Engaging prospective students and integrating them into your college's community is essential. They must feel like there's a place for them on campus. You facilitate personal connections and a sense of belonging by allowing them to interact with faculty and alum.
Strengthening your college's community requires incorporating compelling content and unique features into your institution's website. You must create opportunities for prospective students to meet and communicate with the people they might see or work with if they attend your school.
1. Improve Accessibility
Campus tours are among the most effective methods of drawing new students to your school. However, traveling from other states or countries isn't practical for everyone. Some people don't have the time or money to drive or fly to different colleges for in-person visits.
Campus Visit Experience allows prospective students to view your campus without leaving their homes. They can have an online experience similar to what they'd get from physically walking the grounds. However, they don't face the same limitations in-person tours usually present. Instead of following a guide along a predetermined path, users can visit the spots most interesting to them and spend as much time as they want in each location.
Google Maps powers the app's interface, allowing visitors to easily navigate your campus. They can view 360-degree images of every area with text and audio highlighting information about each stop. Instead of wondering what it would be like to live at your school, they can experience it themselves in a realistic digital world.
2. Host Informative and Enjoyable Events
Prospective students can meet faculty and alum during various campus events. It's an excellent way of learning more about the school and socializing with people they'll likely interact with in the future.
Educational institutions should consider a hybrid approach to getting more people involved in campus events. Although in-person events should never disappear, incorporating Virtual Events into the usual schedule is beneficial. Attendees can ask questions, obtain helpful information, and determine where they might fit in if they enroll.
When you allow prospective students to attend events online, you cast a wider net and reach a more diverse audience. People who never would have been able to participate in person can engage with their possible future community of faculty and students. Knowing there's a group of people prospective students can connect with before school even starts is exciting.
3. Attract Prospective Students with Digital Storytelling
Building a stronger community at your college requires an immersive experience. You should include features on your website for prospective students to see what campus life is like. StudentBridge's Video Viewbook is a personalized and customizable program. You can highlight your school's most valuable assets with creative and effective storytelling.
Promote more than the buildings around your campus. Communicate your institution's history, values, and mission with high-quality 360-degree images and embedded videos. Prospective students can click through each part of the viewbook to learn more about the faculty, academic programs, recreational activities, and other aspects of the college experience they are looking for.
With Interactive Campus Maps, visitors can get a feel for daily life at your school. They can listen to audio from former students about their experience and how it shaped their career path. Faculty can discuss the programs and opportunities they provide upon graduation. Unlike traditional maps, interactive maps tap into the user's emotions and give insight into how they'll feel walking around campus each day.
Build a Better Community with StudentBridge
Kean University wanted to establish a virtual environment where prospective students could meet more faculty, staff, and administrators. StudentBridge helped the institution meet its goal by creating virtual events with on-demand and live content, such as discussions with staff members and a welcome message from the Dean.
We're ready to do the same for you. Our digital solutions can increase attendance and participation within the campus community. We can help prospective students forge relationships with your faculty, current students, and alum by accessing unique features on your college's website.
Call StudentBridge at (678) 824-8181 or request a demo to learn more about our services and the features you can implement at your institution to create a sense of community.
