Anne Arundel uses the latest social media and mobile technologies to increase student engagement and awareness
WAYNE, N.J., Jan. 6, 2011 — Today ConnectYard, Inc., leading provider of social media-based communication solutions for higher education, announced the successful adoption of their platform at Anne Arundel Community College. Anne Arundel Community College is one of many institutions who have implemented ConnectYard with the goal of improving student success and retention, which is the core focus of the College's Student Academic Success Program – a support network for largely "at risk" students.
Last year, faculty and staff members at Anne Arundel Community College had become increasingly frustrated with students not receiving, checking, and reading their emails. "It's as if they're allergic to email!" exclaimed Arlene Fogg, Retention Coordinator for the institution. "Many emails bounce back or just don't get checked, which means students can miss out on a lot."
Anne Arundel Community College created a learning community on ConnectYard to ensure that students are aware of important upcoming events such as registration, financial-aid deadlines, add and drop dates, workshops, off-campus trips, or even just to convey inspirational messages to help motivate them. "Students are constantly on their cell phones and checking their Facebook accounts, so reaching them in places they will actually check with timely messages is much more effective," added Fogg. "Students will even respond as soon as they get a message."
Feedback from students at the College is impressive. Students say that ConnectYard has been an exceptionally helpful resource for them — and they especially like having the option to receive messages any way they would like, including Facebook and text messages. One student says, "I like getting to know things up front, without having to wait for information by email or regular mail that I rarely, if ever, check." Fogg explains to students that the institution is trying to find ways to communicate with them — and they like that a lot. A common response from students is, "Cool!"
ConnectYard and Anne Arundel Community College will be participating in a joint presentation at the 2011 EDUCAUSE Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference. Taking place January 13th from 8:30-9:15am in Harborside Ballroom D, the session will focus on how SASP is using the latest social media and mobile technologies to securely extend communication beyond the classroom in order to increase student engagement and awareness.
About ConnectYard
ConnectYard provides a centralized social media communications platform for higher education that simplifies and unifies communications across a variety of social technologies, including Facebook and Twitter. The platform also can be used by various departments for institutional messaging, notifications and emergency alerts. In addition, the platform seamlessly integrates into existing portal and learning management technologies, providing increased communication capabilities for both administrative and academic purposes.
ConnectYard, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey. For more information on how ConnectYard can help your institution maximize student recruitment and retention, please visit http://www.connectyard.com or contact us at 973-494-8063.
CONTACT:
Sophie Alstrom
ConnectYard, Inc.
508 Hamburg Turnpike, 105D
Wayne, NJ 07470
973.494.8063
Email
http://www.connectyard.com
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