First impressions are important. The first meeting, the student onboarding process, between the student and the university sets the tone for the future relationship. If things go wrong, it could contribute to student dropout and dissatisfaction, which is currently spiraling out of control in the United States and elsewhere. Did you know that a whopping 32.9% of students never finish their studies, and most of them never finish their freshman year? An estimated 39 million Americans began but did not complete their education by 2020. This represents a cost of approximately $16.5 billion in lost tuition and a huge social problem.

1. HOW TO USE THE LMS FOR A SMOOTH STUDENT ONBOARDING PROCESS
First impressions are important. The first meeting, the student onboarding process, between
the student and the university sets the tone for the future relationship. If things go wrong, it
could contribute to student dropout and dissatisfaction, which is currently spiraling out of
control in the United States and elsewhere. Did you know that a whopping 32.9% of students
never finish their studies, and most of them never finish their freshman year? An estimated 39
million Americans began but did not complete their education by 2020. This represents a cost
of approximately $16.5 billion in lost tuition and a huge social problem.
In The College Dropout Scandal, David Kirp outlines the societal implications: rising debt,
diminished career prospects, mental and physical health issues, and disengagement from the
local community. Students from ethnic minorities, with disabilities, or from low-income families
are more likely to drop out of school. The rising cost of living only makes matters worse and
leads prospective students to skip higher education altogether. Find more about LMS for Higher
Education.
From Student Orientation to Student Onboarding
Universities and community colleges know this. That's why the onboarding process for students
is so important and takes so much effort. However, there's still a lot of room for improvement.
When I worked in higher education, I saw 'orientation' turn into a long process of placement.
No longer is it about giving students information overload in their first week, it is now an effort

2. to connect students with peers and the culture of their institution. It's less about information
and more about building a community and an approach to student success that works.
However, the suspicion remains that the physical onboarding processes are the most
important. For students on campus, this is certainly the most obvious aspect of onboarding
(and the most expensive for the institution to produce, hence the focus). But digital
onboarding, particularly in the learning management system (LMS), is just as important. When
used correctly, the LMS can be a great tool for making the onboarding process smoother for all
students.
Why is the student onboarding process so important?
Let's put the statistics on failure rates aside for a moment. These are obviously important, but
they are not the only point of view. There is a lot of talk in educational circles about student-
centered learning. The same goes for student onboarding. Colleges that take the time to work
with students to consider their goals and relate them to their coursework are more likely to see
students thrive; their study choices are more in line with their interests and ultimate goals.
If we want students to thrive, we need to give them more support to make the best choices for
themselves and encourage them to participate in extracurricular activities. An onboarding
process considers the possibility that students will feel overwhelmed and insecure when they
first begin, as well as the possibility of alienation. A formal advocacy process that puts their
career goals and interests at the center of their choices, while also monitoring students'
adjustment to university life, allows the college to identify blocks and problems for students
before they become major problems.
How to use the LMS for a good digital student onboarding experience
The LMS is the online hub for students and plays a crucial link between the institution and the
student. It is therefore a perfect place to incorporate the onboarding process. While an LMS is
primarily for classroom activities and resources, when used correctly, it can also become a
space for cultivating community and belonging. Learning platforms, like Green LMS, are perfect
for creating great digital onboarding experiences.
Here are a few examples of how you might do this:
Provide a window into the institution
LMSs have many features that can help create a better digital onboarding process for all
students, whether they study in-person, online, or hybrid. Basically, it is important to provide
information and organize an LMS that reflects how the institution works.
By enrolling students in properly populated classes on the LMS, they can see that structure and
view the syllabus, lessons, calendar, and deadlines, which helps the tutor plan lessons and

3. support students in their studies. If the associated tools are properly integrated, students are
more likely to understand the LMS as the college's online hub. An example is adding Zoom links
to your LMS calendar so students can join sessions right away. But they also find other useful
tools such as Turnitin, which emphasizes the importance of scientific integrity at an early stage.
Using the LMS as a hub for students creates a direct connection and the feeling that the
university is well organized. To adequately achieve this goal, the LMS should be customized to
the company's color theme, including the logo, and should have a welcome banner. It all adds
to that feeling of being part of the institution. Read more about K-12 LMS for Students.
Get enrollment right
This is where things often go wrong. Registration issues occur every year as updates and
changes to platforms inevitably bring new challenges. It is important to involve support staff to
check for any issues, especially in the first few days of membership. The key is to do everything
possible to ensure that student enrollment runs smoothly. Again, these are just first
impressions.
Institutions have many options for enrollment, including sending student access codes, email
invitations, or enrolling directly in the system using their credentials. Students can also be
placed on a waiting list if their courses require it. However, the great thing is that students can
also purchase classes directly from the LMS catalog if your university uses the e-commerce
feature.
Use the LMS for connection
The LMS is not only a repository of information but also a means of communication for
professors, students, administrators, and other staff of the institution.
Students can interact through the LMS using chat, instant messaging, forums, news feeds, and
groups. They can also add each other as friends, which is a good idea if you want to implement
a friend system where older students can help new students through the onboarding process.
It's best to have all of these communication systems in place before students start so they can
ask questions, get help, and connect.
Develop learning paths
It pays to look beyond the lectures when using the LMS to make sure it really is the online hub
where students can connect to the institution. Developing a personalized learning path is a
good example of this.
These self-paced learning paths should not only relate to their field of study, but also refer to
relevant information, such as library access, study skills training, information about the

4. institution (including its history and values), careers, personalized financial advice, and
healthcare support.
They might include a fun video introducing themselves to different departments and
instructors, as well as tips and tricks for navigating campus, around town, or finding the best
places to hang out. They shouldn't be mandatory, of course, but students will certainly find
them very useful.
Add a human touch
Finally, don't forget about the human dimension. An LMS can be a lonely place if not used
properly, but adding a touch of our own can make all the difference. This is one of the reasons
why using communication tools is important, but not enough. For example, you can organize
alumni interviews using forums or Zoom so that new students can learn from their peers who
have already graduated and are working. Green LMS takes it one step further with mentorship
accounts.
Add pre-recorded videos for welcome messages, instructions, or offers of support to add a
human voice to study materials, especially for remote students. Join the class chat and spend
time having casual video conferencing conversations during the first few weeks of the
semester. It will make a difference.
The LMS onboarding experience provides structure, connection, and information, as well as a
means for students to see their learning progress. This is another aspect of online onboarding—
the need to build a visible and flexible process so that it can be used to guide and nurture the
student throughout their studies and beyond.
Students must be able to see that they are making progress and know where to go for advice
and help if something goes wrong. If there's one thing we've learned from the pandemic, it's
the need to be kinder to each other and provide remote and hybrid students with the same
opportunities we offer in-person students.
An LMS is not a repository; it's an online space for people to connect to. It's important to think
about it that way. -Zoe Albrecht
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