Tag: Student

  • The Power of Tailored Advising in Supporting Student Success

    The Power of Tailored Advising in Supporting Student Success

    This post was co-written with Natalie McVay.

    As a college graduate, RNL’s Natalie McVay has direct experience and helpful insights on the impact of advising on student success outcomes. After attending two separate institutions with differing levels of advising support, Natalie identified specific elements of “transactional” advising that nurtured her success, guiding her on her path to degree completion. For more information on Natalie’s perspective—including advising methods that impacted her ability to retain at her first institution, resulting in her decision to transfer—see RNL’s on-demand webinar The Student’s Perspective: Retention and Motivation.

    A proactive approach to student success

    In an era where student engagement and retention are top priorities, institutions are seeking innovative ways to support students at risk of leaving. Tailored transactional advising is a proactive approach to advising, relevant for all advising philosophies. This approach identifies students in need and provides opportunities to intervene with targeted resources to improve their experience. This strategy not only demonstrates the institution’s commitment to student success but also provides a clear return on investment (ROI) for the student.

    Identifying students’ needs and intervening with resources

    Using analytics and data-driven insights, institutions can identify students who are at risk of leaving due to various factors such as low academic performance, lack of engagement, or other challenges. By intervening early, advisors can offer support, connecting students with resources that match their specific needs.

    However, it’s not about overwhelming students with a laundry list of available resources. Instead, advisors must show students how the institution is committed to their success, highlighting the specific benefits and value of the resources being offered within an appropriate timeframe. And they need to provide the specific resources that each student is looking for.

    Identifying students’ needs and offering support to address those needs at key points in their academic journeys can be the critical influence needed to retain at-risk populations and to ultimately improve student success outcomes.

    One way to gather relevant data about students is through RNL’s Retention Management System (RMS) which measures non-cognitive motivational indicators that pinpoint each student’s (and cohort’s) strengths, risk factors, and receptivity for support at three pivotal transitions in their academic journey. (Learn more about the RMS.)

    The power of written proof

    When students are struggling, they may feel disconnected from their institution. One way to engage them is by incorporating communications that reflect students’ specific concerns along with relevant campus resources to address those concerns. Tailored, timely and data-informed communications can be a key source of guidance in helping students successfully meet their goals. This approach acknowledges students’ individual concerns and shows that the institution is invested in their well-being.

    The impact of words in transactional advising

    In a transactional advising scenario, words have the power to make a significant difference. A well-crafted email or in-person message can convey empathy, understanding, and a genuine interest in your student’s success. The tone and language used can either make or break the student’s perception of the institution’s commitment to their success.

    Let’s consider two email examples in response to a student who is struggling with study habits and sense of belonging, and who is also receptive to career guidance:

    Option 1: A basic transactional approach

    “Have you taken advantage of these student resources?

    • Study groups
    • Peer group chat
    • Meet with an alumni

    We want to ensure you have the support you need to succeed.”

    Option 2: A more personal and supportive transactional approach

    “Natalie, my goal is to connect you to the right resources here on campus!

    If the study group doesn’t feel like the right fit, make sure to check out the peer group chat. I know there are other students like you waiting to take the first step. I also have a contact list of alumni who would love to connect with you about various career paths they chose after completing their degree here at [institution].

    I’m in your corner!”

    The second option not only acknowledges Natalie’s struggles but also employs empathy and a genuine interest in her well-being while offering options to address her specific concerns. By using words that convey a sense of support and connection, advisors can build trust and help students feel more invested in their own success.

    Utilizing mail merge and word play

    Institutional data, such as student success initiatives and predictive analytics, can be used to populate emails like these. Mail merge capabilities can help advisors send personalized messages to students, making them feel seen and valued. Word play, such as using phrases like “I’m in your corner,” can make a significant impact, creating a sense of connection and community.

    By leveraging tailored transactional advising, institutions can demonstrate their commitment to student success and provide a more personal and supportive experience for students. By using data-driven insights and targeted resources, advisors can make a meaningful difference in a student’s life, helping them stay enrolled and achieve their goals.

