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Community Portal Strengthens Community
Engagement and Efficiency
Challenges
Prior to implementing CampusGroups (CG) in 2022, UWEC had the same student life community platform for almost a decade. However, the legacy platform was limited in functionality and slow.
The main challenges with the previous system were:
Limited community engagement features
The legacy platform was event-centric. It lacked features that are key to a community engagement platform, including a campus wide feed, chat, or social directory.
Mobile functionality was also extremely limited, resulting in low platform adoption.
Lack of automation
The legacy system was very manual and lacked analytics and reporting capabilities. Student organization registration and event tracking were particularly challenging.
There wasn't an easy or reliable process which meant these processes were still done manually.
Poor performance
There was reportedly a lot of lag time with the previous platform. Administrators often couldn’t physically get their work done, let alone do it efficiently.
The platform’s poor performance further contributed to a lack of adoption among students.
Solutions
UWEC needed a unified and user-friendly community engagement portal. According to Sara E. Thommesen, UWEC’s Senior Coordinator of Engagement, “The CG platform is so complete and easy to use for students and staff, that we are continually transitioning processes to CG ''. Key benefits include:
Solutions
Unified Campus Portal
The implementation of the (“BluGold Connect +”) portal established a comprehensive platform university-wide. It serves as the go-to resource on campus, connecting students to the information they need and each other.
Multiple Engagement Tools
Available on the web and mobile, the platform has over 30 modules. The student groups and membership feature, events management tools, and chat are the most-used modules. The dedicated Orientation app is also key, enhancing the student experience for first-year students and increasing adoption.
Automated Workflows and Robust Tracking and Reporting Features
CG has automated key processes, with data feeding into an analytics and reporting dashboard in real time. The most popular workflows are tracks and checklists, event registration and check-in.
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Student Numbers
11,000
Type of institution
Public University
Customer
Since
2022
Outcomes
Student engagement has significantly increased since CG’s implementation. The portal has also created a better user experience and efficiencies for students and administrators. This is reflected in the following user stats for the first year of use:
12,858 users, including 1,467 group officers.
1,315 events created, triggering 15,550 event registrations.
479 events used the attendance tracking feature, resulting in 13,550 event check-ins.
SARA E. THOMMESEN
University of Wisconsin Eau Claire’s Senior Coordinator of Engagement
Unified Portal for Campus Life
"Our campus has way too many apps. We are looking to move everything to CG, including calendaring, room reservations, payments and budgeting. Having a central place for students and administrators to communicate and connect is great.”
Engaging and Retaining First-Year Students
“The mobile app has been a game changer, especially for first-year students who want everything at their fingertips. Orientation is where it all starts. Therefore, having a dedicated orientation app and welcome days hub for incoming students sets them up for success.”
Easy to Use and Reliable
“I have heard only positive things from students and staff, about how the portal is more efficient. The chat feature has eliminated inefficient emailing with student groups. The QR code for event check-in and student club registration workflow have eliminated manual processes.”Support Future Growth
“We have surpassed our implementation goals and usership is growing fast. We have over 20,000 users on the campus feed, including alumni."
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