Mobile Websites, Mobile
Apps & Social Media
Trends in Undergraduate Admissions
Chris J. Foley
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions
January 2012
A survey of 1,000 freshmen across the
country
When asked to describe themselves, the
“Class of 2015” used two words:
Technology
Lazy
“What we glean from this response is that they are a
generation that is used to taking the path of least
resistance. They are pros at using technology to
their advantage, and expect information, answers
and solutions to be delivered to them in real-time.”
Source: Mr. Youth, “5 Ways to Friend the Class of 2015”
Mr Youth’s “5 Ways to Friend the Class of
2015”
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Help them express their personal brand
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•
•
Integrate organically into their world
•
•
•
•
Know how they define “friend” in social media
Know the purpose of each social community
Understand their taboo’s are not what you think
Become an on-demand brand
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Know where they are and what’s hot
Know what it means to be cool
Allow them to co-create with your brand
Get in good with their friends
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They live in a public world of fans and followers
Your brand is complimentary to their own
They communicate 24/7 and expect this from brands
They are always on the lookout for what’s next
Get to know them before assuming what they want
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Their preferences in brands has shifted
Reaching them requires attention to details
Understand what incentives will motivate them
Perceived Usefulness of Technologies for
Admissions Practices
Scale: 1=None, 2=Some,
3=Very
School
Email
Web Site
Cell
Phone
Text Msg
Social
Networki
ng
Notification of acceptance
2.9
2.6
2.1
1.8
1.8
Notification of application info
& deadlines
2.8
2.7
1.9
1.8
2.0
Building relationship with
counselor
--
2.5
1.9
1.6
1.8
Campus tours at a distance
2.6
--
--
--
--
Informational (and forms)
2.8
2.6
2.1
1.7
2.2
Learning “what’s happening”
on campus
2.6
--
--
--
--
Source: Lindeck & Fodrey. (2010). “Using technology in undergraduate admissions.” The Journal of College
Admission: The Journal of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. 208. 10-17.
5 Findings on Use of Social Media
in Admissions
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The use of social media by college admission officers is on the rise,
though tried and true methods such as college fairs still take priority
(62% plan to dedicate more resources to social media).
Facebook is the top social media tool used by admission departments.
Colleges fan pages are directed at three audiences included prospects,
enrolled students, and alumni, and have goals of providing campus
news and answer questions.
Admission departments typically post to Facebook at least once per
week.
Admission officers believe that prospective students use Facebook to
get a realistic view of what a college is like.
Source: Cappex.com, “Establishing a Benchmark for Social Media Use in
College Admissions: 2010 Social Media and College Admissions Study”
. . . And it’s not just high school
seniors
How does this impact IUPUI?
Some Application Statistics
• 55%-60% of our fall freshman applicants’ first contact
with our office is the application.
• Another 20-25% of our fall freshman applicants’ first
contact with our office is their test scores.
• In line with national trends at other campuses.
• For other admit types, this percentage is higher because
we have fewer means to reach out to them as prospects
(e.g., fewer outreach events, fewer college search
websites, fewer names “clearinghouses” like the College
Board’s Search Service)
Survey of “Stealth” 2011 Applicants
14%
9%
4%
63%
10%
N = 249
Pageviews of enroll.iupui.edu by
Operating System
8/1/2010 to 10/14/2011
Mobile
5%
10/15/2011 to 1/22/2012
Other
1%
Other
1%
Mac
11%
Mac
12%
Windows
83%
Mobile
9%
Windows
78%
To repeat, how does this impact
IUPUI?
More students (even those we
know about) are “secret shopping”
us, and more are using mobile
technology to do so. Also, they are
participants in, not simply
recipients of, developing (and
personalizing) our brand.
Some initiatives from the Office of
Undergraduate Admissions
Facebook Pages
Twitter
Our Goals for Social Networking
This Year
• “Meet students where they are”
• Adding personalization and spontaneity to
recruitment, but within a manageable and
professional framework
• Get comfortable with joining in the conversation
that is already happening
• Adding a “social” element to our recruitment—not
simply pushing out news
• Begin the “echo chamber”
Where do we need to go?
We need to go mobile.
Examples of Mobile Apps and
Mobile/m. Websites
Mobile App
Mobile/m.-Versions of Websites
Mobile Apps vs. Mobile/m.Versions of Websites
Mobile Apps
• Loaded on phone
• May be able to work off-line
• Better for providing services
(e.g., Oncourse, reference
material, books)
• Meant to provide a richer
experience, but it has to be
an experience worth the
time to download, explore,
and commit storage space
to
Mobile/m.-Versions of
Websites
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Faster loading
Fewer graphics/more text
Larger fonts
Meant to push out
information or services
• Have to be accessed over
connection (either WiFi or
mobile network)
• Not loaded on phone
Where are we planning to go?
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Virtual tour for mobile phones
Mobile version of enroll.iupui.edu website
Explore the usefulness of an app to prospective students
Expand friends/fans/followers
Have “at IUPUI” Facebook pages for all recruiters
Collaborate with schools/departments to expand “echo
chamber” effect and leverage content
• Develop a better understanding of this new world
• Investigate the future . . . Google +, Youtube, more!
Chris J. Foley
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions
cfoley@iupui.edu