    According to Natalie, tailored transactional advising influenced her desire to consistently re-enroll and, ultimately, graduate as an adult student from the institution that helped deliver her 2nd student experience: “My commitment to them was higher because I felt their commitment to me.”

    Watch the webinar

    To learn more about this approach, listen to the on-demand webinar on the topic. 

    You can also connect with RNL professionals to learn how the Retention Management System can work at your institution, providing you with data you need to make personal connections with students to keep them enrolled. 

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  • Graduate Student Pipeline | Collegis Education

    Graduate Student Pipeline | Collegis Education

    Despite an increasingly competitive market, many colleges and universities still view graduate enrollment strategies as a key growth lever for their institutions. To win in the graduate enrollment space, you first need a deeper understanding of prospective graduate students’ preferences and behaviors.

    This infographic, “What Potential Graduate Students Expect in the Enrollment Funnel,” compiles some of the key data and insights from our recent collaboration with UPCEA that surveyed graduate students to uncover their needs and expectations, focusing on program preferences, delivery methods, and expectations during the inquiry and application processes.

    This infographic is only the tip of the iceberg. Learn more about how to tailor your graduate student recruitment strategies and position your programs for success and growth in our recent report, “Building a Better Pipeline: Enrollment Funnel Needs and Perspectives from Potential Post-Baccalaureate Students.”

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  • NM Vistas: What’s New in State Student Achievement Data?

    NM Vistas: What’s New in State Student Achievement Data?

    By Mo Charnot
    For NMEducation.com

    The New Mexico Public Education Department has updated its student achievement data reporting website — NM Vistas — with a renovated layout and school performance data from the 2023-2024 academic year, with expectations for additional information to be released in January 2025. 

    NM Vistas is crucial to informing New Mexicans about school performance and progress at the school, district and state levels through yearly report cards. The site displays student reading, math and science proficiency rates taken from state assessments, as required by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Districts and schools receive scores between 0 and 100 based on performance, and schools also receive designations indicating the level of support the school requires to improve.

    Other information on the site includes graduation rates, attendance and student achievement growth. Data also shows rates among specific student demographics, including race, gender, disability, economic indicators and more. 

    PED Deputy Secretary of Teaching, Learning and Innovation, Amanda DeBell told NM Education in an interview that this year’s recreation of the NM Vistas site came from a desire to go beyond the state’s requirements for school performance data.

    “We knew that New Mexico VISTAs had a ton of potential to be a tool that our communities could use,” DeBell said. 

    One new data point added to NM Vistas this year is early literacy rates, which measures the percentage of students in grades K-2 who are reading proficiently at their grade level. Currently, federal law only requires proficiency rates for grades 3-8 to be published, and New Mexico also publishes 11th grade SAT scores. In the 2023-2024 school year, 34.6% of students grades K-2 were proficient in reading, the data says.

    DeBell said several advisory groups encouraged the PED to report early literacy data through NM Vistas.

    “We were missing some key data-telling opportunities by not publishing the early literacy [rates] on our website, so we made a real effort to get those early literacy teachers the kudos that they deserve by demonstrating the scores,” DeBell said.

    The PED also added data on individual schools through badges indicating specific programs and resources the school offers. For example, Ace Leadership High School in Albuquerque has two badges: one for being a community school offering wraparound services to students and families, and another for qualifying for the career and technical education-focused Innovation Zone program.

    “What we are really trying to do is provide a sort of one-stop shopping for families and community members to highlight all of the work that schools are doing,” DeBell said.

    The updated NM Vistas website has removed a few things as well, most notably the entire 2021-2022 NM Vistas data set. DeBell said this was because the PED changed the way it measured student growth data, which resulted in the 2021-2022 school year’s data being incomparable to the most recent two years. 

    “You could not say that the schools in 2021-2022 were doing the same as 2022-2023 or 2023-2024, because the mechanism for calculating their scores was different,” DeBell said.

    However, this does leave NM Vistas with less data overall, only allowing viewers to compare scores from the latest data set to last year’s. 

