Corequisite educational models are tied to higher pass and completion rates for students compared to remedial education, but ensuring learners are passing college-level courses often requires additional institutional investment.
Middle Georgia State University reimagined its corequisite education model to embed tutors, peer mentors and success coaches in entry-level math courses. Now, students who are falling behind are identified on a weekly basis, allowing for targeted and individualized outreach.
After the first term of the initiative, passing rates grew over 10 percentage points and withdrawals decreased, encouraging the university to scale the intervention to English courses and, starting next fall, STEM courses with high failure—D or F—or withdrawal rates.
What’s the need: Middle Georgia State offers 29 sections of its corequisite math course, Qualitative Reasoning. The course has seen stagnant success rates over the past few years, even though the number of students enrolled in corequisites grew, said Deepa Arora, senior associate provost of student success at Middle Georgia State.
Students who didn’t pass the class were less likely to stay enrolled and progress, prompting institutional leaders to consider new ways to engage these learners.
How it works: The solution was to create a support network of professionals who assist learners.
Faculty members are at the center of the initiative, flagging at-risk learners who are missing goals or failing to submit work.
From there, student success coaches, who are embedded in the course’s learning management system, reach out to those students to share resources, create a success plan and make referrals. Coaches also initiate a follow-up a week later to see if students have completed any action.
Depending on the student’s area of weakness, success coaches funnel them to one of two types of student employee: an embedded tutor or a peer mentor.
Embedded tutors address primarily academic concerns, such as low grades. Tutors attend class sessions, provide content-specific coaching and host review sessions as well as set up appointments for learners who need additional assistance, Arora said.
Corequisite learners who may be missing or not participating in classes are referred to a peer mentor, Arora said. In addition to teaching academic skills, peer mentors focus on a student’s sense of belonging and connection to the institution. They facilitate workshops, provide referrals to other support resources and connect students with classmates.
Both tutors and mentors are paid positions for which students must meet certain qualifications: They need to have passed the relevant course, be enrolled at least part-time and fulfill role-specific training.
Building better: The staffing changes were supported by revenue from tuition increases over the past two years. Faculty buy-in was also essential. “Faculty collaboration and cooperation with the success team was an integral part of the initiative and led to the development of a support ecosystem for the student,” Arora said.
Prior to implementing the new model, faculty members were briefed on the initiative’s design and asked to provide feedback and meet with the success coaches to build relationships.
Faculty didn’t receive any specific training other than guidance on how to identify at-risk students—those missing classes, earning low grades or failing to engage. Campus leaders also encouraged professors to send weekly communication regarding student performance and share related information about content with the success coach assigned to their section, Arora said.
The impact: The initiative succeeded in its goal of improving student pass rates: 73 percent of students who attempted the course in fall 2024 passed, a 14-percentage-point increase from the previous fall’s rate. (Excluding withdrawals, 77 percent of fall 2024 students passed the course.)
One trend the university noted was that the students who did fail were primarily in the online sections, suggesting that improvements to the in-person experiences were moving the needle.
Additionally, the connection between faculty and success coaches broke down institutional silos through ensuring timely identification of barriers and sharing of best practices. Success coaches appreciated being embedded in the learning management system, as it gave them greater insight into where the students needed help.
Support staff also noted increased student use of resources.
What’s next: After the initial positive results, university leaders chose to extend the initiative this term to include all sections of Composition I and its corequisite support courses. “The plan is also to extend this strategy to all sections of Anatomy and Physiology I and II where additional support is needed to improve their success rates,” Arora said.
The university will also invest in additional focus on online courses to close success gaps there.
Do you have an academic intervention that might help others improve student success? Tell us about it.
Many of us working in higher education, including those of us in teaching and learning centers, might find that our work is dramatically accelerated by rapid technological change and increasing pressures to be more efficient and productive. Technology adoptions such as smartphones and Slack, video communication, and now generative AI all contribute to the acceleration of the organizational culture.
In her recent essay “Teaching Centers Aren’t Dumping Grounds,” Kerry O’Grady argues that many academic leaders “focus on more instead of on effectiveness and efficiency.” O’Grady recounts continued calls to “create more workshops, more one-pagers or more training when attendance was dismal for initial sessions, or when the original documents went untouched.” She argues that educational developers are in a constant state of emergency response, in which they are tasked with “retroactive cleanup” as opposed to “the work of proactive planning for teaching and learning success.” O’Grady calls for a much-needed reset—something that feels wonderfully exciting—and institutionally unrealistic.
Our collective teaching and working in higher education at more than 20 institutions over 50 years tells us that we are always working with limited agency to significantly change how our centers align with our strategic vision and the changing needs of the institution. Amid the dizzying pace of constant disruption, we feel a need to find a more sustainable and pragmatic approach. O’Grady’s essay inspired us to reflect on our strategic plans and how we support our respective communities. While the “dumping ground” metaphor importantly calls attention to current challenges, we consider a different metaphor that has guided our decisions as we direct centers and support educators.
The Dandelion and the Orchid
Dandelions are versatile flowers—resilient, fast-growing and abundant. In the context of educational development, dandelions represent the many ways developers adapt to institutional demands, producing quick outputs that propagate widely. Dandelion work is essential: It includes the programs and resources we create rapidly to meet pressing needs. However, as with real dandelions, the results of this work are often scattered, growing without the intentional design of a cultivated garden. When we run from meeting to meeting or throw together a one-off workshop to respond to emerging pedagogical issues, we rely on dandelions.
In contrast, orchids require significant care and controlled environments to flourish. Orchid work symbolizes slow, intentional cultivation—projects that are thoughtfully nurtured over time. These efforts demand patience, consistency and a commitment to depth over breadth. While the process is slower, the results are uniquely meaningful, reflecting a product of deliberate focus. Orchid work requires long-term planning, collaboration across units and thoughtful engagement. While orchids can result in beautiful landscapes, the time taken to cultivate them can mean that we miss many emergent day-to-day needs.
