students are supported in school, it’s important to paint a picture of what Inigral thinks the future of student support could look like.  This vision is not necessarily shared by my co-panelists

In the future, student data will be portable and will transfer from service to service (and by service I mean a site or app that meets a need), personalizing that service and reorienting the experience of education around the student.  There will be a form of open identity similar to Facebook Connect.  This will occur because standards that have been under development behind the scenes (PESC, IMS, Schema) will emerge and data interoperability will likely be more flexible.

Students will easily move data to and from state funded institutions, as well as across institutions that serve them (Parchment).  Tracking and supporting graduates through vertically aligned systems (i.e. Secondary to Postseconday) (Beyond12) will be possible, and will force conversations about more seamless curriculum alignment – through entry into the job market.

The primary user interface of a student’s education will move online and on devices.  The core way to communicate within and to a school and its support sytems will be simplified to near Twitter/Siri simplicity, reducing the probability that a student gets “lost in the system.”  Communicating with departments, offices, and individuals will be done instantly through mobile devices (SchoolsApp), and messages will be routed to those who can best help or provide customer service.  All of this will be monitored in a student response system that will mirror elite customer service systems.  Some or all of the response service will be outsourced, all driven by technology and data.

Students will have more personalized and fruitful relationships with mentors and peers, while the instructor’s role will diverge and be redefined.  Some will become system architects, able to scale instruction to thousands of concurrent students (Udemy, Udacity) as grading multiple choice and simple answer tests will all be done by computation. Simple essay structures will be scaffolded by computers and checked by humans and complex grading will be outsourced or systematized to peers and teaching assistants.  Other instructors will delegate content learning to these systems and focus their efforts on feedback that leads to mastery of complex skills and the nurturing, human relationships necessary to provide guidance and growth to students.

Courses may no longer be the unit of progress, and the end goal of competency (Western Governors University, Codecademy), excellence, and opportunities will be more clear to students who are interacting with learning objects.  Students will progress through pathways of content that are tailored to their needs and goals (MentorMob, LearningJar), and this content will be adaptive to automatically provide remediation to those who struggle and acceleration to those who show aptitude (SaplingLearning, Knewton).  This shift will move most content learning outside of the classroom, allowing for a redefinition of classwork and how this time is spent—hopefully moving towards more active forms of communication, collaboration and doing.  All of this, even traditional “courses” will be recommended and experienced based on technology and data, serving as a “pandora” of course content.

Students will be able to search for and access all sorts of supplementary materials on the web (Khan Academy) in their favorite learning modalities and with their friends.  Metadata will improve discovery (Ace Learning, Schema.org).  There will be other services in place that will provide ways to assess, measure, and possibly credential this learning in ways that can be shared with instructors and the institution.  Nearly all of this will take the form of interactive media with some social experience, and some will be games.

Instant tutoring and other forms of help on the web  (TutorCloud, InstaEdu) will become standard.  Whenever a student is stuck, there will be help.  Advisors, advocates, and other supportive individuals will scale their communications and tracking.  Parents and community members will stay informed of student progress and help intervene when students get off track, academically or behaviorally.  Information will follow students and instantaneously appear across services, allowing them to work together in sync.

Various tidbits of the student experience will fragment into transactional online services that are sticky and clean.  Buying content (Chegg, Inkling, Kno), finding housing (RoomSync), identifying career goals (Sokanu), procuring software, finding activities (OrgSync), building a community of peers (SchoolsApp), and gearing up for the job market (Enternships, Campus2Career) will mostly occur through various sites and apps, fragmenting the student experience within schools but uniting the student experience across institutions.

Support Staff will be able to communicate with and monitor enormous caseloads of students (Logrado).   Data will come in all sorts of new ways in formats, in ways we never imageind.  For example, students will be able to “check in” to student services, meetings with staff members, and positive behaviors, like studying, on their mobile device, including taking class attendance (Metaneer).  This will have game-like aspects and schools will be able to reward students who access services and have good habits (uBoost, Bunchball).

More complex skills and competencies will be communicated by representing oneself online (Tumblr, Linkedin, Behance). This data will also be transferred to and from services, and will be discoverable by engines that look for and hire talent.  These talent search engines will work in tighter vertical alignment with schools and services to assure a better fit between the student experience and the job market.

While this may eat into what we currently think of as the functions of an institution and its professors, this will allow educators to reinvent what a college or university is (Udacity), and what it means to have a collegiate experience.  This aspect of creative destruction is not a threat but is an opportunity to better meet student needs by focusing instruction and services around students rather than around institutions.