    In January 2025, several new indicators are expected to be uploaded to the site, including:

    • Student performance levels: Reports the percentage of students who are novices, nearing proficiency, proficient and advanced in reading, math and science at each school, rather than only separating between proficient and not proficient.
    • Results for The Nation’s Report Card (also known as NAEP): Compares student proficiencies between US states.
    • Educator qualifications: DeBell said this would include information on individual schools’ numbers of newer teachers, substitute teachers covering vacancies and more.
    • College enrollment rates: only to be statewide numbers indicating the percentage of New Mexico students attending college after graduating, but DeBell said she later hopes the PED can narrow down by each K-12 school.
    • Per-pupil spending: How much money each school, district and the state spends per-student on average. 
    • School climate: Links the viewer to results of school climate surveys asking students, parents and teachers how they feel about their school experience.
    • Alternate assessment participation: Percentage of students who take a different assessment in place of the NM-MSSA or SAT.

    “We want VISTAs to be super, super responsive, and we want families to be able to use this and get good information,” DeBell said. “We will continue to evolve this until it’s at its 100th iteration, if it takes that much.”

    This year, the PED released statewide assessment results for the 2023-2024 school year to NM Vistas on Nov. 15. Results show 39% of New Mexico students are proficient in reading, 23% are proficient in math and 38% are proficient in science. Compared to last year’s scores, reading proficiency increased by 1%, math proficiency decreased by 1% and science proficiency increased by 4%.

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  • Graduate Student Insights and Perspectives

    Graduate Student Insights and Perspectives

    Report Title: Building a Better Pipeline: Enrollment Funnel Needs and Perspectives from Potential Post Baccalaureate Students

    Author: Collegis Education + UPCEA

    Published: December 2024

    Key points addressed

    In this ebook, you’ll learn more about prospective graduate students’ needs and expectations as they move through the enrollment funnel, including:

    • The level of degree desired, as well as the preferred learning format
    • Factors that cause disengagement during the inquiry and application processes
    • Prospective students’ communication preferences and application expectations
    • How institutions can tailor recruitment strategies accordingly

    Overview

    While higher education institutions face tightening budgets, demographic cliffs, and other market headwinds, many schools see graduate enrollment growth as a critical strategy despite the increasingly competitive landscape. Strategic investments in outreach have never been more vital.

    With more and more programs sharing similarities in their structure than differences, one way schools can win is by delivering frictionless and exceptional student experiences, using prospective graduate students’ preferences, behaviors, and other insights to personalize engagements and outreach.

    By understanding these preferences, institutions can better tailor their recruitment strategies and allocate resources more effectively in an increasingly competitive landscape.

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  • HEDx Podcast: Student empathy is critical for success – Episode 148

    HEDx Podcast: Student empathy is critical for success – Episode 148



    By: Martin Betts

    in Analysis, Podcasts, Radio+TV


    December 9, 2024

    Founder and chief executive of degree management ed-tech Stellic Sabih Bin Wasi used his own student experience of interacting with university systems to improve the student experience.

    His platform, adopted by 70 universities, is designed to bring together academic planning, advising and scheduling so his peers can better “work out the complexity of higher education.”

    Do you have an idea for a story?
    Email [email protected]


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  • National Student Ombudsman legislation passed, leader announced

    National Student Ombudsman legislation passed, leader announced

    The new independent National Student Ombudsman will be led by Sarah Bendall (L), pictured with Jason Clare, in an image posted to social media on November 29, 2024. Picture: Facebook



    By: Erin Morley

    in Policy & Reform, Top Stories


    December 9, 2024

    A highly experienced lawyer has been appointed to lead the anticipated university watchdog and complaints function, after the legislation passed in the last sitting week of parliament.

    Please login below to view content or subscribe now.

    Membership Login

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  • How to write MBA Student Resume with Keywords

    How to write MBA Student Resume with Keywords

    Creating a resume for a mba fresher student can be a crucial step in launching your career or getting your first job.