Together, this framework highlights a central question: Which systemic issues require sustained effort, and which challenges can be addressed through quick, one-off engagements? Balancing dandelion and orchid approaches helps educational developers respond to immediate needs while creating space for intentional growth.
Growing Relationships
Resilience does not sprout in isolation but through networks of care, mutual support and shared experiences. To push the floral metaphor further, if our goal in centers for teaching and learning is to help educators help students bloom, then we need to model and promote the space and time needed to learn, even if social pressures point in the opposite direction.
Although meaningful relationships take time to develop, their benefits are powerful. Researchsupports the idea that individuals with a high relational self-construal—those who define themselves through their relationships with others—may be better able to embrace inconsistency and instability (two things that very much describe life in education today). Educational developers therefore can foster resilience and adaptability not only by caring for relational networks at their institution but also by defining their work based on such networks.
In our own ways, we make space for orchids in our work and programming by emphasizing the ways in which relationships and time are necessary conditions for educational development. Some of the ways we do this as we go about our regular, day-to-day “dandelion” programming include:
Check in and reflect on connections: Regularly pause during engagements for reflective check-ins wherein participants can share their thoughts on new connections, challenges or any collective insights gained. This helps participants see relational growth as part of their learning.
Create opportunities for cross-disciplinary interaction: Design group activities that mix participants across different disciplines or roles. Consider discussion prompts that require multiple perspectives, reinforcing a sense of shared purpose.
Define affective outcomes as clearly as skill-based ones: When planning workshops, incorporate affective goals—such as fostering connection and community—as explicit objectives, treating them with equal weight as skill-based outcomes.
End with collective reflection: Close programs by inviting participants to share not only new skills but also the relationships or networks they’ve started building. This emphasizes the value of affective outcomes and normalizes the commitment to sustaining these connections beyond the event.
Engage with personal storytelling: Begin events with interactive exercises that invite participants to share a meaningful or challenging recent moment from their teaching or from their lives. This sets the tone for community-building and eases the transition into collaborative work.
Lean into play and creative approaches: Include an exercise that might activate imaginative thinking like using visual thinking strategies or a paired movement activity and enjoy a shared experience of lightness.
Model care in facilitation: Demonstrate care in your interactions, setting a precedent for participants. Show genuine interest in their insights, making room for personal or contextual details that may be meaningful to them. Generate collective resources that bring a variety of participants’ contexts to the forefront.
Provide candor about institutional challenges: Directly speak to the realistic limitations of what the institution can do to support faculty; do not overpromise possibilities or shy away from the realities of the conditions in which the work will happen.
Balancing the orchid and the dandelion depends on priorities and time constraints. The dandelion approach can produce quick solutions when the pressure is high, and the orchid approach encourages us to carve out the time and tend to our relationships even in our constant push to maintain that field of flowers.
While it may disrupt our metaphor, dandelions can give way to orchids and orchids can give way to dandelions. After all, the more often that deeper relationships develop, the more often we’re going to be in contact with faculty and colleagues, which will seed new ideas and possibilities, be they orchids or dandelions.
The metaphor encourages us to ask how and where we can make space and time for deeper engagement. We cannot just grow a field of dandelions if we want to foster a culture of innovation, nor can we respond effectively and in a timely manner to an institution’s needs if we just focus on orchids. We have found that giving ourselves the permission to grow orchids amid the dandelions allows us to feel more agency and more relationally connected to the work we’re doing and the people we’re doing it with. The metaphor has helped us foster and model a more inclusive, supportive academic culture—one that balances collaboration with efficiency, collective resilience with institutional responsiveness and meaning with productivity.
JT Torres directs the Houston H. Harte Center for Teaching and Learning at Washington & Lee University.
Lance Eaton is an educator, writer and public speaker. He has worked in educational development for 15 years and recently became the senior associate director of AI in teaching and learning at Northeastern University.
Deborah Kronenberg is an educator, consultant and public speaker who approaches communities of learning with creative, interdisciplinary, relationship-centric leadership in faculty and administrative roles in the greater Boston area.
Higher education providers are currently experiencing unprecedented degrees of pressure, not only in terms of the constraints imposed by the current financial climate but in the increased expectations placed upon them by students, policymakers and the public. At the same time, they’re having to address the challenges posed by new technologies and workplace practices, environmental concerns and economic conditions, as well as by a growing focus on fair access to higher education.
Such issues are at the fore of the sector’s own debates. Recent HEPI blogs have, for example, focused on the importance of reasonable adjustments, the value of widening participation, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and institutional AI initiatives. Colleagues from GuildHE have written here and elsewhere about how specialist providers are essential to the delivery of the government’s industrial strategy – just as Universities UK has argued that graduates will play a vital role in that strategy, presenting an analysis which demonstrates that ‘growth sectors identified by the government in its industrial strategy require high levels of graduate skills across all regions and nations of the UK’.
These priorities reflect those of the UK government. When the Education Secretary for England wrote to providers in November, she said she expected them to ‘play a stronger role in expanding access and improving outcomes for disadvantaged students’, ‘make a stronger contribution to economic growth’, ‘play a greater civic role in their communities’ and ‘raise the bar further on teaching standards’.
Sector bodies and think tanks have produced valuable reports on these issues. But one lower-profile resource used by educators to anchor provision to such commitments is the Subject Benchmark Statement. This instrument plays a key role in demonstrating and underpinning how HEIs deliver the industry-aligned graduate skills essential for economic growth – those skills highlighted by GuildHE and Universities UK, and required by government strategies.
