While administrators view onboarding as a linear, step-by-step process, the reality that prospects encounter on campus is often quite different. The result? Community colleges remain stuck in their institutional norms while attrition rates continue to rise. To streamline onboarding, administrators should take a student-centered approach when revamping their policies and procedures. Step one of this task is to audit each onboarding and enrollment step.
In the wake of COVID-19, the college website and virtual enrollment process have replaced the physical functions of the campus and staff. However, the hurdles to enrollment are often accentuated in a virtual
environment, and students will likely encounter even more hurdles from the transition to an entirely remote enrollment.
This self-assessment, which is adapted from the above Enrollment Pain Points Audit, provides institutions with the tools to evaluate their own virtual enrollment and onboarding function.
All too often students visiting campus for the first time find themselves lost and with little assistance to guide them through each discrete onboarding step. To encourage efficient progress, ensure that physical environment, in-person support, and available resources are optimized with student needs in-mind.
Now students are completing many more onboarding steps virtually. Use the 12 best practices below to ensure students can successfully onboard both in-person and remotely.
Without proper advising, all students risk making poor-fit choices that can derail their progress toward graduation. Yet for many prospective students advising is difficult to access.
Institutions often limit walk-in advising hours, opting to only allow students who have completed other…