The Intellitimes

This month, we're proud to feature an announcement for a partnership where Intelliworks will be working closely with Blackboard Student Services to support recruitment and retention efforts at the Kentucky Community & Technical College System (see story below).  As such, we felt it would be appropriate to highlight one of our earlier success stories in partnering with Blackboard for The University of Southern Mississippi - Learning Enhancement Center and Eagle Learning Online.

The institution had a provost-level mandate to dramatically alter its marketing and communications efforts to drive enrollment for USM's distance learning programs.  We were fortunate enough to speak with Amy Thornton, Project Manager at The University of Southern Mississippi – Learning Enhancement Center and Eagle Learning Online, to learn more about the initiative and the results that they've seen so far since working with Blackboard and Intelliworks to manage the strategy around the delivery and marketing of its programs.

INTELLIWORKS: How did The University of Southern Mississippi begin working with Intelliworks?

THORNTON: Our relationship with Intelliworks came about through our partnership with Blackboard.  Blackboard worked with us as a consultant to help devise a strategic approach to delivering our online programs, which included a re-launch and promotion of online offerings. During that engagement, they introduced the concept of CRM and Intelliworks to us to better track the effectiveness of our efforts. 

This initiative was actually encouraged by our provost who wanted the institution to improve its marketing efforts of online programs to increase enrollment and reach a market of students we otherwise may not have recruited to Southern Miss.

While our department had administered online learning for some time, and we rely on program marketability as the major criteria when creating programs, we had traditionally done very little in terms of proactive marketing and recruitment so we were really excited to build something from the ground up.  We’ve been able to hire a marketing and recruitment specialist to help manage these efforts, but as a department we’re really learning as we go.  

Prior to working with Intelliworks and Blackboard, individual programs were on their own when it came to getting students interested in their offerings.

INTELLIWORKS: What are some of your biggest challenges in attracting students to your online programs?

THORNTON: One of the promises we made when we started this initiative was that we would not pull from our on-campus student population.  We wanted to be very careful about cannibalization so we had to build programs that would attract brand new students that are better served by online education. 

Because the majority of our programs are graduate programs, our target audience tends to be nontraditional students that work full-time, often have families, and are not able to be on campus very often.  We have some programs where we can recruit internationally, while others are restricted to the state of Mississippi.  We have to be flexible in how we structure our services and reach out to prospects.

Since we have a lot of different programs that operate independently, it was really important that we standardized our branding across multiple communication channels.  Working with Blackboard and Intelliworks, we were able to create program microsites and inquiry forms for every unique program while creating a consistent look and feel that portrayed the image we were looking for in Eagle Learning Online. 

Now we have the additional challenge of having grown this initiative so quickly that we need to find new ways to keep up with the demand and respond to inquiries in a timely manner.  

INTELLIWORKS: How quickly has the program grown?

THORNTON: We currently have about 30 programs, and we’re growing constantly.  We just received approval for three more programs to go online.  Our initial projections from Blackboard were that we would grow enrollments by 17% in one year.  We’ve grown more than 17% in just one semester so we have far exceeded our initial goals.

As a result, we are really looking at ways to scale our efforts and continue to manage this growth.  We’ve started using communication plans to automate some of our outreach to prospects, but we’ve only just scratched the surface of what we could/should do. We’re working with Carol and Gonzalo at Intelliworks to spend more time on optimizing our use of the CRM to manage our growth more effectively.

Additionally, we were able to engage with the folks at Embry-Riddle through last year’s Intelliworks conference to get some advice and best practices on how a larger organization like theirs rolled out communication plans and got people on board.

INTELLIWORKS: What are you seeing in terms of adoption of Intelliworks?

THORNTON: Some of our programs are using the CRM on their own, while others are using us to support their efforts.  Initially it requires a lot of education to explain to programs the benefits of using the CRM and what they’re going to get out of it. 

We’ve learned that getting faculty on board often requires the help of another faculty member who’s already on board.  One of our champions, a faculty member in the School of Construction, now uses it not just for marketing and recruitment, but also for communicating to current students and sending out advising appointments.  Before Intelliworks, she had “manufactured” her own CRM using a color coded spreadsheet.  She’s much happier now and says it saves her a lot of time.

The learning curve for some of our other online programs was a little steeper.  Some programs weren’t even using spreadsheets for tracking student information and inquiries would often fall through the cracks because the information was not being captured appropriately.  Now we encourage people to set up a laptop at recruitment events so students can fill out an inquiry form right on the spot and the inquiry will be captured in the CRM for future follow-up.

Once they realize that this will make their lives easier and bring them more students, they’re much more eager to start using the system.

In a major effort to increase student retention and success at college campuses across the state, the Kentucky Community & Technical College System (KCTCS) has selected Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) to redesign its process for delivering services and support to students.

The effort will provide integrated services, support and technology across the college system including service desk operations for recruitment and admissions, financial aid and student accounts, retention services and identity management. Students and faculty will gain access to on-demand phone, Web, chat and mobile support and will receive proactive voice and e-mail communications that anticipate their needs in key areas. Across the system, the changes will enable KCTCS officials to better measure outcomes and – through an integration with technology partners Intelliworks and Starfish Retention Solutions – provide a holistic approach to student lifecycle management including strategic enrollment management and proactive retention solutions.

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We hear a lot these days about the world being flat.  Due largely to advancements in technology, the playing field has been leveled for many organizations looking to compete on a global scale.  This "flattening" is what has led many in higher education to look beyond the walls of their classrooms and engage students across the globe.  Most recently, UNC's Keenan-Flagler Business School has received a lot of attention for its decision to be the first top-20 business program to offer a fully online MBA.  

The decision does not come without its share of risks.  Can the quality of the program be sustained online? How will current students and alumni feel about the move?  Will faculty be willing to participate?

However, while seemingly risky, Kenan-Flagler Dean James W. Dean Jr. has said that online class delivery is "radically different" and will help the school "define the direction of global business education.”

UNC and Dean recognize that even for state institutions, today's world is one without borders...or at least conventional borders.  This line of thinking is certainly relevant to online institutions and programs, but what about traditional brick and mortar institutions?

What if current thinking of geography were altered based on how people actually interact with one another?

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