Schools spend a great deal of time and money communicating program details to prospective students. Every school does it. Most feel that if a prospective student can’t find a suitable program from their program list that maybe it is as simple as their school not being a good fit and they move on to the next.
In reality, students spend a great deal of time trying to figure out not only if their interests match the program, but if they will be concentrating on these interests inside the program and after graduation. We all know it is easy to say ‘I want to be a designer, an architect, an animator, go to business school to get my MBA, or cooking school to become a chef...’.
Admissions departments hear it every day from those interviewing for possible application to the school ‘...what exactly is expected of me if I apply to this program and what will I be able to do when I complete it?’.
Allowing prospective students to step into the shoes of current students and alumni by having them search on and view portfolios of their student work including their projects, bios, reels, images – then having the ability to reach out to them and ask them questions about their interests and experiences goes a long way to helping new students decide on the program that is right for them.
If you engage prospective students, and help them in their decision making process they will appreciate your help and open up to you and trust your opinion.
Showing your student work via an online portfolio system to prospective students allows them to see the extent to which you promote your students to employers – and are genuinely interested in not only showing them how to proactively market themselves, but expect them to enter the workforce in their area of study immediately upon graduation.
Online student portfolios are a strong indicator that your school stands behind the work that is coming out of your programs. They also promote the fact that you are proud of your faculty and students, and want everyone to know it – your school has nothing to hide.
When students and alumni utilize their self-managed online portfolios to upload their work they act as ambassadors to your school and prospective students see their pride. They also act as viral marketing tools when they add links to their portfolios on their favourite social networking sites, and job search sites – the subsequent traffic can come in the form of new prospects or employers interested in knowing about your grads.
New lead generation occurs when the unique content of your online portfolios is optimized for the search engine to find. Once potential students land on your online portfolios from a search engine search they have the ability to move to your request information page at anytime.
Lead conversion is also a major benefit of online student portfolios. Prospective students can be shown online portfolios as part of the interview process. They can also be used to show the buying committee who were unable to attend the interview as well as be used for phone interviews for those out state.
Employers can use online student portfolios to find the students they are interested in interviewing for their next position.
The content of online student portfolios also adds to the stickiness of your school’s website.
To discuss how studentROI can help your school benefit from online student portfolios using our School Portfolio Connect(tm) platform please contact us today.
Coming next month - Benefits of offering your students self-managed online portfolio services - Part 2
