utaaa conference, 2/15/11

Social Media in Academic Advising: Meeting Students Where They Are

University of Texas at Arlington Advising Association’s Annual Conference

Brad PopiolekUniversity of Texas at Austin

Overview

• Why?• Literature Review• Fears & Frustrations• Tools – Examples

• Tips & Strategies • Possible Issues• Action Plan

Why?

Create your own: woordle.com

Background

• The more active students are in college life, the more they will develop during that time period– Astin, 1985

• Engagement encompasses various factors, including investment in the academic experience of college, interactions with faculty, involvement in co-curricular activities, and interaction with peers– Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Kuh, 2009

• Meeting students “where they are”– Millennials

Where they are…

• Today’s students are twenty-four-hour, seven-day-a-week customers who reject the disadvantages of traditional nine to five administrative practices. Technology provides extended access to information, interaction, and client-centered applications– Multari, 2004

• Consistent information is a necessary and important part of good academic advising, even when the message is repetitive and is published in several locations – Steele & Carter, 2002

94% of first year college students use social networking websites– Higher Education Research Institute (HERI), 2007

Fears & Frustrations

(Falls 2008)

Jason Falls, co-founder of the Social Media Club, asked his Twitter followers to explain social media in two words or less. Common terms included…

• Relationship building• Interaction• Community

Surprising?

Heiberger and Harper (2008)/HERI (2007) via Rey Junco's Blog

Engagement via

• Branding• Remain open• Balanced postings• Softball questions• Make it personal – give students a reason to

click, comment, like, etc.

Engagement via

• Twitter – Retweet – students, campus, etc.– Frequently search & respond– Direct messaging– Follow/Followers

• Avoid being static– Virtual trophy case

Don’t forget…

• Asking “why” before talking about “tools” *– Outcomes based

• Engagement– Dynamic vs. Static

• Free measurement tools– Limitations

• Social Media Guidelines

* Inside Higher Ed Blog Post by Eric Stoller

Possible Issues

• One size does NOT fit all• Privacy – FERPA• Lack of control = Opportunity• Accountability• What material may/may not be appropriate– Do not want to replace face-to-face

• Engaging students – how to measure success?

Profdevelop tag

Questions?

Contact:Brad Popiolek

brad.popiolek@gmail.com