The Use of Student Engagement Technology Software

Amanda Gelber, Director of Student Engagement, McDaniel College

Amanda Gelber (She/Her) is the Director of Student Engagement at McDaniel College, located in Westminster, Maryland. With a career dedicated to fostering diverse and inclusive environments, Amanda brings her extensive expertise to the forefront of student engagement and development. In her role at McDaniel College, Amanda leads a dynamic team, manages substantial budgets, and implements strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing student success. She is proficient in leveraging learning technologies and spearheads the use of CampusGroups software to boost student engagement.

It is a common myth in higher education that student engagement only involves planning parties and renting bouncy houses. While such activities are part of student engagement, they do not define its true value on college campuses. These campuses are designed to offer a variety of opportunities for exploration and growth. Life outside the classroom, directly and indirectly, impacts student development, closely linking student involvement to student retention.

With this understanding, campuses and student engagement offices should consistently evaluate their student offerings, provide quick and easy access to events and information, and conduct assessments to demonstrate the support and growth that student engagement provides to the student body. However, the needs of each campus community vary significantly, creating potential gaps. Therefore, the ability to customize the software to reflect individual campus needs has made student engagement technology software invaluable.

“Student engagement is much more than planning social events; it plays a crucial role in student development and retention. The use of customizable student engagement software is essential in meeting the diverse needs of campus communities and enhancing the overall student experience.”

At the most basic level, student engagement platforms allow students to find events, meetings, workshops, forms, policies, and other resources in one place. Most software companies also offer an app to accompany their desktop site, appealing to the student body. This feature alone can transform customer service satisfaction rates and help campuses stay relevant to student trends, especially since the current student generation desires streamlined information access without the need to sign into multiple systems.

Higher education institutions are always seeking ways to increase student involvement with on-campus services and programs. One effective method is the use of gamification in engagement software. Many students enjoy accumulating points, adding a competitive edge as they work towards incentives. The internal use of badges or digital medals also provides students with a visual compilation of the events or workshops they have attended. Students appreciate instant feedback and the ability to track their progress. Points, badges, and other performance indicators offer this experience while also tracking their involvement. As students progress through their college careers, it can be challenging to recall all their involvement activities. Whether building a resume or applying for a job or internship, this software captures their data, allowing students to automatically download a co-curricular transcript that shows clubs and organizations, service hours, event attendance, badges, and more.

Faculty and staff also benefit from the efficient, clean data points and customizable reports that can be downloaded. Significant time is saved by running reports instead of manually calculating attendance or copying and pasting survey results. This allows more time to understand programmatic trends, and engagement levels based on the audience, and focus on the valuable skills or lessons that can come from various types of programming. This provides a more efficient way to collect data and use it to show the substance of engagement work. The efficiency also aids in form approval, survey management, network management, integration with other software platforms, and virtual engagement.

Student engagement is much more than planning social events; it plays a crucial role in student development and retention. The use of customizable student engagement software is essential in meeting the diverse needs of campus communities and enhancing the overall student experience.