Dive Brief:
- Colleges and universities offering students services via the mobile app OOHLALA will now be able to utilize surveys to gain real-time student feedback on their campus experiences, eCampus News reports.
- Pilots of the survey tool have thus far showed a response rate of around 70-90% of students using OOHLALA, compared to the National Survey of Student Engagement's typical average response rate of 29%, and the data gathered is also fed into reports and dashboards that administrators can view and use as they make decisions in real-time.
- When surveys are created, the app creates a unique QR code that can be provided for access at any number of campus events, sending a push notification to those who scanned so they can weigh in on the experience — and other uses might include soliciting feedback on services like advising, career centers or financial aid offices, according to eCampus News.
Dive Insight:
You'd be hard-pressed to find a student on a college campus today without access to a smartphone. That always-connected nature has made assessing and meeting students' needs a much less daunting task — if administrators make the effort to meet them where they are.
With a tool like the one provided by this app, if administrators wanted to measure the effectiveness of the orientation process or how the institution could improve dining services, for example, they could now push a survey to all users and gain feedback that they can immediately put to use in adjusting programming or making improvements. Compare this to, say, a physical survey mailed to a student or a digital one sent in an email — both of which might be more likely to go unopened compared to the implied convenience of a short mobile questionnaire, in addition to the former potentially taking more time to process and analyze.
That quicker response-time to student feedback can ultimately lead to greater retention if students feel like their institution of choice is more invested in listening to and addressing their concerns.