Overview

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has been a CampusGroups (CG) partner since June 2020. It implemented the campus engagement software during the global Covid-19 pandemic when Saudi Arabia was in full lockdown.

This blog post outlines KAUST’s experience rolling out the CG platform. It is drawn from conversations with Frances Field, the university’s Student Engagement Specialist.

Image of Frances Field Student Engagement Specialist — Frances Field

**Student Engagement Specialist**

Frances has been in her current role at KAUST since 2017. Prior to this, she served as KAUST’s Residential Life Coordinator (2016-2017) and Graduate Residence Coordinator (2014-2016).

Frances also serves on the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Advisory Board. She is a representative for the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA) region.

About KAUST

KAUST was founded in 2009. The graduate research university is both picturesque and diverse. Located on the Red Sea in the small fishing village of Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, the campus includes a marine sanctuary and museum. The unique Saudi campus hosts approximately 1,000 students and over 90 nationalities.

KAUST is also pioneering. It is the kingdom’s first mixed-gender university campus. Further, the KAUST campus was Saudi Arabia’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified project. In 2010, it received a LEED Platinum rating for its innovative and sustainable architecture.

Challenges prior to implementing CG

Prior to implementing CampusGroups, KAUST had a legacy student life community platform that was abandoned mid-contract. According to Frances, “the system wasn’t working for staff or the student body”.

“We kept trying to make do, as we were tied into a contract” Frances said. However, after several years, “administrators finally spoke to management, requesting a new system” she added.

Reportedly, the four principal issues with the previous platform were that it was:

Very manual- The lack of automation was a major sticking point. According to Frances, “our previous system was very labor intensive. It lacked automated workflows, analytics, and reporting capabilities.”
Among the goals of rolling out a community software is to streamline processes. KAUST wanted a one-stop-shop for all things associated with student life, including related workflows and engagement statistics. This was not the case of the former provider.
2. Inflexible- There was very little room for customization in our previous system, which was also a problem. Given KAUST’s unique environment, an off the-shelf one-size fits all product was not going to be very effective.
“As a small research-based university, we needed something that could adapt to our needs specifically. As a new and growing university, we also needed a system that would evolve with us over time,” said Frances.
3. Complicated and non intuitive- According to Frances, “if a system is too complicated it will likely lose traction, especially as individuals that implemented it move on”. The culture at KAUST is very transient. Most of the staff are expats, and so it is imperative that a system be easy to pick up.
Further, to entice students and staff to use it, a system must be intuitive. “This was not the case of the previous system” , Frances said.
4. Not engaging- Lastly, for a system to be successful it must be engaging. Students and staff should want to use it. “The issue with the legacy system was that it was not interactive. It was very grey and one-dimensional. Students were bored and so stopped using it”, said Frances.
There was a gap to fill. “Our goal was to identify and implement a system that was fun, colorful and engaging,” she added.

Solutions that CG provided

When KAUST decided to move on from their previous provider, the team started exploring alternatives. These included CG competitors and the possibility of building a home-grown system.

KAUST came across CG at NASPA’s annual conference. According to Frances, “we liked the fact that CG didn’t just offer an out-of-the-box solution. We were able to build, a la carte, the tool we needed. We also had a good relationship with CG staff, who were very friendly”.

Despite these advantages, KAUST staff, including Frances, were initially skeptical. Their main fear was that, like their legacy system, students would not adopt the new platform.

However, the benefits quickly became clear, and Frances became the lead in the project launch. She is now the university’s platform champion and advocate.

The four key advantages of the CG platform are, reportedly, that it:

