SUU gets International Student Analytics and Engagement Data with Unibuddy

Challenge: expand diversity and increase international student enrollment

At Southern Utah University, the International Affairs Office collaboratively strives to boost engagement with students from around the world. Operating within a team of five, Nicole Funderburk, Director of International Marketing and Recruitment, spearheads coverage for Europe. Meanwhile, her four colleagues focus on separate regions. Instead of compartmentalizing tasks such as assigning one team to recruitment, and another to marketing, Funderburk and her team members hold responsibility for the entire student experience within their respective regions. 

In their pursuit of expanding diversity and increasing international enrollment, SUU recognized the necessity for a platform that would connect international students with the university and help answer their inquiries. “We sought after a chat software because students visit our website at all hours of the day, given our global audience. We can’t be available around the clock, so we needed a way to capture and engage with them effectively.”

Funderburk and her team explored various platforms in an attempt to enhance their connection with students worldwide. However, none of the alternatives truly streamlined their communication or made it as user-friendly as they needed. “We experimented with free tools, and they had their challenges. Even our library’s free chat tool fell short of meeting our specific needs and getting the job done.”

Solution: insight into student analytics and engagement data

While attending the NAFSA event, Funderburk discovered Unibuddy through a presentation emphasizing the use of Unibuddy Chat for peer-to-peer connections. “The data presented on student engagement was incredibly valuable for us. As a relatively small university, we place great emphasis on personal attention, analytics, and engagement strategies, so Unibuddy immediately caught our attention.”

Funderburk had a conversation with the purchasing office, followed by the admissions and data IT teams. “With the assistance of Unibuddy, we put together a presentation to illustrate the numerous benefits it could offer. After some back-and-forth discussions, we secured the budget for implementation.” Funderburk described the onboarding process as “smooth sailing” and noted that it took only a few weeks to integrate everything seamlessly onto the website.

After using Unibuddy for a few years, the team of five achieved significant success in connecting international students with ambassadors. “It demonstrated itself as a fantastic lead nurture tool. When I discussed its value with my boss, we decided to upgrade for the additional data and insights. Once Slate was connected, we started receiving analytics directly in our CRM, which in itself made the upgrade worth it.”

Around this same time, Funderburk was also heavily involved with the decision to adopt Unibuddy Community, to support admitted and enrolled students at SUU. “To find a budget solution, we allocated some of our team’s funds to support the enrollment and student success teams in acquiring Unibuddy Community. I’m happy with the decision; it’s proven to be a valuable tool and has saved them a significant amount of time addressing countless enrollment inquiries.”

Result: heightened sense of belonging and likelihood to enroll

“Our initial goal was to capture website visitors and better engage with international students, and Unibuddy has exceeded all our expectations.” Funderburk further emphasised the undeniable value in understanding the questions and topics students from different areas around the world find important. “We’ve learned that students from Africa will often have quick questions about requirements and deadlines, while in the European region I cover, the conversations and questions revolve more around student life and accommodations. We never would have learned of these niche differences without Unibuddy Chat insights and analytics.”

Unibuddy has also provided Funderburk and her team with a means to personalize communications and introduce their Unibuddy ambassadors to prospective students. “It’s been a beautiful way for us to showcase these students not only in emails, but through the content and chat features. It offers a true flavour of our students that we weren’t able to create before.” Funderburk explains. 

By utilizing both Unibuddy Chat and Unibuddy Community, SUU has effectively streamlined the student journey from start to finish and given students a platform they’re comfortable with. “Since they’re already familiar with Unibuddy chat from our website, transitioning to Unibuddy Community when admitted is quite natural, given it’s a resource they know and trust. This has really helped keep engagement levels high throughout the funnel.” 

“Overall, It’s incredibly challenging for us to connect with international students. That’s why having a tool like Unibuddy is so crucial – It helps students feel understood. The selling point for me, and what keeps me coming back, is that it truly provides a sense of belonging for each and every student, regardless of background or nationality.”