Interfacing With the Millennial Student

1
Interfacing With the Millennial Student
2005 SASFAA Conference

• Presented by
• Gretchen Bonfardine
• American Student Assistance
• Technical Consultation Solution Services

2
Agenda

• Where are we now? How are things changing?
• How do Millennials compare with other
  generations?
• What are the characteristics of Millennials?
• What are their expectations of you?
• How can you meet their expectations?
• How can you better communicate with them?

3
Agenda

• Then and Now
• Generational Comparisons
• Millenial Characteristics
• Millenial Expectations
• Satisfying Millenials Expectations
• Communicating with Millenials

4
Changes in Financial Aid

• Loan Programs
• Applications
• Processing

5

• The History of the Internet
• 1969 Internet invented
• 1977 E-Mail invented
• 1985 Apple computers in classrooms
• 1992 World Wide Web invented
• 1993 DOOM is released
• 1995 Windows 95 released
• 1996 Instant Messaging created
• 1996 AOL in wide release
• 1997 Internet widely used in businesses
• 1999 dotcom craze
• 2000 Y2K craze
• 2001 dotcoms burst
• 2002 P2P networks arise (w/ fall of NAPSTER)

6
Generational Comparison

• Traditionalists (born 1900-1945) Loyal
• Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) Optimistic
• Generation X-ers (born 1965-1980) Skeptical
• Millennials (born 1981-1999) Realistic

From When Generations Collide by Lynne C.
Lancaster and David Stillman
7
Clash point around Career Goals

• Traditionalists

Build a Legacy
Baby Boomers
Build a Stellar Career
Gen Xers
Build a Portable Career
Millenials
Build Parallel Careers
From When Generations Collide by Lynne C.
Lancaster and David Stillman
8
Clash point around Rewards

• Traditionalists

The satisfaction of a job well done
Baby Boomers
Money, title, recognition, the corner office
Gen Xers
Freedom is the ultimate reward
Millenials
Work that has meaning for me
From When Generations Collide by Lynne C.
Lancaster and David Stillman
9
Clash point around Balance

• Traditionalists

Support me in shifting the balance
Help me balance everyone else and find meaning
myself
Baby Boomers
Gen Xers
Give me balance now, not when Im sixty-five
Millenials
Work isnt everything I need flexibility so I
can balance all my activities
From When Generations Collide by Lynne C.
Lancaster and David Stillman
10
Clash point around Job Changing

• Traditionalists

Job changing carries a stigma
Baby Boomers
Job changing puts you behind
Gen Xers
Job changing is necessary
Job changing is part of my daily routine
Millenials
From When Generations Collide by Lynne C.
Lancaster and David Stillman
11
Clash point around Feedback

• Traditionalists No news is good news
• Baby Boomers Feedback once a year, with
  lots of documentation
• Gen Xers Sorry to interrupt, but how am I
  doing?
• Millennials Feedback whenever I want it at
  the push of a button

From When Generations Collide by Lynne C.
Lancaster and David Stillman
12
Clash point on Training

• Traditionalists I learned the hard way
  you can too!
• Baby Boomers Train em too much and
  theyll leave.
• Gen Xers The more they learn, the more
  they stay.
• Millennials Continuous learning is a way
  of life.

From When Generations Collide by Lynne C.
Lancaster and David Stillman
13
Who are the Millennials?

• Sheltered
• Confident
• Team Oriented

• Conventional
• Pressured
• Acheiving

14
Millennials are Sheltered

• They expect to be kept safe
• Wellbeing of children dominates legislation

15
Wellbeing of children dominating U.S legislation
since 1982

• Graduated Drivers Licenses
• Tougher punishment of child offenders
• Intervention in abusive families
• Tough Child-labor enforcement

• Child Restraints, helmets, home products
• New TV, movie and video rules / ratings
• Zero Tolerance
• Blanket Medicaid for low income children
• Laws targeting dead-beat dads

16
Millennials are Confident

• Bayer / Gallop Facts of Science Survey
• 86 Believe someone in their generation will be
  the next Bill Gates
• 60 Believe they personally know that person
• 25 Believe that they are that person
• 1999 Public Agenda / Horatio Alger Survey
• 90 of teens are personally happy and excited
  about their future

17
Millennials are Team Oriented

• Team Sports
• Team Learning / presentations
• Team grading
• Connected by
• Cell phones
• Internet / chat rooms
• Just Do It becomes Lets Do It

