5 Ways to Improve Student Experience in Universities
Teaching is a fantastic privilege because of the opportunity it affords you. The future is in your hands, and if the educational experience can improve, then everything turns out for the best. Yet, the question now is, how can this be done? Universities can improve student experiences by a significant margin if they follow specific tips. Below are suggestions guaranteed to leave students happier, more skilled, and better prepared for when they have to leave their time in university behind. And for the schools themselves, these will surely help improve student enrollment along with student retention rates. Let’s not waste any more time and dive straight into the first tip.
5 Ways to Improve Student Experience in Universities
Utilize Online Forums
Technology isn’t some fad that’s going away anytime soon, so you might as well go with the flow. The thing about this particular tip, however, is that there are various ways that universities can go about it. One specific way to encourage positive technology use is by establishing online forums. Remember that people want to be heard, and yet they crave convenience. It can be difficult for students to work up the courage just to walk into a professor’s office for one-on-one meetings. With online means, not only will there still be a full correspondence, but both students and faculty can do so from the comforts of their own homes. On a larger scale, students can air their grievances or suggest solutions to ongoing problems, thereby giving them the chance to be more proactive in their community.
Embrace Social Media
There’s no denying that social media has brought us closer in terms of connectivity. Embracing it for educational means can provide numerous benefits that enhance student experiences. For one, embracing it reduces the unfortunate stigma that social media is inherently dangerous. By teaching students how to use it responsibly, universities can ensure that the new generation uses social media ways that are better than our own. Professors that embrace social media will also find numerous wonderful benefits. One, it allows them the chance to teach in ways that are more conducive to the technologically-driven present day. Two, it provides unique opportunities to reach out to students who may have specific concerns.
Help Students Reach Their Goals and Provide Advice
A report by Harvard Business Review revealed some interesting statistics concerning goals. For one, 83% of the population is apparently without goals. The 14% that do are also ten times more likely to succeed. What that means for universities is that there is an imperative need to provide students with aid and advice concerning what they want out of life. One of the simplest ways to do this is to give them career advice. Don’t be tricked into believing the misconception that a professional career only starts after graduation. As early as their university years, students need to set themselves on the right path.
The advice you provide does not need to have its limits within a student’s majors. For example, let’s say you are handling a student who is focused entirely on his entrepreneurship education. It would be practical to guide him towards skillsets that are unrelated to his prospective career. This will help expand his horizons and will prepare him for moments when he needs to do more than what he may have prepared for. Another thing to advise students on is the importance of keeping up with trends. It could be about technological developments or new events within their related industry. Train them to keep an eye out for the future, and they’ll be much better off compared to if you don’t.
Help Keep Track of Their Work
In general, university students tend to have the same goal. However, being able to reach out to individuals and find out what they want to accomplish is something that not every university does. But they should. Although this will be much more difficult, the result is worth it. Those whose goals are difficult to reach may need the appropriate help, which is something faculty and academic advisors can provide. This requires a lot of tracking, keeping score, and constant meetings, but the efforts will be worth it in the end. The university may need to employ advanced data analytics for this task. Worcester Polytechnic Institute is already hard at work on a SETA, its own event trends tool to help them with data collection and analysis automation. Tools like that are gaining traction within educational institutions, so perhaps it is time to give it a fighting chance.
Encourage a Community Where Strong Connections Thrive
It is often easier said than done when it comes to establishing a community where students and faculty are in perfect sync. Think of it as if you’re preparing a business plan for a fledgling company; you can try to anticipate as much as you can, but it still boils down to the execution. So how is this ideal scholastic community created? Some of the tips above can help splendidly, such as online forums. Then there is campus improvement, which creates a more vibrant environment for the students. After all, nobody would feel too inspired if their surroundings are derelict.
Don’t Forget to Foster Connections
Another way to help create a great community that helps foster secure connections is a proper onboarding process. University life is often compared to a journey, and what better way to start that journey than by making sure to integrate enrollees into your community? An onboarding process is beneficial since it influences the high-priority aspects of university life. Being able to get a head start on community building, academic integration, and working with those who are deemed “at-risk” can determine how successful students become.
A comprehensive onboarding process will involve a series of professionals that range from the administrators to the faculty. All of them will play roles of varying importance to this process. However, it will pay to keep a close eye on both the organizational leadership of it all and the accountability structure of the university’s onboarding efforts. With any luck, successfully onboarded students will increase the university’s overall academic engagement rate, display healthy mental states, and will rise to the occasion as high functioning members of their community.
Creating better experiences for students is a worthwhile but challenging endeavor that will take years to accomplish, along with the cooperation of a lot of people. Do it right, and it will all come together in the end. Employ the tips stated above, and you’ll be on your way.
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