Subject Benchmark Statements are curated by QAA as the sector-led descriptors of taught disciplines. They describe the nature of study and the academic standards expected of graduates in specific subject areas – showing what graduates should know and be able to do at the end of their studies. Academic staff use them to inform the design, delivery and enhancement of programmes. They are included as key reference points in guidance on cyclical review in Scotland and Wales, and in institutions’ validation and assurance of provision across the UK.
They are created by panels of academic experts and representatives of employers and Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies. At a time when providers are expected to demonstrate their contribution to the UK’s industrial strategy, they use industry expertise to determine the skillsets needed for professional success and economic growth. They inform prospective students of the career paths advanced by their subjects, tell prospective employers what they can expect from a graduate of those subjects and assure policymakers of the value of those subjects.
Today, we are publishing this year’s set of Subject Benchmark Statements: revised editions of the Statements for, Accounting, Education Studies, Finance, Music, and Philosophy, as well as for Librarianship, Information, Knowledge, Records & Archives Management, and Physics, Astronomy & Astrophysics; and a new Statement for Public Policy & Public Administration.
Key to the formulation of these Statements has been the development, through consultation with sector and industry stakeholders, of a set of themes which underpin their focus. These themes align with concerns shared by policymakers across the political spectrum. They include sustainability, access and success in higher education, graduate employability and artificial intelligence.
These emphases reflect not only the key expectations set by the Education Secretary last autumn, but also government priorities in such areas as green prosperity and AI. Subject Benchmark Statements also chart strategies for the enhancement of educational quality the Secretary of State has called for. They function alongside other key sector reference points – such as the Qualifications Frameworks and the Quality Code – to underpin the standards and enhance the quality of higher education. They are a mechanism by which programmes assure and articulate their educational, economic and social value and demonstrate the continuing relevance of their subjects to governments and the public.
To see how this works, it’s worth taking a moment to look at an example from our new set of Statements. This is the first time that there’s been a separate Subject Benchmark Statement dedicated to Public Policy & Public Administration (a subject well suited to this forum), so let’s take a look at that.
Its subject panel included three representatives of the Local Government Association, alongside practitioners and educators from 13 universities. An emphasis on industry impact shines through its 25 pages. It includes articulations of core skills at varying levels of study and attainment, and explains the purposes of a degree in its discipline, as well as strategies to promote accessibility and sustainable development. It also details the approaches to be taken by the discipline in relation to professional employability, both in terms of broad expectations and in relation to its specific engagement with artificial intelligence.
In this context, it expects that ‘while degrees will have the capacity to develop career-ready students, they must also equip sector-experienced students with the knowledge, behaviours and skills that will enable them to develop and progress within the workplace’ and that ‘courses may provide and/or require opportunities for students to work individually or collaboratively with employers and/or relevant public sector stakeholders’.
It adds that its degrees should ‘promote employability in a labour market that is becoming increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence’ and ‘prepare and equip students for work environments that require professionals to work alongside smart machines’ – and that therefore ‘to ensure students can complete their studies responsibly and with integrity, and be equipped to enter a world increasingly impacted by generative AI, Public Policy and/or Public Administration degrees must recognise and respond to employer and workplace needs’.
Each Subject Benchmark Statement underpins the continuing relevance and value of its discipline to industry and students alike. As the University of Birmingham’s Dr Karin Bottom (who chaired the Public Policy & Public Administration panel) has emphasized, one of the key impacts of a Subject Benchmark Statement is that it ‘gives programmes credibility with organisations that may fund people who take these degrees and that may employ people who’ve taken these degrees’ – and ‘gives employers and practitioner groups a reference point as to what practitioners need to know’.
At a time when many academic subject areas have come under increasing pressure (whether in terms of their commercial viability, their contribution to economic growth, or the careers they support), it remains crucial for the sector, students, taxpayers and policymakers to ensure that their value is not only expressed but also underpinned by benchmarking at the level of specific disciplines.
And, as policymakers have recently stressed the need to prevent the emergence of regional ‘cold spots’ in specific subject areas, these sector-led, industry-informed, expert-written documents can also help, in the formulation of such policies, to hone a closer understanding of the impacts and contributions of their disciplines.
LOS ANGELES — After the Palisades Fire destroyed her son’s high school, Shoshanha Essakhar found herself among the thousands of Los Angeles County parents wondering what to do.
“I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, we’re going to be doing Zoom for the next God knows how long,’” said Essakhar. “It was a lot of fear, a lot of uncertainty.”
The fire devastated Palisades Charter High School, where Essakhar’s son was a ninth grader, as well as two elementary schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The Eaton Fire, which broke out around the same time in early January, severely damaged or destroyed six school facilities in Pasadena Unified School District. Together, the fires disrupted learning for more than 725,000 kids and displaced thousands of students from their schools, their homes or both.
For Essakhar, a potential solution came by way of an executive order California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Jan. 14. For students in Los Angeles County schools affected by the fires, the order paused, through the remainder of the school year, the requirement that a student live within their school district’s boundaries. That meant she could enroll her son at nearby Beverly Hills High School, where another parent she shared carpool duties with was also enrolling her child. She quickly completed the necessary paperwork.
But roughly a week later, Beverly Hills Unified School District abruptly stopped accepting students displaced by the fires, closing the door on Essakhar’s son and dozens of other students who expected to spend the semester at Beverly Hills High.
“As a mom, you try to do your best for your child, but it got so unpleasant,” Essakhar said. Beverly Hills school leadership said it could not afford to accept additional students, nor did it need to: Students who lost their school but whose homes were still intact did not need their help.
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The dispute between Beverly Hills Unified School District and some Palisades parents raises questions that school districts across the U.S. increasingly must grapple with as wildfires and other extreme weather events become more common because of climate change: What does a school district owe its neighbors after a major disaster?
For Beverly Hills Unified, the answer was admitting 47 students before pausing enrollment over concerns that a surge of newcomers midyear would siphon resources from the district’s 3,000-plus existing students.