Offers automated Workflow and Reporting Features- According to Frances, “KAUST chose CG over competitors because the system enabled us to automate key processes”. Previously, much was done manually. There was a strong will to move away from paper.
Today, key processes have been made into automated workflows that can seamlessly be completed via the web-based platform or mobile app. Among the most popular CG features at KAUST are tracks and checklists, event registration and check-in, which are all automated.
“We also needed all of these workflows to be backed by a powerful reporting tool. What is great about CG is that all data feeds into a reporting and analytics dashboard” Frances said. Event registration, forms, and more, can all be tracked and reported on.
Having this data enables KAUST to monitor platform adoption and assess the various communication tools. It also helps identify system knowledge gaps and informs student engagement strategies.
The system also enables KAUST to collect information from student’s families. “The previous tool didn’t enable us to include people from outside of the student body” said Frances, which was limiting.
Highly customizable- KAUST’s legacy platform was abandoned in part because students got bored of it. “With CG, we really wanted to create a bright and colorful virtual student center that reflects the personality and uniqueness of the university. We also wanted the platform to evolve over time,” said Frances.
The fact that the platform is highly customizable has been a game changer. KAUST’s homepage “Campus Connect” was built out to meet KAUST’s needs specifically. It is also not static. Photos and buttons are switched out based on the time of year and what’s happening on campus.
The homepage features key student life resources such as academic departments. However, it also features new professional communities or upcoming events. This ensures that people regularly visit the homepage. It also helps keep things fresh. Students use CG as their go-to place for everything campus related.
Some buttons link out to external websites. Currently, the homepage features a button to register for the COVID vaccine. There is also a button for an awesome fish cam. The underwater camera streams live footage from the KAUST Nature Conservation & Biodiversity Program.
3. Easy to implement- It is testament to CG’s ease of implementation that KAUST launched the platform in just six weeks during lockdown. “Everything is drag and drop. This makes the process of building the platform very easy. The result is also impressive” Frances said.
“I once built a workflow out in ten minutes with a reluctant colleague,” said Frances. From an admin perspective, “the process is much smoother than our legacy software. Students like it because they see instant results and can track their status in the process”, she added.
Given the very short implementation timeframe, KAUST needed to prioritize. The build out was split into three categories. What had to be up and running immediately. What could be done in the medium term. What could be done in the longer term.
“Our main priority was Orientation and the Homepage. We really wanted what was available to look and feel like KAUST”, said Frances. When CG launched, the team hid or disabled things so that the homepage looked finished even though it was not.
Throughout the implementation phase KAUST received support from CG. According to Frances, “we were given everything we were told we would. The CG team has also been very accessible, going above and beyond to make us successful”.
While the system is easy to implement, it is after all just a tool. This means that users need to be trained, to make the best of it. “My advice would be to train multiple staff and student group leaders to get buy-in and for the knowledge to trickle down,” she added.
4. Provides multiple engagement tools- Students at KAUST are all digital natives. “When deciding on a platform, we wanted a solution that motivated students to use it”, said Frances.“We wanted students to have a fun and engaging tool for when they were not on Blackboard”, she added.
The gamification aspect of the system, and that it provides students a safe space to use, were huge draws. The fact that CG is available on the web and mobile was also important.
KAUST has a CG campus app, which does all the day-to-day stuff. It also has a dedicated app for Commencement and one for Orientation. In the 2020 academic year, both happened virtually due to lockdown.
“CG became the student’s home throughout the orientation period”, Frances reported. Students joined and interacted from all over the world. “We saw as much engagement online, via the activity feed, chat and events, as would have had in a physical setting”, she added.
Student leaders and student groups adopted the system rapidly and use it daily. We also know that usership of key features is increasing. According to the system’s tracking and reporting tools:
- 24 workflow templates have been created, generating over 815 approvals to date.
- 29 different checklists have been created and 15,633 items checked-off to date.
- 2,282 unique check-ins were completed in 2020, and 5,252 to date for 2021.

Going Forward with CG

According to Frances, and at the time of the interview, KAUST was still in the implementation phase. Administrators are still building out workflows. KAUST is reportedly in the process of transitioning its newsletter to CG. It will also no longer post official campus news or events on Facebook.

“Currently, students are mainly using the platform’s necessary features. These include completing checklists, filling out forms, and submitting events for approval”, said Frances. As students familiarize themselves with the system, the more social features are gaining in popularity.

Over 40 groups are actively using the system. Further, the connection programs, careers and jobs board, chat and news feed features are increasingly being used. “I often hint that Facebook will be no more on campus,” Frances said.

Things are still evolving and will continue to do so over time. The dynamic and reactive nature of the CG team and product are great. Virtual fairs for instance were very quickly rolled out to deal with pandemic.

“One of the things about CG that we love is that we can request features and CG will consider developing them”. If there is a need CG is quick to bridge the gap.

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