Off-Campus Student Services (OCSS)

1. Off-Campus Student Services (OCSS) PROJECT University of Connecticut Team Leader: Merz Lim Ben Cannon, Mark Flynn & Akeya Peterson DATE CLIENT FEBRUARY 23, 2011 STUDENTAFFAIRS.COM CASE STUDY

2. Overview • Services Provided by OCSS • Current Issues Within OCSS • Types of Social Media that will be Integrated in OCSS • Integration of Social Medias • Background on Social Media and Millennials • Challenges of Implementation of Social Medias • Future Implications of Social Media Integration

3. Goals & Mission of OCSS Off-Campus Student Services, part of the Office of Student Services and Advocacy, offers resources and advocacy for UCONN students' off-campus living and/or commuting experience. Off-Campus Student Services.  Retrieved February 19, 2011 from http://www.offcampus.uconn.edu/  

4. Provided Services of OCSS • Housing Fairs - A semi-annual fair that features local property management companies/landlords and university organizations. Information is also provided about living off-campus and the services that are available to commuter students. • Commuter Appreciation Week - Held each semester to acknowledge commuter students extra efforts to get to campus daily.  Events are held around campus such as: • Pizza with the Police where UConn Police officers share safety tips and allow students to ask questions in a informal environment. • “Morning Welcomes” where students are greeted in the commuter parking lots with breakfast items and other useful items that a commuter may need.

5. Provided Services of OCSS (cont.) • Landlord Sharing Program - Documentation system that allow students to raise concerns about the quality of their off-campus housing and/or landlord that will lead to resolving the issue. Landlords are given the opportunity to respond to the students feedback. Documentation is also provided for future tenants to view

6. Current Issues for OCSS • Transportation: • Storrs, CT; rural location, lack of public transportation makes it difficult to get around surrounding areas • Roommates: • Unlike students who live in residence halls who are • assigned a roommate, students who want to move • off-campus, have to find their own roommate(s). • Selling/Buying Items: • Other than word of mouth, flyers, or message boards, • students do not have a centralized management system, • where they could sell/buy their items.

7. Social Media While there are a number of different definitions of social media, the term refers to the media based on user participation and user-generated content. Social media can take many different forms: blogs, forums, message boards, wikis, podcasts, social bookmarking, picture-sharing, and instant messenger. Some specific examples of popular social media sties include YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, FourSquare, and Twitter (Pikalek, 2010).

8. Social Media Social media allows for intra- and inter-university communication amongst and between faculty, professional staff, and students (Manlow, Friedman, and Friedman 2010). Twitter is a website, owned and operated by Twitter Inc., which offers a social networking and microblogging service, enabling its users to send and read messages called tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the user's profile page.  Twitter. Retrieved February 12, 2011, from http://twitter.com/

9. Social Media Facebookis a social network service and website launched in February 2004 that has more than 600 million active members Users may create a personal profile, add other users as friends and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. Additionally, users may join groups of common interest, organized by workplace, school, or college, or other characteristics. More than 200 million active members access Facebook through mobile devices. Facebook. Retrieved February 13, 2011, from http://www.facebook.com

10. Twitter Campaign for OCSS • Why Twitter? • 106 Million Users • 48% Undergraduates Students • 28% Graduate Students • 43% 18-34 years old • 52% Update on a daily basis • 37% Login with a mobile device • 76% of all Twitter Users are in college and half update on a daily basis and a bit over a third do it from a mobile device. • MEET THE STUDENTS WHERE THEY ARE AT! • Benefits of Using Twitter • Raise Awareness • Offer Proactive Customer Service • Answer Questions • Promote Events, Products, Services Digital Buzz. Retrieved February 22, 2011, from http://tinyurl.com/284z9ge

11. Twitter Campaign for OCSS (cont.) • Making an OCSS Twitter Account • Create a new account and use login information that anybody who works in OCSS could have access • Choose a username such as OCSS or UCONN OCSS • Upload a photo – Suggested to use the Logo of OCSS • Fill in your Bio Homepage • Link the OCSS webpage • Add a description of OCSS mission and services • Put in location of the office of OCSS • Choose a background or customize background • View a Tutorial on Twitter: http://www.slideshare.net/Griner/the-twitter-tutorial

12. Twitter Campaign for OCSS (cont.) • Linking Your Resources • Once the OCSS Twitter account is created you can begin to link the account to everything associated with OCSS. • Every OCSS employee should have a Logo Link in their signature • EX: Barry Smith • Social Media Coordinator • Off Campus Student Services • Phone: (860) 486 –1234 • Add links to the Twitter account on the OCSS UConn Webpage • Facebook Profile should have a link leading to the Twitter Page • Could be added to the Information section or posted on the wall • The Twitter Page should have a link leading to the Facebook Page • Tweet the actual Facebook page periodically and add link to the Profile Clickable Links

13. Twitter Campaign for OCSS (cont.) • Gaining Followers • In order to be successful the Twitter account needs to have followers • Create an advertising campaign asking people to follow UConn OCSS on Twitter • Post flyers on campus stating how to follow UConn OCSS • Update Facebook Page asking people to follow • Add the Twitter name at every OCSS event • Reply to followers gained • Hold contest solely for individuals who follow the twitter account • For example, the 30th person to tweet about OCSS wins a gift card • Become a trending topic by hash tagging OCSS • By placing # in front of OCSS it will highlight the name like a link. Then any other tweets that have #OCSS in it will be put in the same category of tweets

14. Twitter Campaign for OCSS (cont.) • Maintaining Updates • The success of the Twitter Campaign relies heavily on how it is maintained • Maintenance • Understanding that the twitter account will be public and all students will have access you must set appropriate guidelines for OCSS • These policies must be known by every person who uses the account • Responsibilities • Will it be one specific person or multiple people and if it is multiple people make sure they communicate responsibilities • Usage • Suggestion: Only one update a day unless there is an upcoming major event • Tweet about resources, events, changes in OCSS, contests, etc.

