Proper support and communication between college students and the institutions they are attending are one of the first requirements a school must fulfill to provide a successful education. It usually seems like a given, but it often happens that schools have a difficult time contacting students and establishing communication.
It can lead to various problems, including a lack of student engagement, which is among the main issues schools want to avoid. Let’s have a closer look at how schools can leverage college student contact information so that both sides can benefit:
Communication Is Key
College students today are accustomed to being able to communicate instantly. For the most part, schools accommodate this need and connect with students via email and other internet channels of communication. It is a positive way to ensure that the students get important updates and notifications promptly.
However, many higher education institutions have trouble keeping student contact information updated and accurate. It is to be expected considering how frequently this information can change. That’s where problems can arise.
Consequences of Poor Communication
When a college or any other higher education institution cannot reach a student due to an address input error or because their contact information has changed and has not been updated, that means the student will likely miss out on essential information.
Depending on what that the message was, it could have catastrophic consequences. In most cases, communication issues cause students to become disengaged and feel less like a part of the community. Neither side benefits from this — disengaged students breeze through their classes without any thought of contributing to the institution. In other cases, they might drop out, which further complicates the situation for the college as it has to recruit a new student to replace the lost one.
The Benefits of Correct Contact Information
When schools have the correct contact information of their college students and an automated means of keeping it updated, the students can rest easy knowing that they don’t have to worry about updating their information themselves. They will still get notified of everything they need to know, whether it’s through email or traditional mail which most higher education institutions still prefer using.
Keeping Student Contact Information Accurate
For institutions that keep track of their students’ contact information via software solutions like Banner and Colleague by Ellucian or PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, there is an easy way to ensure contact data is always complete, updated and verified. Runner EDQ’s software integration solution CLEAN_Student can be used with any of these programs to provide quality data that doesn’t become outdated.
Some of its features include demographic data, GeoCodes, and validation of international addresses, as well as de-duplicating your existing lists, detecting fraud with RBDI, and enhancing contact information to include social media and email contact.
With student contact data being so critical for the proper functioning of a higher education institution and with students being able to benefit so much from timely communication, it’s easy to see why CLEAN_Student can be helpful. Click Here for more information about our student data quality solutions.