18
Millennials are Conventional

• Nat'l Assoc. of Secondary School Principals 1996,
  study of students age 13 17
• 82 report no problems with any family member
• 75 in 1983
• 48 in 1974
• Yankelovich Nickelodeon Youth Monitor
• 94 of youths age 9 17 say they trust their
  parents and share their parents values

19
Millennials are Pressured

• What Worries Them?
• Boomers Nuclear war / stagflation
• Gen X AIDS / violent crime
• Millennials Grades / College Admissions
• Growth of Tutoring and Admissions Brokers
• 1993 577,000 grades 9-10 take PSAT
• 2001 993,000 grades 9-10 take PSAT

20
Millennials are Pressured

• Average time spent on homework / week.
• 1981 44 Minutes
• 1997 123 minutes
• Inst. For Social Research U. of Michigan (1999)
• of Seniors with AP Exams (per 1000)
• 1984 80 /1000
• 1996 239 / 1000

21
Millennials are Achieving

• Mandatory State Testing
• Prefer subjects which measure Objective Progress
  (Mathematics and Science) over courses which
  measure Subjective Progress (Literature and
  Humanities)
• Roper Youth Report 1997
• 87 age 8 17 report Its cool to be smart

22
Millennials are Achieving

• Instead of simply writing essays, as the
  previous generation did, they web out from a
  central idea to create web pages, make videos and
  write magazine-style articles for school
  projects thats a really, really different way
  of thinking.
• Mike Denos Teacher
• Point Grey Mini-School, Vancouver, BC
• Project funded by City of Vancouver, Simon Fraser
  Univ., Rogers Communications

23
Ways to Equip Yourself for the Millennial Student
24
Web usage

• Informational vs. Transactional
• Our usage vs. Students usage

25
Millennial Student Computer Expertise
26
The Class of 2007 - Preferences

• Information must be individually tailored
• Portability of information is critical
• Content must be dynamically generated
• Lag Time is a foreign concept
• Web Surfing is passé

27
Do Your Research

• What are the tools you can use?
• Develop techno-literacy
• Emerging technologies
• EDUCAUSE - http//www.educause.edu
• Microsoft Higher Education http//www.microsoft.co
  m/education/?IDHigherEd

28
Know Your Students

• Trend watching
• http//www.harrisinteractive.com/
• http//www.nielsen-netratings.com
• Online Polling
• Customized and targeted
• Fast response
• http//www.ezpolls.com
• Online Focus Groups
• Chat-based or bulletin-board style

29
Find Your Opportunities

• Awareness
• Patience
• Technology Planning
• Regain control
• Build in flexibility
• Emphasis should be placed on mobility,
  uniqueness, interactivity, and stimulation

30
Determine Your Solution

• What is best for your institution?
• Take a 5-tier approach
• 60 Months Dream a little dream (or a big one)
• 24-48 Months Research, research, research
• 15-18 Months Establish plan for development
• 9-12 Months Progress check
• 3-6 Months - Testing
• Emphasis should be placed on mobility,
  uniqueness, interactivity, and stimulation

31
1 - Mobility

• Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
• Digital Cellular
• Personal Digital Assistants (PDA)
• Palm
• Pocket PC
• Smart phones
• Personal Networks
• Wi-Fi Connectivity
• Bluetooth Devices

32
2 - Uniqueness

• Look no further than your own browser
• Content delivery must be relevant
• Yahoo Amazon changed everything - for the
  better
• Migration towards the gateway concept was only
  the initial step

33
(No Transcript)
34
3 - Interactivity

• Static Stale, Interactive Intriguing
• Interactive award letters
• Interactive calculators and estimators
• Interactive forms and electronic signatures
• http//www.formsite.com
• Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) forms are not interactive

35
(No Transcript)
36
4 - Stimulation

• Engage with technology teach with content
• Extend your customer service model (FAQs, email,
  phone, instant messaging)
• Virtual Counseling Tools
• http//www.liveperson.com / http//www.humanclick.
  com

37
(No Transcript)
38
(No Transcript)
39
Summary

• Comparison of Generations
• Millennial Students Expectations
• Resources Available
• 4 areas of concentration
• Mobility, uniqueness, interactivity and
  stimulation

40
Contact Information

• