5 Ways to Create Communities for Diverse Students
Enrollment teams at higher education institutions face a dual challenge: They must attract and enroll a diverse student body and ensure that these students feel welcomed and supported throughout their academic journey.
In the United States, enrollment rates have been declining, and over 30% of students express concerns about feeling lost or disconnected from the higher education experience. This lack of excitement about higher education underscores the need for institutions to rethink their approaches to student engagement and community-building.
One key aspect of this challenge is the need to engage more diverse groups of prospective students. When choosing where to study, these groups often have unique wants, needs, and motivations. Factors such as socio-economic conditions, challenges faced by first-generation students, disabilities, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic considerations, and geographical barriers all play a role in shaping their decision-making process.
For international students, the challenges can be even more pronounced. Many arrive with preconceived notions about studying in a foreign country, often shaped by media narratives or political developments. To address this, institutions can create communities for international students to interact with peers and alumni, gaining a more accurate understanding of what their academic experience might entail.
Building communities for diverse students isn’t just about recruitment; it’s about creating environments where all students feel valued, supported, and able to succeed. This sense of belonging is crucial for student retention and satisfaction, benefiting the institution.
With the help of the right edtech solution, and community-building platform, higher education institutions can create vibrant and inclusive student communities that enrich the academic experience for all students. Here, we will look at five practical strategies for creating diverse student communities that foster a sense of belonging and support among all students.
Creating Diverse Student Communities: 5 Effective Strategies
Many higher education enrollment teams are going beyond enhancing and diversifying campus demographics; they are seeking methods to cultivate stronger connections among students. The following five strategies aim to assist these teams in achieving these higher ed diversity objectives.
1. Facilitate Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Connections for Diverse Students, Regardless of Circumstances or Location
Higher ed enrollment teams want to provide diverse students with a genuinely inclusive experience so they can feel connected to the institution. One effective way to achieve this is by leveraging platforms like Unibuddy Community, which facilitates peer-to-peer connections regardless of students’ situations or geographical locations.
Unibuddy Community offers a safe space where students can meet their peers under your higher ed institution’s brand banner. This platform allows students to engage in group conversations or send direct messages, enabling them to make friends and connections before even setting foot on campus. Integrating technology in higher education recruitment to foster this early connection is crucial. It helps students understand that they are not alone in their journey and allows them to meet others in the same boat or have been in their shoes.
Diverse student groups do not want to be singled out and marketed to; instead, they want to feel included and valued. Many diverse students do not apply to schools they are unsure of or if they do not feel the schools share their values. According to A Radical Rethink: The Future of Admissions, Recruitment, and Marketing, 38% of prospective students do not apply to higher education schools that do not align with their values.
This is where the value of forming virtual student communities becomes apparent. These communities help students “find their people” before setting foot on campus. In fact, 77% of students say connecting with their fellow incoming class before arrival helps make them feel confident in their choice. For diverse groups of students, this is an opportunity to find others who share their unique situations and understand their needs.
Integrating Unibuddy into your higher education enrollment strategy allows you to effortlessly create diverse communities and safe spaces under your institution’s banner. Unibuddy’s technology connects students based on their profiles, eliminating the need for manual intervention. Additionally, Unibuddy recommends best-fit groups for students to join based on their selected criteria, further enhancing the sense of community and belonging.
Some institutions, such as the National College of Ireland, have seen significant increases in engagement by transitioning from Facebook groups to the Unibuddy Community. For example, after making the switch, the National College of Ireland experienced a 30% increase in pre-enrollment group participation. This shift demonstrates that higher education is possible for everyone and creates a sense of belonging among students.
2. Empower Diverse Groups With the Tools to Engage With Their Peers
Awareness is key to driving engagement among diverse groups of students. If students are unaware of a group of similar students, they cannot join their community. This is where tools like Unibuddy Community play a crucial role in bridging the gap between offline and online communities.
Unibuddy Community allows institutions to put offline groups online, providing a safe and accessible space for their members to meet and engage with one another. In addition to facilitating connections, Community can be used to post updates, share files, or inform students of important dates, such as national holidays or scholarship opportunities. This platform also enables your team to send invites directly to prospective students, demonstrating authentic personalization and inviting them to join specific communities tailored to their interests or backgrounds.
Humanizing your higher ed enrollment funnel is essential for creating personalized and engaging student enrollment journeys. By integrating technology and human touchpoints, even small enrollment teams can connect with every prospective student on trusted, relatable levels. This approach helps students feel valued and understood, creating positive student outcomes.
First-generation students, often the backbone of the American collegiate landscape, require specific support along their college journey. Creating communities tailored to their needs can help them feel more prepared and supported before arriving on campus. Brochures and pamphlets are not enough; offering opportunities for first-gen students to further prepare for the process of acclimating to university life is crucial. Unibuddy Community can be a valuable tool in this process, providing a platform for first-gen students to connect with peers, faculty, and staff who can offer guidance and support.
If you are wondering how to recruit diverse students by facilitating connections, a critical tool that can be leveraged is Unibuddy Chat. It enables direct connections between prospective students and your higher ed team – including your student ambassadors. This platform humanizes enrollment by providing personalized guidance and support, ultimately boosting conversion rates and student engagement. With Unibuddy Chat, enrollment teams can effectively connect with every prospective student, creating a more relatable and authentic enrollment experience.
