HOW TO ENGAGE STUDENTS WITH NEW MOBILE APP

Campus mobile apps are a must for higher education institutions! They help establish better communication and engage students.

Today’s college students are almost exclusively digital natives. They grew up with mobile devices as part of their daily lives and want everything at their fingertips and on-demand.

To adapt to this new generation, universities and colleges are upgrading their digital assets. Dedicated mobile apps are increasingly used as a tool to get information, learn, and socialize on campus.

Mobile apps reportedly contribute to higher rates of student engagement, retention, and success. They are used by Student Life administrators and students for planning, communicating, tracking, and reporting.

Based on our experience working with 200+ Partner Campuses, this article outlines how a mobile app can better engage students.

Our newly revamped mobile app goes even further in:

🎯 Serving as the Go-To Resource for Students.

📲 Being User-Friendly and Customizable.

Since we know that having a powerful tool only goes so far, we also provide:

📈 Tips on How to Increase App Adoption and Engagement.

BETTER ENGAGE STUDENTS WITH OUR MOBILE APP

Our Newly Revamped Mobile App

Revamped from the ground up, the new CampusGroups (CG) mobile app uses the React Native Framework. This means that it can be updated live without an AppStore update. Improvements or urgent bug fixes can now be pushed in minutes across all apps, which is a huge win for our Partner Campuses.

Developed based on our customers’ needs, the overhaul includes the following feature releases and enhancements:

Mobile user Onboarding.
New profile page.
New “Discover” page and filtering, for a personalized experience (including recommended connections and events) based on prior activity and popular events on campus.
Improved groups listing, discovery and filtering options.
New groups page and subpages.
Events listing and calendar filtering, including a “My Events” view.
Revamped event registration page.
New directory, including “My Connections” view, and suggested connections section.
Campus Safety page.
Revamped “dark mode” feature.

Building off last year’s native iOS redesign, this complete overhaul has been pushed for Android. Once we have reached sufficient stability for the Android version, the React Native Framework will also replace the native iOS app.

The Go-To Resource for Students

A campus mobile app serves as the go-to resource for students. It provides them with all campus-related information in one place, through a fully centralized mobile experience.

In addition to being the one-stop-shop for academic, co-curricular and student service information, the app helps connect and engage students.

Having a mobile app enhances the user experience of our Partner Campus communities. Aligned with our traditional web platform, the mobile experience with our app is:

Branded.
Interactive.
Customizable.

Features we consider central to a well-designed and comprehensive campus app include:

Activity Feed: Lets users know what’s happening on campus. It also provides them with the tools to post news, photos and interact with others.
Events: Students can browse upcoming events, see who's attending, view dress code & other details, RSVP, retrieve tickets and receive confirmation.
Push Notifications: Users can send mobile reminders to all or a subset of students, promoting the latest news or updates (e.g., event location moved).
Campus Maps: Colleges can upload custom maps of buildings, floors, and rooms on campus. This helps students locate and orient themselves on the go.
Directory: Students and administrators can easily browse the campus directory to expand their network or communicate directly with personal contacts.
Chat: Allows students to connect and message classmates anywhere, anytime one-on-one or in groups.
Custom Lists: Users can create item lists for various information, such as FAQs, Locations, Resources, Staff Directory, and more.
Web Views: Administrators can include specific and responsive website pages directly into the app.
Deep Links: Allow users to open other mobile apps for students (LMS, careers)
Groups: Student organization leaders can create and manage their group page, members, and news. Users can also browse, join, and interact here.
Attendance Tracking: Users can scan QR Codes or swipe student IDs with a Mobile Card Reader.
Gamification/Leaderboard: Users can quickly identify the most active users and groups based on earned “Involvement Badges”.
Forms: Lists all important forms students need as part of campus life.
Checklist: Users are guided through specific to-do lists and learning pathways, helping them keep on-track in achieving their goals.
Payments: Students can make payments via the mobile app and see a history of their payments.
Social Media: Include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube channels for easy access to news and photos.