“You’ve got a community where a lot of those folks lost their homes, and half lost their school but their homes weren’t impacted,” said Los Angeles Unified School District board member Nick Melvoin, whose district includes Palisades Charter High School. Like Beverly Hills, its students are predominantly from affluent backgrounds.
Newsom’s order was an attempt at a fix: It urged districts to “extend every effort to support and facilitate the enrollment of students displaced by the fires.” Lori Peek, director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado, Boulder, which focuses on the societal effects of disasters, said it “provided the necessary flexibility that disaster survivors really need, because their circumstances are so diverse.”
In Beverly Hills, school board members resisted the order. Beverly Hills is one of the few “basic aid” districts in the state, meaning it collects more in local property tax revenue than an annual funding target set by the state, which is based on average daily attendance and other factors. Most districts fall short of the target, and the state makes up the difference.
The January fires in Southern California disrupted learning for more than 725,000 students. Credit: Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
At a series of meetings in January and February, Beverly Hills school board members argued that the district couldn’t absorb additional students without harming those already enrolled. While other school districts see increased funding from increased attendance, that’s not true for basic aid districts like Beverly Hills.
Board members also questioned whether students who lost their schools, but not their homes, such as Essakhar’s son, should be considered affected by the fire and able to enroll. Board members told district administration that they believed only students whose homes were destroyed should qualify.
Not so, said Melissa Schoonmaker with the Los Angeles County Office of Education, which provided guidance to the county’s school districts on implementing the order. “It’s not that they had to lose their home or be evacuated, it could be a broad range of impacts,” she said.
Board members supported making this pause permanent.
“Going forward we are closed to any enrollment that comes right now as a result of a student going to Pali who has not been displaced from their home but would like to come to Beverly Hills because they don’t want to go on Zoom,” board President Rachelle Marcus said at the meeting, referring to Palisades Charter.
Essakhar, who lives in Brentwood, a Los Angeles neighborhood roughly halfway between Beverly Hills and the Pacific Palisades, called the entire process traumatic.
She gave up on finding an in-person school option for her son, settling instead for Zoom through Palisades Charter. “Honestly, I didn’t want to go through the experience again,” she said. Plus, most of his friends who left Palisades Charter had enrolled at Beverly High. “Being with your group of friends is different than sending my kid alone to some other school to transition in the middle of the year after the fires on his own,” said Essakhar.
Another Palisades Charter parent, Negeen Ben-Cohen, was initially optimistic that the school would quickly secure a temporary campus. But as the weeks went by, she started considering other options for her ninth grader.
“It was mostly about keeping my son in a healthy social environment, and not isolated at home,” said Ben-Cohen. “Covid already showed that with the amount of learning loss and how much kids fell behind during Zoom.”
Like Essakhar, Ben-Cohen filled out all the necessary paperwork to enroll her son and was told she would hear soon about his class placements. Then enrollment was paused.
“They shut the door in our faces. And that was after the kids got their hopes up, they think that they’re going to be able to go in-person, they think they’re going to be able to start with their friends,” said Ben-Cohen.
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At board meetings, parents and students expressed similar outrage.
“Beverly had the opportunity to extend a hand when we needed it the most but instead they turned around and slammed the door in our faces,” said Kylie Abdi, a senior at Palisades Charter, at a Feb. 11 meeting.
“We do not even want to get an education in a school that kicks others while they are down, you have lost the opportunity to teach your students how to be there for each other,” said another Palisades student, junior Rosha Sinai, calling the board “selfish.”
Jason Hasty, the interim superintendent of Beverly Hills Unified School District, said in an interview that enrolling any more than 47 students would have strained the district’s resources and required hiring more teachers — although he acknowledged that his district is better funded than most.
“We get more money than the state formula because of the way we’re funded. That is a fact. Also what is a fact is on July 1 of every year, we set a budget … based on the students we are projecting to have,” Hasty said.
State Sen. Ben Allen, who represents both the Pacific Palisades and Beverly Hills areas, said that Beverly Hills would be compensated for taking in displaced students, although the details are still being worked out.
“We’re going to have their backs and that they’re going to be fully compensated for any students that they take in,” he said.
Hasty said the district has been “in direct discussion” with Allen’s office, but “until we are sure that those funds are materializing and will be provided,” the pause on enrollment under the executive order (which expires at the end of the school year) remains in place. The district continues to enroll students who move to Beverly Hills or who are eligible under the McKinney-Vento Act, said Hasty. That legislation provides protections for students who are homeless, which is defined as “individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate, nighttime residence.”
Nearby Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is also a basic aid district, but it interpreted the order “to mean that any student who wants to come here can come here right now,” said Gail Pinsker, the district’s chief communications officer. So far, the district has enrolled more than 140 students, with about 200 enrollment requests still being processed. The influx of students prompted the district to combine some elementary classes and hire a new high school teacher, Pinsker said.
Three months after Palisades Charter High School burned, students remain on Zoom. The school just finalized plans to use an old department store building in downtown Santa Monica about 20 minutes southeast of the high school as its temporary campus. In-person instruction should resume sometime after the school’s spring break in mid-April, according to Palisades Charter High School.
Palisades Elementary Charter School, which was devastated by the wildfires in January. Credit: Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Allen, the state senator, said the episode shows the need for a policy for compensating basic aid districts that take in displaced students to make the process smoother after future disasters.
Also helpful would be a website listing districts accepting affected students, said Peek, the University of Colorado researcher.
Lessons from the Los Angeles fires could inform policymaking elsewhere, she added. “They’re going to need it sooner rather than later, as other disasters continue to unfold across the country.”
Contact editor Caroline Preston at 212-870-8965, on Signal at CarolineP.83 or via email at [email protected].
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Academic support for students is an essential component of their academic success. At a time when resources are stretched, it is critical that academic support structures operate as a well-oiled machine, where each component has a clearly defined purpose and operates effectively as a whole.
