Student services for mobile natives, apps and the future of one stop students services
1. Student Services for Mobile Natives:
Apps and the Future of
“One Stop” Student Services
2. 2
Our Position
Colleges and universities need to deploy a mobile app
strategy to improve the quality and delivery of student
services for a new generation of mobile natives. Mobile
apps are the next horizon for how students access
everyday services any time of day and from any
context, quickly, easily, and seamlessly.
Institutions need to embrace mobile apps not just to
keep up with a frenetic pace of change but to enhance
commitment to access and student success.
4. 1. Virtual (self-service)
– Web and Mobile Devices (find it, do it, get it)
– Automated SMS communications
– Apps can offer hybrid (offline and online) content
2. Physical (“One-Stop” student services center)
– Student contact (cross-trained staff = generalists)
– Walk-in, email, telephone, SMS
– Specialists (particularly in financial aid)
3. Back office (technology, process, people)
– State-of-the-art processing (technology-driven)
– Cross-functional connections
– Paperless
What Is a “One-Stop”?
(Three Components)
5. Find It
• Students are able to look up important
information (FAQs) on their mobile
devices anywhere and anytime. Apps
use an effective blend of offline and
online content, so are still useful
without internet access.
• Apps are searchable and use common
vernacular, e.g. rather than “financial
aid” students ask “where is my
money?”
• Information is clearly and intuitively
presented.
How Mobile Apps Improve Student Services
6. Do It
• Students are able to register for
courses, electronically sign documents,
and make payments from their mobile
devices (and to easily contact services
staff, if needed).
• Apps are powerfully linked to
institutions’ student information
system (SIS) and are updated regularly.
• App design is crisp and intuitive, and
processes are made up of simple steps
(e.g. 3 step course registration).
How Mobile Apps Improve Student Services
7. How Can Mobile Apps Improve Student Services
Get It
• Students are able to access and print
course schedules, promissory notes,
transcripts, etc, from their mobile
devices. These documents are also
available in PDF or another published
format.
• Apps offer impressive delivery of a
variety of documentation requests and
connect with a device's phone, email
and SMS capabilities for quick and
easy access to university staff.
• Documentation is configured for
mobile platforms.
8. • Technology use is changing rapidly. The web (think browsers) is dying and
mobile apps are projected to become the digital communication platform
of choice for a new generation of mobile natives.
• Mobile offers quick and easy access to services that are otherwise place-
based, confusing, and difficult to navigate .
• Mobile maximizes investment in integrated student services systems,
many of which are moving into app solutions, and offers a more effective
digital architecture.
• Apps offer creative access to information, tools, and solutions.
• Apps are convenient, creative, innovative, and engaging.
Why Mobile Apps? Why Now?
9. • Had weak web presence and non-
existent web self-service
• Had mobile strategy with some mobile
presence, but ineffective and un-
engaging overall
• Major player in access to adult learners
and non-traditional students
• Moved into one stop model with high
focus on virtual and mobile access
• Developed mobile features ranging
from course registration and payments,
and an interactive real time bus map
and schedule
Case Study:
Mobile Strategy at a Public Research University
10. • Students want (and need) better
mobile solutions
• Mobile positively affects student
achievement (better access to
services frees students up to focus on
being students)
• Mobile may even improve retention
and learning outcomes
• Apps especially increase student
satisfaction and an institution’s brand
and reputation
• Apps create a more sustainable
architecture for long-term digital
services strategy
Drives of Value:
Mobile Apps and Institutions Effectiveness