    Rememder that HR Recruiter have only 3-5 seconds to review your resume on job portals. So you should start your resume with 

    • Name –
    • Email –
    • Phone Number –
    • Linkedin ID – Create a Impressive Portfolio that highlights your internship experience or github projects. If you have recommendations from past employer or friends from same domain experience is a bonus. Todays most HR recruiters try to find your extra carricular activity like NGO or charity work you have done during your college days or activity on linkedin post. 

    A strong cover page details or job objective for 4 lines is a must. This is the section recruiters read before downloading your resume from portal. You should change this section every 7 days to keep it fresh and up-to-date. 

    For experienced candidates, write a summary that highlights your professional identity and major achievements in your present job or intership that increased companies profitability will help you get job interview calls faster.

    A well-structured resume template format in word format highlights your education, skills, and any relevant experience, even if it’s limited. Below is a guide to help you craft an effective resume that can help you to get inverview calls faster.

    Do not discuss your salary expectation in direct figure. Give a salary range depending upon job responsibility.

     Just change the following details on the releveant field and upload on job sites like naukri, indeed or linkedin. 

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  • Enrollment Management Software: Enhance Student Experience

    Enrollment Management Software: Enhance Student Experience

    Tune In To Our Audio Blog

     

    Introduction

    Enrollment management is the core function of any educational institution. It involves not merely processing applications but also influencing students’ futures and facilitating a smooth experience from the initial expression of interest in your institution. This work can frequently appear daunting for registrars.

    You are responsible for the daily management of extensive documentation, the navigation of complex systems, and the pursuit of ensuring that each student feels supported and welcomed. Nevertheless, it is clear that a straightforward routine can be transformed into a substantial inconvenience by manual procedures, communication failures, and data management complications.

    Enrollment management software is thus critically essential in this context. This robust solution is engineered to confront the difficulties you encounter directly, facilitating process optimization and improving the student experience. We will be addressing student enrollment issues faced by registrars during registration and investigate how an appropriate software solution might significantly benefit both your staff and the students you assist. Let us engage collaboratively to address these concerns.

     

    Common Pain Points in Enrollment Management

     

     

    Since we are all aware that enrollment management is a genuine challenge, let us discuss some of the most significant sore points you encounter. And rest assured, you are not alone in this. A whopping 67% of registrars report feeling overwhelmed by manual processes and documentation, as indicated by a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). We can deconstruct a few of these “student enrollment issues” for you!

     

    Manual Procedures and Paperwork

    Manual data entry can be inordinately time-consuming, as we are all aware. No matter how diligently you propel, you appear to make minimal progress when endeavoring to swim upstream. Disorganized spreadsheets, handwritten notes, and stacks of forms not only impede productivity but also heighten the probability of errors. In reality, organizations that implement manual processes may allocate up to 30% more time to administrative duties than those that adhere to automated systems. Imagining the potential of that additional leisure!

     

    Lack of Real-Time Data Access

    How frequently do you wait for info before making a big decision? Real-time data is essential in today’s fast-paced educational environment. Working with obsolete or delayed data might slow your response to student needs and strategic opportunities. According to a recent research, 56% of registrars said delayed data retrieval hindered decision-making. Yikes!

     

    Communication Gaps

    Communicating can be like playing broken telephone. Departments and students can lose vital information, causing confusion and frustration. Critical updates may not reach the appropriate people at the right time. Eduventures found that 43% of enrollment officers have communication gaps, which affect student happiness and engagement.

     

    Poor Application Tracking

    How often have you yearned for a magic wand to effortlessly track application statuses? Finding a needle in a haystack might be difficult without a system. Incomplete applications, missing paperwork, and inability to track progress can stress registrars and students. College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) found that 62% of registrars struggle with application monitoring, delaying admissions and missing student prospects.

     

    Few Reports and Analytics

    Let’s conclude with data analysis—or lack thereof. How can you examine trends and patterns to inform enrollment plans if your reporting capabilities are limited? You must estimate what works and what doesn’t without complete data. According to an AACRAO poll, 70% of registrars want better reporting tools to guide their strategy.