We previously discussed how personal and pastoral tutoring, provided by academic staff, needs to be supplemented by specialist academic support. A natural next step is to consider what that specialist support could look like.
A nested model
We’ve identified four core facets of effective academic support, namely personal tutoring (advising/coaching/mentoring etc), the development of academic skills and graduate competencies, all supported by relevant student engagement data. The nested model below displays this framework.
We also suggest two prerequisites to the provision of academic support.
Firstly, a student must have access to information related to what academic support entails and how to access this. Secondly, a student’s wellbeing means that they can physically, mentally, emotionally and financially engage with their studies, including academic support opportunities.
Figure 1: Academic support aspects within a student success nested model
Focusing on academic support
Personal tutoring has a central role to play within the curriculum and within academic provision more broadly in enabling student success.
That said, “academic support” comprises much more than a personal tutoring system where students go for generic advice and support.
Rather, academic support is an interconnected system with multiple moving parts tailored within each institution and comprising different academic, professional and third-space stakeholders.
Yet academics remain fundamental to the provision of academic support given their subject matter expertise, industry knowledge and their proximity to students. This is why academics are traditionally personal tutors and historically, this is where the academic support model would have ended. Changes in student needs means the nature of personal tutoring has needed to be increasingly complemented by other forms of academic support.
Skills and competencies
Academic skills practitioners can offer rich insights in terms of how best to shape and deliver academic support.
A broad conception of academic skills that is inclusive of academic literacies, maths, numeracy and stats, study skills, research and information literacy and digital literacy is a key aspect of student academic success. Student acquisition of these skills is complemented by integrated and purposeful involvement of academic skills practitioners across curriculum design, delivery and evaluation.
Given regulatory focus on graduate outcomes, universities are increasingly expected to ensure that academic support prepares students for graduate-level employability or further study upon graduation. Much like academic skills practitioners, this emphasises the need to include careers and employability consultants in the design and delivery of integrated academic support aligned to the development of both transferable and subject-specific graduate competencies.
Engaging data
Data on how students are participating in their learning provides key insights for personal tutors, academic skills practitioners and colleagues working to support the development of graduate competencies.
Platforms such as StREAM by Kortext enable a data-informed approach to working with students to optimise the provision of academic support. This holistic approach to the sharing of data alongside actionable insights further enables successful transition between support teams.
Knowing where the support need is situated means that these limited human and financial resources can be directed to where support is most required – whether delivered on an individual or cohort basis. Moreover, targeted provision can be concentrated at relevant points over the academic year. Using engagement data contributes to efficiency drives through balancing the provision of information and guidance to all students. The evidence shows it’s both required and likely to prove effective.
Academic support is increasingly complicated in terms of how different aspects overlap and interplay within a university’s student success ecosystem. Therefore, when adopting a systems-thinking approach to the design and delivery of academic support, universities must engage key stakeholders, primarily students, academic skills practitioners and personal tutors themselves.
A priority should be ensuring varied roles of academic support providers are clearly defined both individually and in relation to each other.
Similarly, facilitating the sharing of data at the individual student level about the provision of academic support should be prioritised to ensure that communication loops are closed and no students fall between service gaps.
Given that academic support is evolving, we would welcome readers’ views of what additional aspects of academic support are necessary to student success.
To find out more about how StREAM by Kortext can enable data-informed academic support at your institution, why not arrange a StREAM demonstration.
If you knew more about your incoming student body what would you do to change your pre-arrival, arrival and orientation, and induction to study practices?
For example, if you knew that only 30 per cent of your incoming undergraduate students had experience of accessing learning materials in a school/college library, what library resource sessions would be provided on entry? Lack of library experience is exacerbated by the fact that since 2010, over 800 public libraries have closed in the UK.
If the course and IT team knew that over one-third of new postgraduate taught students had limited or no experience of using a virtual learning environment, what enhanced onboarding approach could be adopted?
If you knew that 12.4 per cent of undergraduate and 13.5 per cent of postgraduate taught students decided to study at a university closer to home due to the cost of living crisis, what teaching delivery pattern and support would you put in place for students who have a long commute?
If you knew for 43.7 per cent of UG and 45.4 per cent of PGT respondents, their attendance in their last final year of study was 80% or below due to 34.6 per cent of undergraduates and 25.0 per cent of postgraduate taught students experiencing mental health and wellbeing issues, what support would you put in place?
And if you knew that at undergraduate level, male respondents stated they were three times more likely to use sports facilities compared to mental health services, how could you promote mental health and wellbeing through sports?
All of these examples are taken from previous iterations of pre-arrival questionnaires (PAQs), run at various universities around the UK.
A lack of knowledge
As a rule we know very little about the prior learning experiences, concerns, worries, and expectations of university study of our incoming students. It is an area where limited work has been undertaken, and yet it is such a critical one if we are to effectively bridge the transition from secondary to tertiary education.
We have no idea about the different experiences of our incoming students by student characteristics, by region, or by type of institution. If we did, would institutions continue to be weighed, measured and judged in the same way as is currently the case?
Through my (Michelle’s) own learning journey as a mature, working-class, mixed-race female whose parents had no educational aspirations for me, when I finally went to do a degree at a polytechnic, I struggled to get the support I needed especially in terms of learning how to learn again after a five-year study break.
I was treated exactly the same as my 18-year-old classmates who had come straight from school. Assumptions were made that I should know and remember how to learn, and this was made very clear in negative feedback . But as we know, learning at school and college is different to university, and if you have been out of education for a while it can be a daunting experience reengaging with how to learn.
