Facebook+for+UWA+Students

=Facebook pilot for incoming UWA students = = = Dr Lisa Cluett Online Student Journey Project

With the aim of the Online Student Journey project to engage UWA students using an online ‘layer’ of the Student Services’ programs (see pg21) and using what we have learnt from the NODE online community project (see pg20), Student Services is piloting a new way of building a relationship with incoming students – using Facebook.

The UWA Student Services Division focuses considerable effort and attention to the early part of the student journey – from enrolment through to Link Week and beyond. The transition period can now be extended to include pre-enrolment students (by promoting the page as offers go out). This period is seen as a particularly key time in building a positive relationship with incoming students allowing us to provide more comprehensive and consistent communication and referral to (and promotion of) existing programs and services ranging from Study Skills, transition and mentoring programs, orientation activities as well as (potentially) UWA Library, Faculty information, Lectopia and WebCT and any other area of the university that wants to ‘capture and refer’ incoming students. The intention is not to replicate or replace any existing services, but instead to give a one-stop-online-shop for Student Services.

A Facebook organisation page was created called ‘UWA Students’ http://facebook.dj/uwastudents which is administered by the Online Student Journey project and invites fans to join the community. The page is open to staff and students (fans cannot see each others’ personal profiles unless they are friends with each other or their privacy settings allow open access). There are a range of scaffolding documents to advise fans how to get the most out of the page and how to act appropriately.

Rather than creating a Facebook group, a ‘fan’ (organisation) page was chosen as it provides • Direct link between the page and fans’ news feeds • Built-in tracking and analysis tools • The ability for non-Facebook users to view the page • Internet search results • Easy interaction with the page for staff and students

this has been the most commonly asked question so far. The organisation pages were given an overhaul in March 2009 which now gives them very similar functionality to personal profiles. This makes them accessible to fans and easy to administer.

Lisa is happy to chat to anyone who’d like to know more, anyone who is interested in using Facebook at UWA and anyone who might have input to supporting documents. Plus more fans are always welcome – but behave, I’m watching you!

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