personalizing & modernizing student support to drive student success for community colleges
TRANSCRIPT
®
Personalizing & Modernizing Student SupportA MUST to drive student success for community colleges
58%
58 % say “Retaining Students” is most critical issue facing Higher Ed
% Critical to Solve by Persona (C-Level, Academic & Administrative, Tech Leader, Faculty)
53% 48%
Rising Costs & Decreasing Revenue
Recruiting/ Enrolling Students
Blackboard Research
The top three issues facing Higher Ed are consistent across multiple departments, from Presidents, Tech Leaders &Faculty
Shift to Outcomes Based Funding Accelerating
3
“Institutional success” shifting to improvements in student learning, retention, and graduation rate outcomes
Performance funding in place
Transitioning to performance funding
Formal discussions on performance funding
No formal activity
The Old Student Journey
5
Select an Institution
Enroll in Courses
ChangeDegree
Take More Courses
Build aResume
Graduate Job Search
Graduate SchoolChoose Degree
High School Students College Students
Flexible
The “New Normal” – Student expectations are changing
PersonalAnytime/anywhere
Engaging
Interactive Modular
Affordable
Accessible
Today’s New Journey
7
Jobs &Careers
Select anInstitution
Enroll in Courses
Build aProfile
Connect to Employers
Job Search
Enroll inCourses
Skills Required Competencies & Skills
Acquire Skills
Multiple Institutions
Choose Degree Graduate School
High School Students Adult LearnersCollege Students
Students now…
ChooseWHERE, HOW, and WHENto get their education
8
Research on Why Students Leave
9
25%
23%
18%
13%
10%
8%
College Doesn't Care
Poor Service
Not Worth It
Finances
Schedule
Personal
Grades
Educational Quality
Source: Educational Policy Institute; New England Journal of Higher Education
Many Points Along the Path Where a Student Can Stumble
Admission Graduation
Proactive Student Support: Critical for Keeping them on track
• Identify students at risk
• Reach out to them before they arrive for courses
Welcome & Outreach
• Schedule regular contact to discuss issues
• Communicate resources for help
Connect with resources • Monitor critical
participation points• Evaluate case load
results
Help stay the course
12
Challenge: Student support is siloed and fractured across campus
StudentStudent
Accounts
Systems Support
Advising
Student Affairs
Admissions
Financial Affairs
Financial Aid
Registrar
13
Challenge: Student expectations and needs have risen
14
NE
ED
S A
ND
EX
PE
CT
AT
ION
S
TIME
WIDENINGSERVICE GAP
Increased expectations and demand doesn’t
always mean increased resources, so the staff’s
workload pays the price
Staff to Student Challenge
15
?
Staff to Student Challenge
16
Key Engagement Guidelines
17
Student Consumable
Personalized
Pathway Oriented
Outcomes Focused
Virginia’s Community College System (VCCS)
18
• 23 Community Colleges
• 40 full campuses
• Serving over 273,000 credit students
• One in three student receive financial aid
Inconsistent service levels and process inefficiencies across the 23 colleges (office hours, staffing, etc.)
Lack of standardization for students attending multiple colleges
Inability to handle all walk-in, phone, email and mail requests during peak periods
Increased audit risk & findings
Fractionalization of workload
Risk of knowledge loss with turnover and retirements
VCCS Operational Challenges
Proposal
Develop a comprehensive outsourced student services delivery model that provides a seamless, scalable, virtual 24/7/365 Student Services Center that supports all VCCS students.
Model of Success: Northern Virginia Community College
21
• 78,461 students
• 6 full campuses
• Just outside Washington, D. C.
• Students from over 180 countries
Challenges & Solutions
22
CHALLENGES SOLUTIONS
Communications
Late seasonal spikes in ISIRs
Resources with varying expertise spread all over Northern Virginia
Hired Associate Director, Communications & Enrollment Support
Hired Training Director, and developed multi-faceted training program
Contracted with FAS for verification assistance
Challenges & Solutions
23
CHALLENGES SOLUTIONS
Campus staff who reported to their Dean of Students
Long lines on campus with unanswered phone calls and emails
Restructured and moved campus staff under CFAO; hired managers with higher-level skills
Contracted with Blackboard Student Services for a NOVA Financial Aid Support Center and hired NOVA Coordinator
NOVA FA Office Workload: Increases Faster Than Enrollment Each Year
24
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14
Pell Recipients
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14
FAFSA Trend
95%106%
NOVA/Blackboard Partnership:
How We Started
PROJECT CHALLENGES
Student demand for FA support outstripped resources
Long wait times and inconsistent service experiences for students
PROJECT GOALS
Improve satisfaction levels
Extend campus resources and support to 24/7/365
Resolve student issues quickly & accurately
Ensure the mission of student accessibility and equity
SOLUTION: FULL SERVICE FINANCIAL AID SUPPORT
Blackboard Financial Aid Support Services with Proactive Program Management coupled with deployment of Student Outbound Campaigns. These services augment the internal resources and offload the majority of questions from the FA team so they could focus on more strategic issues. This has improved student satisfaction, increased re-enrollment rates and driven up levels of financial aid utilization.
PROJECT TIMELINE
NOVA leadership realizes disruptive change is needed
NOVA releases RFP seeking outsourcing options
NOVA contracted with Blackboard on 6/24/11
FA Support goes live 10/27/11
25
Financial Aid Support Center
26
Allows students to attach documents for completing checklist items. Documents are saved in the ticket history and accessible by student and licensed staff
Includes a comprehensive, searchable Knowledge Base (KB) to address potential questions (FAQs)
Blackboard provides a robust history of all student interactions – call recordings, chat session records, ticket data, survey responses; Provides automated and in-person outbound calls to enhance file completion and
Allows for a more complete “customer service” approach--over 99% response rate for all tickets in 2014 (30 second speed to answer; 14% escalation)
Student Support Website
27
RESULTS: Impact of Service Changes
28
Students never have to “go” anywhere to get most answers or submit documents.
Student wait time on campuses has diminished immensely; staff have time to address student
Positive student satisfaction - increases in 71 of 77 fields from fall 2011 to fall 2012
80,000+ students each year have NOT been standing in line to see a staff member!
RESULTS - NOVA/Blackboard Partnership
29
24x7 multi-modal financial aid services to support over 80,000 students
Student satisfaction rate greater than 80%
Live outbound call campaign drove 73% FAFSA completion
Effective outbound campaigns reaching 150,000 students
Students wait time on campuses greatly reduced; staff have time to address student needs
Implementing a System-Wide Service Model with VCCS
30
Walk-in SupportEscalations
100% of initial student inquiries
VCCS
Allowing Staff to Focus Time More Strategically
31
Walk-in SupportEscalations
100% of initial student inquiries
Proactive Student EngagementBusiness Process Improvement VCCS