BETTER ENGAGE STUDENTS WITH a Comprehensive CAMPUS APP

All our Partner Campuses have our mobile app, including MIT, Kansas State University and John’s Hopkins University. Students at Xavier University, which replaced their campus engagement platform with CG in 2020, have said that the mobile app is one of the most exciting features of the CG platform.

“I like that I can take care of things in one place. All the forms and information I need from the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) are in one place.”

— Xavier University Student

According to a student at Xavier University, “I like that I can take care of things in one place. All the forms and information I need from the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) are in one place.”

In addition to the CG app, close to 100 Partner Campuses have created a dedicated “Event Mobile App”. Our Events Mobile App feature is custom built for big events, including Orientation, Commencement and Alumni gatherings. It provides attendees with event information, resources, and the ability to network through the event feed and chat.

User-Friendly and Customizable

For a mobile app to be successful it needs to be designed with the end-user in mind. The app should be easy to set up and user-friendly. Customization, which is at the heart of the CG product, is also key.

According to a Xavier University student, CG is much more intuitive than the previous tool. “The way (the app) is laid out is so much better (than the previous tool). You can even add events directly to your iPhone calendar, which is really convenient”.

The ability to personalize the look and feel of the mobile app is very important. An app that is branded with your school’s colors and logo, helps with brand recognition. It also helps develop a sense of belonging.

At CG we take personalization one step further. In addition to being able customize the menu and features based on institutional needs, clients can personalize content navigation for each user based on their persona (students, faculty, alumni).

This includes the ability to create a “Custom Left Menu” on the landing page of the campus app. Further, the “Community Hubs” feature enables the creation of distinct content to different sets of users.

These features give administrators the opportunity to provide their campuses with a unique user experience. For a seamless user interface, we recommend that the menu and set up of the mobile app is aligned with the web platform.

How to Increase App Adoption and Engage Students

While having a well-designed app is key, it is only half the battle. It is also important for higher-ed institutions to implement a mobile app adoption and engagement strategy.

As the providers of a campus community platform, serving 70% of the top colleges and universities in the United States, we have put together some tips for increasing mobile app adoption and engagement.

To promote the mobile app, we recommend leveraging channels students use most to consume their information (i.e. social media, printed materials, the college website). In marketing the app, ensure the call to action (downloading the app) is clear. Our app makes this step easy, by automatically creating a downloadable flyer with custom slogans and instructions to install the app.

Another best practice is to launch the app during key events with a high footfall, such as orientation. This helps reach a wide student base and makes the app part of the user experience.

According to several Campus Partners, “event registration and check-in have been amazing funnels for getting students to use the app on a regular basis”.

Further, sending targeted communications highlighting the benefits of the mobile app is effective, as are incentives through gamification and prizes. The first students that download the app or are highly active users could receive a badge or campus swag.

Training group leaders on key features is also critical. Identifying “app champions” among group leaders or students is a great way to help the expertise trickle down and drive organic growth.

Once the Mobile app has launched, engagement is key to its success. One way of increasing app engagement is through timely, personalized, and actionable communications. Push notifications or in-app banners for upcoming events a user has signed up to, is a great way to do this.

It is also important to keep the community feed dynamic and engaging. This can be achieved by creating a team of campus Community Managers (students or staff) that regularly post quality and timely content on the feed, including photos and videos.

Community Managers can also create feed topics for the community feed to further encourage student involvement. They can also implement automated welcome messages in chat to promote a feeling of belonging for new students.

Digital technology is currently the dominant mode of communication, and having an active mobile app is synonymous to an active campus life. Therefore, it is important to choose the right app for your campus and implement an app adoption and engagement strategy.

“Once our students noticed that by posting on the CampusGroups feed they got more meaningful interactions than posting on Instagram, usership increased incrementally. ”

— An Assistant Director Assistant Director of Student Involvement at Presbyterian College

According to an Assistant Director Assistant Director of Student Involvement at Presbyterian College, “you know that your app is a success when users leave old methods of communication. Once our students noticed that by posting on the CampusGroups feed they got more meaningful interactions than posting on Instagram, usership increased incrementally”.

We hope that this post helps you better engage students on your campus using a dedicated campus mobile app! We would also love to hear how your campus app has contributed to student retention and success.

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