High Tech, High Engagement

When last-minute visa issues kept a prospective international student from arriving at Walsh University on time for the fall semester, she had to defer admission. Until fairly recently, that delay might have prodded her to enroll elsewhere. Instead, a video she posted on YouTube about coming to the Ohio university was shared on Facebook, connections were made, and “she knew 30  or 40 students from Walsh before she even set foot on campus,” says Doug Palmer, the university’s vice president for academic affairs. As soon as her visa issues were resolved, she was able to arrive on campus with that network already established.

International education has always been about bringing together far-flung students and cultures, and the technology needed to reach more students in better ways is now largely in place. But in an era of shaky enrollment models and surging competition for students, the challenge for higher education leaders is to successfully deploy the full spectrum of technological tools to recruit, retain, and support international students.

Go Where the Students Are

Student blog posts are one strategy that adds value on several fronts, including recruitment. For example, Virginia Wesleyan College leverages social media to make sure prospective students see the twice-weekly blog entries that study abroad students are required to post.

“This is not the place to bring your neutral colors,” Virginia Wesleyan junior Manijha Mack wrote in a blog post linked from Virginia Wesleyan’s study abroad page, referring to Cuba, where he was studying for a semester. “Not