    That’s it. These typical issues can severely affect enrollment management and the student experience. Do not worry! The correct enrollment management software can address these issues. Explore how it can streamline your procedures and improve everyone’s experience.

     

    How Can Universities Reduce Pain Points in the Student Enrollment Process Using Enrollment Management Software?

     

    Say Goodbye to Paperwork with Automation

    It’s no secret that entering data by hand and dealing with piles of papers can be a real pain. By bettering these steps, enrollment management software takes that load off your shoulders. You could save a lot of time if you let the software do the boring work. That way, you could focus on what really matters: helping kids and making their experience better.

     

    Have insights at your fingertips in real time

    Delayed data can make it hard to make quick choices. When you use registration management software, you can get to important data at any time. You don’t have to wait for reports or changes anymore. You can get instant information that helps you make decisions right away.

     

    Talk to people in other departments without any problems

    Communication is very important in a busy registration office, which we all know. These systems come with built-in ways to talk to each other and kids, so everyone stays in touch. There will be less confusion and knowledge will flow more easily, which is good for everyone.

     

    Master Application Tracking

    There shouldn’t be any element of guesswork involved in monitoring applications. Using the application tracking features provided by enrollment management software, you can easily keep tabs on the status of each application in real time.

    The outcome = you can stay organized plus give ultimate experience to applicants that they demand.

     

    Master the Art of Advanced Reporting for Radical Insights

    Data is your greatest ally when enhancing enrollment strategies. Enrollment management software’s powerful reporting and analytics features help you gain valuable insights into patterns and outcomes. This simply implies that you may influence your organization’s success through data-driven decisions.

     

    Advanced Reporting Provides Powerful Insights

    Data is your best friend for enrollment strategy improvement. Advanced reporting and analytics in enrollment management software let you analyze trends and outcomes. You can use data to make decisions that affect your institution’s success.

     

    What Enrollment Management Software Can Do for You, Registrar! Additional Benefits

     

    benefits-of-enrollment-management-software

     

    Easily Create Compliance Reports: No more scrambling during audits. With built-in reporting tools, you’ll have audit-ready reports at your fingertips.

    Create Compliance Reports with No Effort: No more rushing through audits. Built-in reporting features will let you have audit-ready reports right at hand.

    Reduced Human Errors: Automate data entry and tracking to greatly lower errors that might pass through in-hand procedures. 

    Access Real-Time Enrollment Data: Real-time updates will keep you current with enrollment figures, so guiding quick, wise selections.

    Secure Student Data: Forget data breaches. Cloud storage ensures security and compliance, providing you peace of mind.

    Make Reviewing Applications Easy: Let the program indicate critical details so you may focus on the big picture instead of sorting through heaps of papers.

    Get Everyone on One Agenda: Forget about departmental conflicts. Centralized data guarantees that everyone has the same information, so facilitating smooth teamwork.

    Create Methodologies That Fit You: Customize the system to fit the demands of your university so the enrolling process seems seamless, quick, and completely customized.

    Engage Students More: Use the software’s chat features to keep students up to date and interested throughout the whole process.

    Scale operations easily: The software adapts to your needs, so you don’t have to worry about losing accuracy or speed as the number of enrollments goes up or down.

     

    Wrapping It Up: Boost Enrollment Management with the Right Tool from Creatrix Campus

    At the heart of improving the student experience is how well you manage enrollment. We know the pain points—manual processes, communication breakdowns, and keeping track of every application can slow you down. As a registrar, you’re juggling enough already. Why not make things easier?

    Enrollment management software helps. We simplify operations, improve collaboration, and provide real-time data access, so you can focus on delivering a successful student journey. When modernizing your system, Creatrix Campus includes everything a modern registrar needs to ease the process. Contact our staff for more!

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  • Student Engagement in Higher Education

    Student Engagement in Higher Education

    How to Deliver a Personalized Experience Throughout the Student Journey

    Imagine this: a prospective student fills out a request for information on your website, sharing personal details like their program of interest, transfer status, and intended start date. What happens next? Too often, the response is a generic email or text urging them to apply. Then, perhaps unsurprisingly, many institutions see declining contact rates and applications. 