3. Leverage Data to Support Diverse Student Communities
In fostering diverse student communities, interpreting data to anticipate the needs of various student groups is crucial. While not every student community addressing diversity in higher ed needs to do so overtly, understanding diverse groups’ challenges can help determine their interest in a school. Financial aid, for example, is often a significant concern for many students, especially first-generation graduate students supporting families at home.
Conversational data segmented according to diverse audiences can provide insights into their questions or concerns about studying at a particular school. By creating groups tailored to these concerns, schools can engage with a larger number of queries and anticipate demand from future diverse student groups.
Ensuring a good fit between students and the institution is essential. However, it is equally important to make students feel welcome, accepted, and ready to engage with their diverse student communities. Skipping this step can lead to student anxiety and attrition, as they may choose institutions that provide the support they need to succeed.
Edtech Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tools like Unibuddy Chat can be invaluable in addressing these challenges. Unibuddy Chat enables your higher ed enrollment team to understand potential students’ interests and concerns through conversations with student ambassadors. These insights can inform your team about topics important to incoming students, helping to tailor engagement efforts accordingly.
Unibuddy also enables your higher ed team to observe trends in student engagement, such as event participation or chat interactions. This data can be used to improve campaigns and create initiatives catering to the needs of diverse student populations. For example, if students desire more social mixers, your recruitment and student admissions teams can use this data to organize events that foster community and belonging.
Unibuddy’s seamless integration with CRM systems ensures that student data is easily accessible and can be used to track individual student needs and progress. Analysis of this data can help administrators identify trends and implement solutions that support students from diverse backgrounds in reaching their goals through community-building, networking, career development, or academic support.
4. Connect Prospective Students With Diverse Student Ambassadors
Conversations with current students play a pivotal role in prospective students’ decision-making process. Research suggests that, on average, over 50% of students worldwide are influenced by chatting online with a student ambassador when deciding whether to apply to a university. This influence is even more pronounced for diverse students, who often seek validation and a sense of belonging. By conversing with students who have navigated similar challenges and experiences, prospective diverse students can gauge whether they feel welcomed and accepted at a particular institution.
Diverse student ambassadors serve as valuable resources for prospective students. They answer questions about the institution and guide students towards resources and communities relevant to their backgrounds. This is particularly significant for international students, who may face unique challenges and seek advice from peers who understand their perspectives.
A student ambassador is more than just an informational resource; they are the voice and face of your higher ed institution. They provide insights into the practical aspects of applying to the school as well as the experiential aspects of student life. While they may not have all the answers, they can offer valuable insights into what it’s like to study in a particular location or how to navigate campus life.
To effectively leverage diverse student ambassadors, institutions should provide digital platforms for prospective students to connect with them. This includes rich digital profiles, user-generated content showcasing their experiences, and peer-to-peer chat solutions for one-on-one conversations. Establishing a digital presence improves access to information and demonstrates the institution’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Student ambassadors play a crucial role in fostering a sense of belonging among prospective students. For diverse students, in particular, hearing directly from peers who share similar backgrounds and experiences is essential. Connecting prospective students with student ambassadors from similar backgrounds can build trust and demonstrate that the institution values diversity.
If you’re unsure about how to create a successful, diverse student ambassador program, look no further than Unibuddy. With a track record of successfully executing over 400 ambassador programs worldwide, we have the expertise and experience to guide you. We’ve distilled these insights into a comprehensive guide called Getting Started with Ambassadors. Whether you’re assembling your inaugural ambassador team or seeking to enhance an existing program, our guide offers a treasure trove of proven strategies for success.
At St. John’s University, over 100 student ambassadors use Unibuddy to connect with applicants and admitted students, providing valuable insights and guidance throughout the decision-making process. They increased enrollment by 12% through student-to-student connections.
5. Leverage AI to Streamline Community Creation
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can play a pivotal role in identifying and connecting diverse groups of students, helping them discover groups that align with their interests and needs. Unibuddy Chat’s AI-infused enrollment assistant and student matching capabilities are front-end tools that facilitate connections among diverse student populations. These tools triage student inquiries and match prospective students with suitable student ambassadors, fostering a sense of community and support.
On the backend, Unibuddy provides AI-powered conversational insights summarizing interactions between prospective students and student ambassadors. This capability offers diverse students valuable insights into their questions, concerns, and areas where they may seek to connect with others facing similar circumstances. For instance, if multiple students from a particular demographic express concerns about financial aid and campus diversity, enrollment teams can use this information to create tailored community groups (e.g., “Student Scholarship for international students at University X”), facilitating meaningful connections and support networks.
AI-infused student engagement solutions should complement existing efforts in building diverse student communities. By personalizing outreach, analyzing data, and segmenting students based on location, interests, and areas of study, AI can enhance the effectiveness of recruitment efforts. While Unibuddy Chat may not be classified as AI recruiting software, its AI integration provides valuable insights into student demographics and interests, facilitating the creation of diverse student communities with precision and ease.
Combining platforms like Unibuddy with AI transforms the recruitment landscape, enabling institutions to gather better data faster and personalize outreach efforts more effectively. This integration allows institutions to understand their students better, connect them with the right peer groups, and ultimately foster diverse and inclusive communities.
Edtech tools like Unibuddy are crucial in fostering diverse community building by scaling authenticity. Leveraging AI, these tools facilitate digital peer-to-peer connections regardless of location and timeline barriers. This enables diverse next-gen students to find the authentic connections they are seeking. Unibuddy’s platform allows students to connect with current students and ambassadors, gaining valuable insights and support.
Book a demo today to experience how Unibuddy can enhance your higher ed institution’s community-building efforts.
