This is my second week with n National College, however in my past experiences employed at other proprietary schools, I have found emailing and having my DOA use texting as a way to attempt to reach the student has been successful. I have always been under the impression that we were not allowed to go on facebook, even if it is to try to communicate with a student in trying to reach them, if all other forms have failed. This is something however, I will discuss with my DOA on the rules of using facebook.
Facebook, twitter, and instragram are used frequently on our campus. We are able to reach out student faster using social media. Most of my students are on facebook. I can send them a message during the day through facebook. Most students have an app on their phone and are able to respond back faster than a regular phone call. We use instagram to show students some of the activities and classes they are going to take while they are here on campus. We are able to connect with prospective students in real time illistrating what it would be like to attend our university.
Social Networking is huge with students, especially those that are of high school age. I find that I don't use the socail media sites much for gaining leads, but more for retention efforts. It seems to be the preferred method of communication for many young students. Our school has social media pages that they are active on and have them listed in our marketing plan.
I am still a little bit unfamiliar if our school uses accounts such as facebook, twitter or myspace but I can say our school does have a LinkedIn account which I am able to connect with co-workers and other professionals as well.
I personally love the thought of social media being used as advertising or contacting our students. I personally believe that word of mouth is no longer existant. Once you post on a students facebook page, all of there friends see it. A great way to get referalls, and your student never has to speak to anyone for a reccomendation.
What is the best way to monitor these sites at an institution? Also, how should derogatory comments be handled?
I think that social media has increased networking for schools and students. It is a great way for schools to relay information, and provide exciting announcements and let students interact positively.
I was not sure if our marketing plan included the use of facebook, twitter, etc. I asked another colleague and was told yes. I am not certain the degree of our usage, but I was able to get the answer through simply asking someone in the office...and that's great!
Social networking sites are now the easiest way to advertise now and I would think it you didn't have at least 1 for your school you'd be missing out on many potential students.
Social networks offer another way for the school to share information. Many people check their Facebook or Twitter before they check their email, so by using social media as a tool the school has one more resource to share important information with students.
Our school maintains a Facebook page and I think it has been moderately successful at bringing in leads.
I believe that with the ever growning avenue of social networking sites it has made it easier to communicate with students. Most students are quicker to repsond and participate to social avenues such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.
I think that is the safest way to be involved in social media. Facebook should be a school authorized page with one person designated to updates and comments to make sure that no misinformation is generated.
Social networking sites are extremely powerful when it comes to the marketing of the school and prospective students are effected in many ways. Twitter and instagram are used regularly to post pictures at campus events and to highlight exciting areas of the institution. Facebook pages show pertinent information to prospective students about the academic lifestyle of the institution. I am not aware if these sites are implemented in a particular marketing plan, but I do know that our institution uses those media outlets to enhance the appeal of the institution.
Im not sure if my allow it or not but i think its a great way to bring students to our school. Everyone uses social network in some way.
My school also uses Facebook, Twitter, among other social networking sites. My former school also incorporated "Apps" that would allow students to access their classes via their smart phones.
The university that I worked at previously used Facebook for informational purposes. Upcoming events and news regarding the campus to students and alumni that "liked" the sight.
We have recently seen some of this on our facebook page. Whether disgrunted former employees or family/friends of former students, there are always going to be people that want an opportunity to make their voice heard - despite accuracy of content. We've deleted some comments, but the majority we have kept. One of the best things that we have seen is that for each person that posts something negative about the school there are 4-5 current students or graduates that immediately comment back stating what a wonderful experience they are having or how the education they received helped them in their current career. So, while initally that negative comment might catch the eye, the potential student is also going to see the positive feedback from the current students/graduates.
We use social networking at our campus to inform our students. This is just another avenue to get information out there about: campus events, motivational support, alumni information, learning service projects and weather delays. We use Facebook, among other ways, to communicate this information to students. This day in age people are using Facebook on a daily basis, this makes it so much easier for students to keep up with what is going on at school.
As far as communicating with prospective students; on our Facebook page we offer an area to get more information. A prospective student can fill out their information and expect our admissions department to call them. Having social networking builds more ways for prospective students to contact our school and to gain more information about our school.
We use social networking to promote our school but it is not a way of communication for reps to speak with potential students.