    Delivering an engaging, personalized experience — at scale, across programs, and from the very first interaction — is no small feat. But it’s also essential in today’s competitive higher education landscape. While complex communication plans and sophisticated automation tools play a role, sometimes the simplest approach can make the biggest difference: Asking the right questions.

    Focusing on the right questions can strengthen student relationships, increase lead-to-application rates, and even drive application-to-enrollment success, helping institutions connect personally with students and boost engagement at every stage of their journey.

    What Is Student Engagement in Higher Ed? 

    Before we can start asking students questions, we must first ask ourselves an obvious question: What is student engagement? 

    Engagement rates are metrics that show how actively involved your audience is with your content. By tracking specific metrics, your institution can analyze the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. You should track the number of people who interact with your follow-up communications: whether they open, click, respond to, or visit a website.

    Every interaction a prospective student has with your institution’s website, social media posts, texts or emails, and other digital content generates data that you can use to capture information about leads (prospective students) and better understand and optimize future marketing efforts. 

    Tracking and analyzing “clicks” can tell you:

    • If prospects are opening, clicking, responding to emails or texts, answering calls, and otherwise interacting with your institution — leading indicators of intent to apply and even enroll 
    • Which prospects are the most engaged — so you can prioritize communications with them while your brand is top of mind

    At Archer, we’ve seen clients have 44% higher application-to-start rates and 33% higher application rates when prospective students engage with an institution’s post-inquiry communication. This makes for an efficient use of resources, as you’ve already generated the inquiry. A bump in conversion rates can go a long way in stretching a limited budget. 

    One Simple Thing You Can Do to Increase Student Engagement

    Imagine you have the opportunity to meet with every prospective student in person for coffee. What would you do? How would you engage with them? You’d probably begin to build rapport by asking them lots of questions. 

    A digital meetup should be treated no differently than an in-person engagement. “Digital” is simply another method of communication. Granted, you’re not able to sit at your computer and chat online with every prospect, but in terms of how to interact and build student engagement, you should think of it the same way: as a two-way conversation. 

    Simply put, stop talking at prospective students and start communicating with them.

    As much as you’re tempted to begin by telling them how great your school and program are, it’s best to first understand where a student is coming from and what they’re looking for.

    At Archer, our team and our proprietary end-to-end student support solution — called Onward — are available to students 24/7. Built exclusively for the student journey, Onward collects and analyzes data on digital student engagement and optimizes digital student communication with a goal of increasing post-inquiry engagement. It has taught us a lot.  

    We’ve found that one of the most impactful things we can do in our follow-up communication with students to boost engagement rates — at any stage of the student lifecycle — is to ask questions. Indeed, in follow-up exchanges where we ask students specific questions (and provide an option to answer directly in that communication), we see click-through rates 42% higher than average.

    It’s Not Too Late to Start Asking Questions 

    Even if you’ve already missed a key opportunity to ask questions of new prospects, circling back to get to know them better at any point in their student journey can have an impact.

    Working with our partner Peru State College, we started sending a “What’s holding you back?” email to prospective students who weren’t taking the next step forward. The email not only asked “What’s holding you back from enrolling with us?” but also let the recipient click on an answer. For that email, we saw an average open rate of 16% — which doesn’t look too impressive until you consider these prospects had stopped engaging — and, more importantly, an average 33% click-through rate (with a majority of clicks leading to “apply now” pages). Not only did the email help the college reconnect with “lost” students, but we learned how to better connect with unconverted prospects going forward.

    The email allowed us to determine who was stopping out and why.

    • The top reason for not moving forward was related to finances (35%).
    • More than 20% of prospective students had enrolled elsewhere.
    • 5% said they weren’t ready to enroll yet but wanted to attend in the future.

    These insights informed our follow-up digital communication, as well as our one-on-one admissions team follow-up. As a result, we reengaged with a meaningful percentage of stopped-out prospects by understanding some of their challenges and following up with relevant information. Moreover, 20% of this audience took action by clicking to start or finish their application and/or call an admissions rep.

