Every day in higher education, we put more and more pressure and responsibilities on our student support staff. They are on the front lines of student interaction, and as budgets tighten and accountability expands, they must continuously show that the work they’re doing is vital for the institution. On the one hand, this makes sense, but on the other hand, the more time staff are spending on accountability measures and the tools that will help them gather their data, the less time they’re spending with students, ironically making them less effective! We hope that the following tips will help your staff be more successful in their roles, and they will also help encourage buy-in for new tools and processes.
Of course, we need to know important information when students walk in the door. Questions that any student support entity needs to know may include:
- Who’s coming?
- How long are they staying?
- What are they coming for?
- Where are they coming from?
When considering a tool for your student support entities to gather this information, there is a delicate balance of gathering the necessary data without overburdening your staff (and sometimes by extension, your students!).
You can give your staff many tools, but they only have so many hands (and so much time!)
Whenever you consider a new tool for your area, keep these questions in mind:
- How will it help us answer the above questions?
- How will staff be using it? Will it be easily accessible during sessions, or will they have to use the tool in between student interactions?
- How long will it take to implement?
- What processes that are already in place will it replace or make easier?
- What is the learning curve? Is training provided and how much?
- How much will students need to interact with it? What information can be automatically entered to minimize manual input?
Whether you’re considering AccuCampus, another one of Engineerica’s tracking systems, or a system from another provider, we want to make sure these questions are being answered for you! Don’t hesitate to reach out to our team if you have questions about how to best find the right tool for your institution or center. And if you want to find out more about how AccuCampus answers these questions, please get in touch with us to arrange a demo!