In the various roles I have undertaken and through the creation of my whole university integrated student experience model (SET model), I recognised that to enable effective change to happen not only in the learning sphere but also the support one, we needed data to understand where and how to make change. So over 20 years ago, I started creating and undertaking pre-arrival academic questionnaires (PAQ) at undergraduate and postgraduate taught level to get insight into different prior learning experiences and how these may impact on concerns, worries and expectations of higher education.
Purpose of the PAQ
NSS metrics are informative but it is only a snapshot of the university experience of those that made it nearly to the end of their degree. It does not reflect the voice of incoming students, and it does not provide any real time indication of what kind of support new students need.
The PAQ (formerly called the “entry to study survey”) is a powerful tool. Results can challenge change the assumptions of staff and university leaders, in terms of what they think they know about their incoming students. As with the postgraduate taught and postgraduate research experience surveys (PTES and PRES), the questions evolve to take into account of a changing environment, and the impact it has on our students (including things like Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis).
The PAQ also provides a meaningful course activity early on. It gets students to reflect on their learning, both on their past learning journey and expectations of university study. Students answer a range of questions across six sections that cover prior learning experiences, concerns on entry, how they expect to study at university, identifying what they see as their priorities in the coming year, their strengths and weaknesses, and expected university study outcomes. As it is delivered as a course activity, students engage with it.
Within three weeks of the PAQ survey closing, students get the headline findings along with relevant support and advice. This shows them that they are not alone regarding prior learning experiences, any concerns or worries they may have, and they know that their voice has been listened to.
The information gleaned from the PAQ helps inform every area of a university’s work from Access and Participation Plans to recruitment, orientation and induction to study to policy and support.
A national pilot
In September 2025, AdvanceHE and Jisc, funded by the Office for Students will commence the first of two annual waves of a national pilot in England, using the UG and PGT PAQ work I have undertaken at the University of East London and other institutions The aims and objectives include:
To establish consistency in how the sector collects and acts upon information from students upon arrival around their learning styles, expectations, challenges and requirements.
To drive dedicated activity at the local level to close the gap between expectations, requirements and the actual experience upon arrival.
To provide robust data-led evidence to enable institutions to address inconsistencies in how different groups of students (for example by social background, qualification type, geography and demographics) begin their learning and develop a platform to progress to good outcomes.
To create a fuller understanding across the sector of the Pre-arrival experience, providing evidence for wider policy making and cross-sector activity.
To support providers in delivering a range of practical outcomes across different student groups, including improved wellbeing and belonging, improved continuation and attainment. Earlier and preventative intervention should further contribute to higher progression to further study or employment.
The questions in the PAQ contribute valuable insights and knowledge that align with the themes in the University Mental Health Charter.
How can you get involved in the National PAQ Pilot
Participating is free of charge (although a Jisc Online Surveys licence is required). As a benefit of participation, participants will receive fast turnaround results, detailed benchmarking reports, resources to boost participation and an invitation to an end-of-cycle dissemination conference.
In return for free participation, institutions are asked to proactively distribute and promote their survey at course level, drive transformation activity on the back of the results and develop a case study for each year of participation.
We are currently welcoming expressions of interest as we look to confirm participation with a representative sample of 20-30 institutions in each year of the pilot. Please complete the survey form with your expression of interest by the end of April 2025, and we will be in touch soon.
Columbia University was dealt another blow to research funding this week.
DNY59/iStock/Getty Images
The Trump administration has frozen all U.S. National Institutes of Health funding for research grants at Columbia University, Science reported, cutting off the flow of $250 million to the private institution mere weeks after it yielded to sweeping demands related to pro-Palestinian campus protests.
The federal government had already clamped down on $400 million in research funding for Columbia last month. But after the university agreed to enact various reforms the Trump administration demanded to address alleged antisemitism on campus, it appeared a reprieve was in order. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said last month that she believed Columbia was “on the right track” toward final negotiations to unfreeze the research funds.
Instead, the Trump administration has gone in the opposite direction, cutting off even more research funding. According to Science, the NIH froze Columbia’s funding Monday at the direction of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is reportedly not only blocking new funding but also ceasing payments for work on existing projects. In addition, the agency will require prior approval to tap existing disbursements.
“HHS strongly condemns anti-Semitic harassment against Jewish students on college campuses,” a department spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed by email. “In line with President Trump’s mission to combatting discrimination and promoting fairness, HHS is partnering with other federal agencies to conduct a comprehensive review of grants awarded to universities that have failed to protect students from discriminatory behavior. We will not tolerate taxpayer-funded institutions that fail to uphold their duty to safeguard students from harassment.”
Critics assailed the move.
“It’s shocking, but not surprising, as with so many previous developments in this matter,” said Michael Thaddeus, a Columbia math professor and vice president of the institution’s American Association of University Professors chapter. “And it shows that the Trump administration just has an animus against American universities.”
Thaddeus called the actions “so patently unlawful” that litigation against the Trump administration would have a strong chance of success—yet Columbia hasn’t sued. The AAUP and the American Federation of Teachers union, with which the AAUP is affiliated, have filed a lawsuit over the prior $400 million cut.
“If what you’re dealing with is threats from an extortionist, then capitulating to the threats of an extortionist is not a wise move,” Thaddeus said. “What’s happening is not an enforcement action, it’s a political vendetta.”
Reinhold Martin, president of the Columbia AAUP chapter and an architecture professor, said “the defunding of science” reflects a structural pattern: “the movement of public funding out of the nonprofit sector into, eventually, we can fully expect, the for-profit sector. So that’s what this is about.”
A Columbia spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed the university has not yet been notified of the freeze. “At this time, Columbia has not received notice from the NIH about additional cancellations,” the spokesperson said via email. “The University remains in active dialogue with the Federal Government to restore its critical research funding.”
Columbia would not be the first university to learn about the loss of federal funding indirectly. The Trump administration also froze $790 million in federal research funding at Northwestern University earlier this week, which officials learned about via media reports. Cornell University was also dealt a $1 billion blow to its federal funding this week.
