Online Video as an Outreach Tool
WASFAA 2013
Presented by Financial Aid TV
Monday, May 20, 2013
Session E6
Today’s Session Objectives
 Effective Communication for Reaching Today’s Student
 Maximizing Online Video as a Communication Tool
 Increasing Efficiency in the Financial Aid Office
 Improving Student Learning Outcomes (SLO’s)
How We Got Here
 Over time, technological innovation has powered
great advances in communication.
Source: Denver Post
The Modern Day Paradox!
 Financial Aid is Complicated
 Hard to Track Level of Comprehension
 Hard to condense into a Tweet!
How do we reach our students?
 Regulation changes
 LEU, IRS Data Retrieval, State Programs
 Understanding policy
 SAP
 How to complete applications
 Verification
Most Commonly Used By
the Financial Aid Office….
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Website/ Portal/ Email/ Live Chat
Face-to-Face
Paper/ Newsletter
Telephone / Cell Phone/ Call Center
Social Media
Online Video
Website/ Portal / Email
 A school’s website/portal can be a source of
information for students
 What information is included? How much?
 Email is a quick way to communicate. Turn
around policy?
 Broadcast email
 Record of communication
Face-To-Face
 Strengths:
 Highly personalized
 Compelling
 Weakness:
 Labor and time intensive
Paper…
 Becoming obsolete?
 Paperless office?
Telephone / Cell Phone
 Students can call with questions to get
information
 FAAs can contact students to provide
information
 Turn around time?
Social Media
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Majority of students participate
Quick one-way communication
Can receive feedback
Mobile
Can reduce amount of visits students make to the
financial aid office (ie deadline alerts).
Online Video
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Visual method of learning
Multiple topics – your choice
Provides alternate to reading pages of text
Multiple views if necessary
Audio/visual stimulation
Answers to questions on demand at any time
Consistency of messaging
Visual Learning Fact Check
Approximately 65 percent of the population are visual learners.
The brain processes visual information 60,000x faster than text.
90 percent of information that comes to the brain is visual.
40 percent of all nerve fibers connected to the brain are linked
to the retina.
 Visual Literacy is the ability to encode (create a visual
language) & decode (understand a visual language).
 Visual aids in the classroom improve learning by up to 400
percent.
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Source: Visual Learning Alliance
With Video, Utilize Self-Service
 Most students want fast, accurate, and consistent
service anytime, anyplace.
 Video enables you to reach those students 24/7.
 Freeing up staff resources to focus on individual
students in need of personal assistance.
With Video, Measure Effectiveness
 Ask: How Successful are you?
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Track Students Reached
Track Parents Reached
Track Number of Questions Answered
Track reduced Burden on FA Staff
Quantify Student Learning Outcomes via Testing
Challenges of Video
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Resources needed to Create
Staying Current
Making Updates
Ensuring Disability Access
and Compliance
 Collaboration with Disability
Resource Center
A Comprehensive Approach
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Self-service internet portal
Mobile device access
Embed links to videos in email blasts
Post videos on your FB pages
Video embedding on college or university website
Playing video content on school signage system
Counseling sessions
Self-Service Internet Portal
Mobile Device Access
Link To Videos In Email Blasts
Dear Student,
It is time to complete your 2013/2014 FAFSA application. To help you
through this process and answer some of your questions, please go to this
link for a quick tutorial on how to complete the FAFSA.
2013/2014 FAFSA Tutorial
Have a great day!
-Jo Smith
Financial Aid Assistant
Gold Mountain College
P: 972.238.2310
F: 811.958.5250
www.GoldMountCollege.edu
Post Videos On Your Facebook Page
Video Embedding & Single Sign On
Campus Signage Networks
 Combining both “New School” and “Old School”
 Enhanced Visibility
Counseling Students
 Measuring Student Learning Outcomes
 Testing Students
 A personalized approach
Benefits….
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Improve customer service
Reduction in answering repetitive questions
Reduction in voicemail messages to return
Increase financial aid applications
Reduce wait times and phone calls
Expand reach of counseling team
Tackle default aversion
Track Student Learning Outcomes
(SLO’s)
Case Studies
Ivy Tech College
 Reduction in answering repetitive questions
 Over 45,000 student questions were answered
in the first 3 months via video
 Positive student feedback and enthusiasm
among staff
 Consistent messaging across 14 campuses
Source: Financial Aid TV
Antelope Valley College
 Over 60,000 student questions have been answered
annually by FATV (since 2007)
 This has freed up staff time to focus on more
individual student needs
 Staff is enthused about FATV’s positive impact on
students
 Reduced the burden and cost of answering basic
financial aid questions.
Source: Financial Aid TV
Rutgers University
 Over 47,000 student questions answered in the first
year by FATV (2010)
 Positive student feedback and enthusiasm among
staff about student comprehension
 Now have the ability to embed video clips in strategic
website positions based on the volume of inquiries
we are receiving for specific questions
Source: Financial Aid TV
What Your Colleagues Are Saying….
“While a beneficial side-effect may be the reduced
volume of calls and visits from confused students, the
real reason we implemented FATV was to have fewer
confused students. We may even do one better and
that is to reach students using Financial Aid TV who
otherwise would never have come forward to apply
for aid. We look forward to the coming year and
positive outcomes.”
Kevin Harral, Director of Financial Aid, Foothill College
Questions for you to Consider
As you leave this session, ask yourself …
 Where are you today in your communications?
 Where do you want to go?
 What do your students want?
 What are some tangible goals?
 What would be considered a success?
Have a Great Conference!
Financial Aid TV (FATV) is a proud
supporter of WASFAA. For more
information regarding our services,
please visit our Website:
www.FinancialAidTV.com
or call us (Toll Free) 888-704-9090.
Financial Aid TV is a service of CareerAmerica LLC. 2013 © CareerAmerica LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Web Images used on slides 1, 15, 25, and 26 are for display purposes only. Source: Google images.