    Student Engagement Strategies for Every Higher Ed Stage 

    We used this same engagement strategy for first-time students enrolled in Peru State College’s online programs. Before we could view information in our partner’s learning management system to see if students were showing up for class or turning in assignments — leading indicators of student success — we wanted to check in with these new students directly to ask how their first week was going. The email asked, “How are you feeling about your first week?”

    This email had an average open rate of 71% and an average click-through rate (CTR) of 31%.

    Using a similar email, Archer helped another partner intervene to help 14 students who had indicated they weren’t having the best first-week experience. By asking follow-up questions to learn what wasn’t working for them, and forwarding that information to our admissions team, we were able to connect those students with a success coach at the university.

    Optimize Student Engagement at Your Higher Education Institution 

    Higher-ed marketers and enrollment professionals know from experience that the success of every student is important to an institution’s long-term success. Providing a more personalized and engaging student experience can have a positive impact on enrollment growth and student retention. 

    It’s time for you to start having meaningful digital conversations that make an impact. 

    While Archer Education uses Onward, our easily scalable end-to-end student support solution, to deliver personalized communication and tailored post-inquiry follow-up 24/7, you don’t need a sophisticated lead nurturing tool to improve your student engagement strategies. Simply start asking questions in your communication with students and provide them with an easy way to respond. 

    Want to learn more about how to modernize your student experience and increase enrollment and retention rates with Archer’s Onward student support solution? Reach out to us and learn more today.

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    Angie Mohr

    Director of Marketing & Communications

    Angie Mohr is the senior vice president of student engagement at Archer Education. With a background in marketing, communications, and CRM and marketing automation, she has over 15 years of strategic communications and higher education experience. In her current role at Archer Education, a full-service marketing and enrollment solutions provider for higher education institutions, Angie focuses on supporting student acquisition and life cycle delivery services, utilizing scalable communications strategies and technologies to help prospective students engage, enroll, and persist in their student journey.

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  • Indiana University Faculty Who Focus on Student Engagement Using Top Hat See 11.5% Decrease in Student Withdrawal Rate

    Indiana University Faculty Who Focus on Student Engagement Using Top Hat See 11.5% Decrease in Student Withdrawal Rate

    Course withdrawals carry significant academic and financial consequences for students and universities. Studies consistently demonstrate that withdrawing from first-year courses can greatly increase a student’s risk of discontinuing their studies, reducing their likelihood of completing a degree (Akos & James, 2020).

    TORONTO – October 22, 2024 – Top Hat, a leading provider of student engagement solutions for higher education, has released the first significant finding in an ongoing research initiative with Indiana University exploring the impact of student engagement leveraging Top Hat on retention and academic outcomes. The study, involving an analysis of hundreds of courses from the Spring, Summer, and Fall semesters of 2023, observed that the use of Top Hat by instructors resulted in an 11.5 percent decrease in the mean student withdrawal rate compared to similar course types without using the platform. In absolute numbers, this would equate to approximately 289 of the sampled Indiana University students continuing their course work during the 2023 academic year. The findings highlight the positive impact of integrating Top Hat into course delivery on student retention, particularly in introductory courses that often have higher drop-out rates.

    The Top Hat platform empowers educators to use frequent low stakes assessments to increase student engagement during lectures through interactive polls, quizzes, and discussions. The use of frequent low stakes assessments have been shown to improve student confidence, academic outcomes and retention (Meer & Chapman, 2014). The principles of active learning can also be extended outside of class through Top Hat Pages, a content editing and personalization tool that enables instructors to create or customize their own interactive learning materials. Every interaction is captured by the platform, providing students with real-time feedback, while empowering faculty with data-driven insights they can use to identify struggling students and improve the impact of their instruction.

