Dive Brief:
- Blackboard announced Thursday a partnership with Wichita State University that will see it provide a technological, student-focused approach to increasing enrollment and retention.
- The "WSU One-Stop for Student Services" will streamline processes for enrollment, registration, advising, financial aid, and student accounts into a single system that provides technology support for students from the onboarding process through graduation.
- Blackboard will also provide support personnel to identify and assist prospective students during outreach campaigns, and students will have 24/7 support via phone, online self-service, and mobile apps.
Dive Insight:
Nobody wants to travel back and forth between different departments and offices, which sometimes aren't even in the same administration buildings, trying to find the one that can answer their question or supply the right paperwork/information for the office they were just at. The 14,000 students at WSU won't have to worry about this anymore, thanks to this streamlined platform from Blackboard.
This new services agreement also sees Blackboard breaking from its traditional role as a technology company, and you shouldn't be surprised to see more on the way given its recent acquisition of MyEdu and its plans to launch a virtual bookstore.