Elsewhere in the Ivy League, the Trump administration has frozen $510 million at Brown University, $175 million at the University of Pennsylvania and $210 million at Princeton University. The funding freezes mainly come in response to allegations of antisemitism related to pro-Palestinian campus protests, though federal investigations into the claims are ongoing.
Outside of Columbia, scholars noted that even though the university gave in to Trump’s demands, the administration still seemed unsatisfied.
“The NIH just froze ALL grant funding owed to Columbia University, meaning that the university’s concessions to the Trump administration clearly didn’t go far enough to satisfy the federal government,” Robert Kelchen, a professor of education and head of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, wrote in a BlueSky post.
On April 9, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will begin considering “aliens’ antisemitic activity on social media and the physical harassment of Jewish individuals as grounds for denying immigration benefit requests.” According to the announcement, the guidance is effective immediately and impacts individuals applying for lawful permanent resident status, foreign students, and “aliens affiliated with educational institutions” linked to antisemitic activity.
Under the new guidance, USCIS will look at social media content that indicates a requestor “endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity as a negative factor in any USCIS discretionary analysis when adjudicating immigration benefit requests.” The announcement states that DHS and USCIS aim to enforce all relevant immigration laws to the maximum degree, consistent with President Trump’s executive orders on combatting antisemitism and national security controls to protect against foreign terrorists.
In early March, USCIS published a proposal to collect social media information on applications for immigration-related benefits. USCIS claimed that such collection of information was necessary to comply with Trump’s national security executive order discussed above. The comment period for this information collection proposal is still open. The comment period closes May 5.
CUPA-HR continues to monitor for updates on immigration policy changes that could potentially impact student and nonimmigrant work visas used by the higher education community.
Today’s schools need to get creative to promote their programs in a way that resonates with prospects. To spur action from your audience, you need to build trust, create engagement, and foster an emotional connection. How do you do that with so many other schools competing for the spotlight? One of the most effective strategies for making a strong impression on your audience is combining user-generated contentand authentic storytelling.
These methods allow your institution to showcase real experiences, highlight student voices, and differentiate itself from competitors in an increasingly crowded educational landscape. Keep reading to discover the unique advantages of these effective education marketing tactics, get actionable insights into how to use them to reinvent your marketing plan, and examine real examples for inspiration.
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What Is User-Generated Content (UGC)?
User-generated content refers to any content, such as testimonials, social media posts, blogs, and videos, created by students, alumni, faculty, or other stakeholders rather than your institution itself. By leveraging UGC, you can present an unfiltered, genuine representation of student life and success. This makes your marketing feel more authentic and increases engagement and reach across digital platforms.
Why is user-generated content important in marketing? UGC is created by your students and alumni; it is perceived as more trustworthy than traditional promotional materials. Prospective students are more likely to trust and engage with content created by their peers rather than content crafted solely by an institution. This credibility makes UGC a powerful tool for increasing enrollment and engagement.
The Unique Advantages of User-Generated Content in Education Marketing
A key user-generated content advantage is its ability to build trust. When prospective students see real stories from current students or alumni, they develop a connection to your institution. This sense of authenticity makes them more likely to inquire about programs and ultimately enroll.
Another advantage is the ability to foster engagement across digital platforms. Content created by students, such as Instagram stories, TikTok videos, or blog posts, generates far higher engagement than traditional ads. People love sharing their experiences, and prospective students love seeing real perspectives from peers who have been in their shoes.
A major user-generated content advantage is cost-effectiveness. Instead of investing heavily in producing marketing materials, you can encourage students and alumni to share their stories organically. This reduces costs and enhances your reach, as UGC spreads naturally through networks.
Another reason why user-generated content is important in marketing is its adaptability across multiple platforms. UGC can be repurposed into social media campaigns, website testimonials, video promotions, and email marketing efforts. This versatility allows you to maintain a steady stream of fresh, compelling content.
Source: HEM
What Is Authentic Storytelling in an Educational Marketing Context?
Authentic storytelling goes beyond traditional marketing materials to craft compelling narratives highlighting real student and faculty experiences. Instead of relying solely on promotional messages, this approach uses emotion, relatability, and personal journeys to engage prospective students.
What is the power of storytelling in education? Authentic storytelling is powerful because it transforms abstract institutional values into relatable, real-world experiences. It allows prospective students to see themselves in your stories, making their decision-making process more personal and impactful. This approach humanizes your institution and strengthens your brand identity.
One of the best ways to incorporate authentic storytelling into your marketing strategy is by featuring in-depth student and alumni stories. A compelling blog could follow the experiences of an international student adjusting to life in a new country while studying at your institution. A video series could showcase students discussing their educational journey, including their challenges and triumphs. By doing this, you create content that is informative and emotionally engaging.
The Advantages of Authentic Storytelling in Education Marketing
Unlike traditional promotional content, authentic storytelling builds emotional connections that influence student decision-making. By sharing real experiences from your students and faculty, you provide prospects insight into your institution’s culture, values, and impact.
One of the greatest advantages of authentic storytelling is its ability to make your institution’s messaging more relatable. Instead of generic promotional materials, prospective students see real-life success stories, challenges, and personal growth journeys, helping them visualize their own future at your school.
Another unique benefit is the ability to enhance brand trust and credibility. People connect with stories, not advertisements. By showcasing genuine experiences through student interviews, alumni journeys, and behind-the-scenes campus life, your school appears more transparent and welcoming. This approach fosters a deeper connection with your audience, making them more likely to engage with your institution.
Authentic storytelling also strengthens retention and alumni relations. When students feel emotionally connected to your institution through compelling narratives, they are more likely to remain engaged throughout their education and beyond. Alumni who feel valued through storytelling initiatives often become ambassadors for your school, further enhancing your brand reach.
