Higher Education Interacting and Engaging, Not Just for Students Anymore

05/18/2011

Posted by Dawn Marie Bailey

After it received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2004, Monfort College of Business' freshmen applications went up 30%, said Mike Leonard, director of external relations. But staying connected to and engaged with these potential new students, as well as current students, families, alumni, and other stakeholders, are not as simple as sending out paper news releases and letters anymore, he said at the 23rd annual Quest for Excellence Conference. Monfort turned to interactive social media to drive future students to its admissions page, show life at the college, and promote its community.

The University of Wisconsin-Stout, a 2001 Baldrige Award recipient, also has connected students and stakeholders through social media, said Douglas Mell, executive director of communications and external relations, reporting that use of one social media outlet alone led to 134 new freshmen applications. "We use every method that we know to connect with students in a virtual environment," Mell said. "The old ways of sending out paper aren't enough anymore."

Since it began with social media in January 2010, Monfort has increased its total subscribers in January 2011 to more than 1,500; not bad for a college of just 1,030 students. In 2010–2011, freshman applications were up 20% from 2009.

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