    “Indiana University is deeply committed to the success of our students, and the findings from this research demonstrate how the thoughtful integration of instructional technologies has contributed to strengthening our undergraduate retention,” said Gina Londino-Smolar, Ed.D., Teaching Professor at IU Indianapolis. “Implementing active learning and frequent assessment, which have been shown to improve student outcomes, has been an important focus for us and our partnership with Top Hat has been instrumental in enabling us to scale these practices across our institution, ensuring a consistent, high quality learning experience for our students.”

    The study’s primary objective is to evaluate the influence of Top Hat on various student outcomes, with an initial focus on withdrawal rates—a key indicator of student success. The collaborative research project, approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB), involved analyzing data from thousands of individual courses. From the original large dataset, similar courses based on discipline and level were identified in order to equalize the sample size and undertake a more accurate analysis. After filtering the dataset, 235 unique Top Hat courses were compared against a similar set of 235 unique courses that did not use Top Hat.

    Indiana University began working with Top Hat in 2017 and, based on high rates of faculty adoption, made the decision to offer the platform free of charge to all students by entering into an enterprise license agreement the following year. By addressing concerns around equity, student affordability and ensuring compliance with respect to data privacy and standards for web accessibility, adoption has increased substantially. For the 2023/2024 academic year 1,022 faculty and 51,679 students across more than 1,900 individual courses from all nine IU campuses used Top Hat to enhance learning.

    “This study reinforces the importance of providing faculty with tools that make evidence-based practices, like active learning, easier to adopt,” said Maggie Leen, CEO of Top Hat. “The data speaks for itself—when instructors have access to the tools to support effective teaching methods, it can lead to stronger student engagement and higher persistence. We’re proud to be part of Indiana University’s efforts to increase on-time graduation rates for their students.”

    The 2030 IU Strategic Plan has one pillar dedicated to Student Success and Opportunity with a commitment to student affordability and experience throughout their educational journey to have success in the workplace and beyond. The incorporation of Top Hat to engage students with the course content, reducing withdrawal rates, can be seen as a direct contribution to the pillar for student success.

    Since its founding in 2009, Top Hat has continued to introduce new features to make proven teaching methods more accessible to instructors. Most recently, Top Hat announced the release of Ace, an AI-powered teaching and learning assistant that enables instructors to generate assessment questions and discussion prompts based on their lecture slides and course materials. As a personalized study assistant, Ace allows students to break down challenging concepts, find guidance tackling difficult homework assignments, and create on-demand practice questions they can use to prepare for high stakes assessments. 

    The initial findings will inform both Indiana University and Top Hat’s future strategies for enhancing student outcomes. The research initiative is currently focused on identifying patterns of usage by instructors across disciplines and their impact on student engagement and academic performance. Ongoing analysis is exploring the impact of Top Hat on the academic experience of various student populations, including historically underrepresented groups with a focus on how the platform supports equitable access to learning, improves engagement, and contributes to closing achievement gaps.

    About Indiana University

    Indiana University (IU) is one of the nation’s leading public research universities, with 90,000 students across 930+ academic programs, seven campuses, two regional academic centers and nine School of Medicine campuses. Since 1820, Indiana University has helped students create brighter futures while also driving innovation, from breakthroughs in DNA technology to cancer research to trailblazing cultural programs and resources. IU is home to world-class academics with the country’s largest medical school, the world’s first school of philanthropy, the top-ranked Kelley School of Business and O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, the nation’s first school of informatics. The university’s campuses are united by IU 2030, an aspirational vision for a bold and ambitious future focused on student success and opportunity, transformative research and creativity, and service to the state of Indiana and beyond. Learn more at iu.edu.

    About Top Hat

    As the leader in student engagement solutions for higher education, Top Hat enables educators to employ proven student-centered teaching practices through interactive content and tools enhanced by AI, and activities in in-person, online and hybrid classroom environments. To accelerate student impact and return on investment, the company provides a range of change management services, including faculty training and instructional design support, integration and data management services, and digital content customization. Thousands of faculty at 750 leading North American colleges and universities use Top Hat to create meaningful, engaging and accessible learning experiences for students before, during, and after class.

    Contact [email protected] for media inquiries.

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