How Your School Can Leverage User-Generated Content and Authentic Storytelling
Building a marketing strategy around user-generated content and authentic storytelling requires a proactive approach. Instead of simply encouraging students to share their experiences, you need to create opportunities for engagement, provide platforms for their voices, and consistently highlight their stories. By doing so, you ensure that the content generated aligns with your school’s brand and messaging while maintaining the authenticity that makes it so powerful.
Encourage Student-Generated Social Media Content
One of the best ways to integrate UGC into your marketing strategy is by motivating students to share their experiences on social media. Encourage them to document campus life, extracurricular activities, and classroom experiences.
For example, your university might launch an Instagram challenge where students post their favorite campus spots with a branded hashtag. Similarly, a career college could create a TikTok trend showcasing student projects or daily routines in their training programs.
Example: This video, posted by a UCLA student, is a free promotion for the school’s dining hall. She is making a relatable joke about the proverbial ‘freshman fifteen,’ an expression for the weight gain that tends to occur in the first year of college. The creator credits the delicious food at UCLA for her freshman fifteen, and this is not the only video of its kind on her page. Satisfied students eager to share their experiences are invaluable for generating compelling UGC. Encourage students to use specific hashtags for their UGC as this creator did (#ucla #dininghall, etc).
Prospective students value hearing from those who have already walked the path they are considering. Featuring student and alumni testimonials on your website, in promotional videos, and on social media channels provides relatable insights into your programs.
An example of effective testimonial use is a nursing college that records short video interviews with recent graduates discussing their experiences and career outcomes. These testimonials provide compelling, relatable stories that reinforce the value of your school’s programs.
Example: AAPS regularly posts alumni video testimonials highlighting each graduate’s unique background, career goals, and how the institution supported the attainment of their objectives. Here, Teresa Barnes describes how the Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs program at AAPS helped her to find success as a Medical Writer. Your alumni community is probably full of careerists who are proud of their achievements and are excited to talk about their journey. This is an excellent opportunity for effective brand storytelling.
Source: Academy of Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences | YouTube
Develop Long-Form Content With Authentic Storytelling
Creating blog posts or video documentaries featuring students’ journeys can be a powerful way to engage prospects. A compelling blog could follow a student during an internship and how the experience shaped their career aspirations. This approach showcases your school’s opportunities while telling a relatable story that resonates with other students considering similar paths.
Additionally, long-form content allows for in-depth storytelling that goes beyond surface-level promotions. A well-written blog post could feature a student reflecting on their academic journey, describing their challenges, the mentors who guided them, and the personal growth they experienced. Similarly, a video series might document a student’s transition from their first day on campus to their graduation, providing prospective students with a complete picture of what they can expect.
Example: Blogs remain a relevant way to tell your school’s story and give your student body a voice. Here, Algonquin Careers Academy tells the story of one of their dental assistant graduates. By publishing a blog post that features a student interview, the message is personable, inspirational, and authentic. Try to infuse personality into your long-form content whether you choose to blog, post videos, create a newsletter, or all three.
Source: Algonquin Careers Academy
Highlight Behind-The-Scenes Content
Showcasing the day-to-day experiences of students, faculty, and staff makes your institution feel more welcoming and accessible. A behind-the-scenes video series might follow a day in the life of a student in a culinary arts program, walk viewers through a school event, and showcase hands-on learning experiences and interactions with industry professionals.
An effective example comes from business schools that share faculty-led discussions, giving students an inside look at the classroom environment before they apply. This storytelling adds authenticity and provides a window into your school’s culture and academic strengths.
Example: Here, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy showcases its open house event, building anticipation for prospects and providing useful information about what they can expect from the event. Behind-the-scenes videos are easy to film, effective for humanizing your brand, and excellent ways to inform your audience in an engaging, easy-to-digest format.
To increase engagement, your school can launch user-generated content campaigns that incentivize participation. This could include video challenges, photo competitions, or student-run social media takeovers. For instance, a digital marketing diploma program might host a competition where students submit real-world marketing campaign ideas, with the winner featured on your school’s website and social media pages. This not only showcases student talent but also strengthens your brand’s credibility.
Example: Seguin High School showcases the artistic talent of one of their students who had won an art contest. Not only is this an excellent way to instill well-deserved pride and support in your students, but it is also a great way to humanize your school brand and display your strong community.
Source: Seguin High School | Instagram
Get Support as You Elevate Your Education Marketing Strategy
In today’s highly competitive and interconnected world, attracting qualified student prospects online is essential to a successful recruitment strategy. Schools and universities must implement innovative and authentic marketing techniques, leveraging user-generated content and authentic storytelling to connect with their audiences on a deeper level. Working with a marketing agency specializing in education marketing can be a game changer for your results.
For over 15 years, Higher Education Marketing has crafted successful digital marketing strategies for schools worldwide. Our deep understanding of education marketing allows us to design multichannel campaigns that drive engagement and enrollment. We provide tailored services, including:
Content Marketing
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Social Media Marketing
Paid Advertising Campaigns
Partner with us to harness the power of storytelling in education and leverage the benefits of user-generated content to drive real engagement. Contact us today to explore how our expert digital marketing solutions can transform your student recruitment efforts and enhance your institution’s online presence.
Struggling with enrollment?
Our expert digital marketing services can help you attract and enroll more students!
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Why is user-generated content important in marketing?
Answer: UGC is created by your students and alumni; it is perceived as more trustworthy than traditional promotional materials. Prospective students are more likely to trust and engage with content created by their peers rather than content crafted solely by an institution.
Question: What is the power of storytelling in education?
Answer: Authentic storytelling is powerful because it transforms abstract institutional values into relatable, real-world experiences. It allows prospective students to see themselves in your stories, making their decision-making process more personal and impactful. This approach humanizes your institution and strengthens your brand identity.
