96% of Middlesex Students Enrolled Using Unibuddy Chat and Community

Challenge: building consistency and Increasing student engagement

Situated in the vibrant heart of London, England, Middlesex University stands as a beacon of academic excellence, catering to a diverse community of 15,182 students. With over 30 institutions in London, the university navigates a fiercely competitive environment to attract and retain students. Collaborating seamlessly in this challenge are Behlul Sulimani, Communications Officer, and Nicola San Lorenzo, Applicant Engagement and Community Officer at Middlesex University. Together, they manage a strategic approach to engage and convert students across the entire academic journey.

Sulimani is part of a small team that explores various ways to connect with admitted students, including emails, website, on-campus marketing, and social media. In the past, their main platform for student interaction was Facebook groups. However, this approach posed several challenges. “We’ve used Facebook groups for at least a decade; it provides a basic space for students to connect, but a lot of problems arose throughout the years. There were students from different academic years, former Middlesex students, and even people who never ended up studying here. It led to a lack of engagement between our admitted students and wasn’t fulfilling a purpose,” explains Sulimani.

One major worry for Sulimani and his team was that Facebook groups lacked the necessary safeguards and moderation tools needed in today’s digital landscape. “Even with Facebook’s approval process, we couldn’t ensure that everyone on the platform was a genuine Middlesex student. The constant idea of scam and spam alerts made students feel vulnerable to potential attacks.” With that, the communications team was on the lookout for a platform that struck the right balance – a more exclusive space, yet one that students could truly claim as their own.

Additionally, Sulimani and his team aimed to establish a seamless flow throughout the entire student journey, starting from prospective students and extending all the way to enrollment. Recognizing this required collaboration between departments, Sulimani connected with San Lorenzo, who manages the engagement and recruitment strategy with prospective students. The two departments outlined shared goals of supporting online applications and enrollments, fostering a sense of belonging among students, and ensuring there’s access to resources and information at every step of the process.

Solution: creating a sense of belonging across the entire student journey

San Lorenzo and her team had been using Unibuddy Chat for multiple years, recently upgrading to Premium Plus. She expresses, “Being able to detect the student’s journey stage will be especially useful, allowing us to track, personalize and navigate individual students more effectively.”

On the other hand, Sulimani was eager to explore the potential of Unibuddy, due to the success it brought to San Lorenzo’s team. “The student recruitment team has been using it for years, primarily for website engagement and connecting prospective students with ambassadors during the pre-application cycle. We didn’t come across any negativity when speaking with colleagues, and as we did more research into Unibuddy Community, it became clear that there would be significant benefits for admitted students and supporting conversion.”

Sulimani was enthusiastic about providing comprehensive support for students, spanning from initial inquiries on Unibuddy Chat (Premium Plus) to connecting them with incoming peers on Unibuddy Community. “We wanted this to be a tool they use throughout their entire student journey. It’s not just about combating loneliness and isolation, it’s about fostering that crucial sense of belonging. When students get their questions answered and find a community where they feel they truly fit in, it makes a world of difference. We saw Unibuddy Community as a fantastic opportunity to offer that experience.”

Upon adopting Unibuddy Community and navigating through the onboarding process, Sulimani found it to be “seamless” and “straightforward,” completing the entire process in just two weeks. “It didn’t demand an extensive time commitment. Once the groups were set up and administrator profiles were in place, everything ran smoothly, thanks to the excellent support from the Unibuddy staff.”

Result: boosting confidence and conversion with a 96.3% enrollment rate

“The impact of both Unibuddy Community and Premium Plus has been truly impressive.” Sulimani states. Middlesex University witnessed 2,613 student sign-ups on Unibuddy Community, a significant number out of 4,959 students in their latest cycle. Sulimani expresses, “Getting 2,613 students to engage in anything is pretty remarkable, to be honest.” Notably, out of all the Unibuddy Community users, 96% of students went on to enroll with Middlesex.

Regarding Unibuddy Chat, San Lorenzo notes, “The new charts, filters, and drill-down options with Premium Plus make it much easier to view the weekly data. This is especially helpful now that I can filter to see the number of prospective students in each region.” Unibuddy played a crucial role in supporting 128 students in making informed decisions, with 27% ultimately choosing to apply at Middlesex. This indicates a strong application rate compared to other recruitment initiatives. During this period Middlesex also had over 2,000 unique visitors.

“Leveraging Unibuddy capabilities throughout the entire student journey has proven incredibly beneficial for us,” shares Behlul. “The recruitment team has noticed a significant reduction of inquiries compared to previous years, and my team has seen a drastic improvement in platform engagement and the overall confidence of students. This, to me, indicates that authentic connections across Unibuddy have been instrumental in supporting our goals.”

Sulimani further highlights that Unibuddy Community has played a crucial role in ensuring student safety through its effective moderation and safeguarding capabilities. Notably, the platform has successfully maintained students only, preventing external individuals from gaining access. Administrators have also been actively engaged with the “updates” channel, providing students with trustworthy information directly from the university. “It’s in their best interest to join a safe platform where they can make those connections right from the beginning, get answers to their questions, and continue building friendships. I often like to refer to it as a virtual town center.”