If you’re a university, business school, or higher education institution and you haven’t yet defined an onboarding process, now’s the time to start.
And if you haven’t yet decided to begin, read this article to find out why you should incorporate new student onboarding at your institution.
And if you haven’t yet decided to begin, read this article to find out why you should incorporate new student onboarding at your institution.
Some ideas to start the onboarding process:
1. Start before the first day of class
We often think that onboarding begins on the first day of classes, but the relationship between the institution and the student actually starts much earlier.
A student becomes part of your educational institution from the moment they enroll. And in most cases, there are at least two or three months between enrollment and the start of the semester.
So, why not take advantage of this period to establish the first onboarding messages for new students?
You should also keep in mind that this is when new students are more receptive than ever to receiving messages from the institution. The reality is that from the moment they enroll, they want to start building a relationship with the institution.
And these initial messages will allow you to connect with them, establish a dialogue, and begin to shape their perception of the university before their own day-to-day experience begins.
At this stage, some useful messages for prospective students might include:
- A brief introduction and welcome to the university.
- A presentation of the professors with their first and last names, photos, and a brief, more personal description will allow the student to get to know the people who will be their main mentors throughout their studies.
- Inform them of the center’s official communication tools and channels so they are clear on them from the start.
- Explain what facilities and services are available to them and how to use them.
- Offer tips and recommendations for the first few days, which can undoubtedly be a challenging and stressful time for new students.
- And, of course, it’s also helpful to give them a little insight into the center’s culture, its values, key events, routines, and traditions: in other words, explain a bit about what daily life will be like once the course has started.
Of course, these messages should NOT all be sent at once! The information needs to flow in an orderly fashion, and above all, we shouldn’t overwhelm the student before they even begin.
2. Make the first day of class memorable (in a positive way, of course)
The first day is crucial for building engagement. It’s a day they’ll remember, and one we must focus on to ensure their experience is as positive as possible.
To achieve this, we need to help students by giving them a series of instructions that simplify their first day:
- Clearly tell them the arrival time, where they should go, and yes, provide signage if necessary. Feeling lost is never a positive experience.
- Prepare a guided tour of the center’s facilities and services.
- Hold a welcome event, but try to avoid a monologue. Give students the opportunity to participate and ask questions (although, yes, we know that in 95% of cases they don’t usually ask them…).
- Encourage interaction among students. Breaking the ice on the first day isn’t easy for more introverted students, but you can encourage them to talk and introduce themselves to the person next to them. It’s a good way to start socializing, isn’t it?
- Introduce the key people at the center and how to contact them with any questions.
And yes, of course, complementing this with a welcome pack containing center merchandise is always something new students will appreciate.
3. Once you've made it through the first day, don't forget about them!
- Assign mentors who are current students and can help new students. Since they’re from the same background, they can offer more specific advice or even make it easier for new students to ask questions.
- Don’t forget to talk to the new students, ask them for their opinions about the school and how their experience has been.
I want to implement an onboarding process at my university!
Perfect, you’re in the right place!
UNIFIT can help you with the entire onboarding process for new students at your institution with:
- An app for your university or educational center that you can use as a communication channel with new students, achieving higher engagement and usage rates than any other channel used at the center.
- The knowledge and expertise of the UNIFIT team in the design, development, and implementation of successful onboarding strategies at other educational institutions.
- Support in promoting and creating content based on the strategy defined for your university, business school, or higher education center.
Contact us and we’ll tell you much more.
