Doing More with Less:
Creating an online community for accepted students
Rachel Reuben
Director of Web Communication & Strategic Projects, SUNY New Paltz
rachelreuben.com doteduguru.com @rachelreuben

we’re all feeling the budget
crunch
• travel/conference budgets slashed
• departmental budgets slashed
• programs cut
• endowments falling

we’re all feeling the budget
crunch
• losing positions through attrition, retirements & non-
renewals
• temp service budgets cut
• reducing print even more
• relying on Web and electronic media even more

what can you do?
• partner with other departments
• share/pool resources
• interns, existing student staff
• OLs, RAs, student ambassadors, greeters, etc.
• task variety
• beware of job enlargement / workload creep

how social media can help
• Personal attention
• One-on-one and one-to-many conversations
• Social proofing & viral marketing
• Comfort level in their environment

how social media can help
• Put personal face(s) to university
• Build relationships & trust
• listening - “grow bigger ears” http://is.gd/Nb8J
• some free, most relatively cheap
• reach more - targeted - with less

how social media *can’t* help
• Not another bulletin board
• Not a place to blow your horn
• Not a place to jump up & down

another spoke in the wheel

online community for fall 2009
accepted students

what is Ning?
• like Facebook
• an online platform for users to create their own
social Web sites and social networks
• forums, videos, events, groups, personal profiles
• ning.com
• premium services / costs

admissions strategy
• Accept ~4,400 students
• Enroll ~1,100 students
• Accept ~1,400 early action students
• Maximize most highly selective students

admissions strategy
• sticker on accept packet
• invite students (upload file from Banner)
• early action accepts Jan 1 - Feb. 21
• launched 1/2/09, invited 1,323
• all accepted students Feb. 21 - May 1
• invited 1,000 initially, then batches every 2 weeks
• all transfer students mid-April - on

Café New Paltz: content
• Baristas
• Regular updates (videos with custom jingle)
• Daily interaction, encouragement, conversation
starters & joiners
• “Café-shaped conversations”
• personal, intellectual

Café New Paltz: results
• Members: 690
• Paid PED: 52%
• 70% from highest selectivity group
• Photos: 1,168
• Videos: 22
• Forums: 93

Café New Paltz:
additional benefits
• free(-ish) marketing research
• no overhead account management - all done
through Banner export / Ning import
• give them a place to talk & converse on “our turf”
without intimidating them

Café New Paltz: costs
• $24.95/month to remove ads ($149.70 for 6 months)
• ~$50 for props
• existing resources
• 2 HD Sony video cameras
• Flip Mino video camera
• student interns

Café New Paltz: anecdotes
“I must be going. I’m definitely going to login
again though. This is an amazing resource.”
“Yeah, this is a pretty great thing set up here.”
“Yeah, I’ve never run across a school with
something this helpful & people this nice before!
It’s great!”
“I am really liking Café New Paltz. It is making it a
lot easier to adjust & I think between this &
orientation we should be good. :)”

Café New Paltz: after May 1
• asked the community
• pitched to Student Affairs
• Orientation connection
• new baristas
• fall

what about Facebook?
• groups vs. Pages
• member management nightmare
• lack of design customization

our secrets
• answer questions promptly
• join in the conversation, encourage interaction
• show examples at group tours & general info sessions
• include links in e-mail correspondence
• bags
• interact postcards, Web site

things to consider
• loss of control
• time commitment
• information overload
• anyone can create an “official”
account for your university

measurement
• ROI --> return on influence
• long tail effect
• Café New Paltz
• yield more highly selective students
• think outside the box - Ning limitations &
programming
• quality not quantity (# of fans/followers/subscribers)

? ?
questions
Rachel Reuben
reubenr@newpaltz.edu
site: rachelreuben.com
blog: doteduguru.com
Twitter: @rachelreuben