15. Twitter Campaign for OCSS (cont.) • Creating Connections • Fast and simple Tweets can provide the connection to under utilized resources currently lacking in student traffic • Tweet about student needs and link them to the resources • Ex: Hey are you looking for a roommate but are having trouble finding one? Click this link for help – http://www.OCSS.edu/OCH This should link followers to the forum where people post about roommate needs and wants • Personalize how you use Twitter • Take pictures at events of contest winners or just attendees and tweet them • Reply back to specific followers and answer questions directly to them • Allow people to use UConn OCSS twitter as a venue for carpooling, roommates, subleasing, or sell/buy items from one another

16. Millennials: Pew Research The Pew Charitable Trusts -a not for profit organization, dedicated to serving public interest by "improving public policy, informing the public, and stimulating civic life.” In February, 2010 they completed a comprehensive study of the millennial and their tendencies, a large part of their research focused on technology and social media. America's newest generation, the Millennials, is in the middle of this coming-of-age phase of its life cycle. Its oldest members are approaching age 30; its youngest are approaching adolescence. (Pew, 2010)

17. Millennials: Social Media • 74% of Millennials believe that technology makes life easier • As of January 2010 75% of Millennials reported using social media or social networking sites • 29% of Millennials report checking social networking sites several times a day • 26% of Millennials report checking social networking sites once a day • 86% of College Students have some type of social networking profile or page in their name (Pew, 2010)

18. Millennials: Social Media (cont.) • While 8% of adults report using twitter, 14% of Millennials report using twitter • 62% of Millennials connect to the internet wireless from a laptop or other handheld device (Pew, 2010)

19. Difficulties Executing Plan • Consistency • Management of the social media • Updating frequently e.g. daily basis • Linking of different social medias • Staying relevant to the issues/services: Information provided is what the students want or need to know • Appropriate Postings • Marketing • Internally – Getting people to invite friends • Gaining the first initial set of followers • Provide appealing giveaways • Mixing medias by combing email, flyers, calendars with Twitter

20. Difficulties Executing Plan (cont.) • Boundaries • Social Media inherently has no boundaries, because of that we are moving to an area that we do not know what the implications are. Where sensitive data may become under attack with spam and phishing attacks (Hung and Yuen, 2010). • Budget Implications -- in people not products • It takes considerable staff hours to maintain an effective site. At least 10hrs each week in planning, to find content, posting, and engage in the ongoing conversation (Pikalek, 2010). Thus it is vitally important to have the right team in place to support the ongoing maintenance needs.   

21. Difficulties Executing Plan (cont.) • Initial Buy-In • Students may not want to place more personal information of themselves out on the internet • Not being knowledgeable in using Twitter • Population might not be tech savvy as an increase in non- traditional students enroll into college • Collaboration among other functional areas, such as student services, IT, and program faculty for content ideas

22. Future Implications of Integrating Social Media • Strategic Plan • A department must create one that fits the mission and values of the office, if not, the use of social network may not be effective (Hung and Yuen, 2010). • Being realistic- adding a social network into a department does not guarantee success, it may become a sunk-cost effect. (Hung and Yuen, 2010). • Integrating additional forms of social media such as FourSquare, Blogspot, Flikr, Yelp, and other sites.

23. Future Implications of Integrating Social Media • Strategic Plan • Collaborating with other functional areas and incorporating social media into the classroom setting • University may not be ready for the integration of social media • Lack of resources to accommodate mobility of technology • Training of the staff to understand how to use the technology • Creation of smart phone application for OCSS

24. References Digital Buzz (Dec. 21, 2010) Infographic: Facebook vs. twitter demographics. Retrieved February 22, 2011 from http://tinyurl.com/284z9ge Facebook. (n.d.). Facebook. Retrieved February 13, 2011, from http://www.facebook.com Hung, H., & Yuen, S. C. (2010). Educational use of social networking technology in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 15(6), 703-714. Kohut, A., Taylor, P., Keeter, S., & Parker, K. (2010). The Millennials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change. .Pew Research Center, 1(1), 140. Retrieved February 9, 2011, from http://pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/10/millennials-confident-connected-open-to-change.pdf Manlow, V., Friedman, H., & Friedman, L. (2010). Inventing the future: Using social media to transform a university from a teaching organization to a learning organization. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 21(1), 47-64. Off-Campus Student Services.  Retrieved February 19, 2011 from http://www.offcampus.uconn.edu/. Pikalek, A. J. (2010). Navigating the social media learning curve. Continuing Higher Education Review, 74, 150-160. Slideshare. (n.d.). The Twitter Tutorial. Retrieved February 22, 2011, http://www.slideshare.net/Griner/the-twitter-tutorial The Pew Charitable Trusts, Pew Research Center. (2010). The millenials: confident, connected, open to change . Washington, DC Twitter. (n.d.). Twitter. Retrieved February 12, 2011, from http://twitter.com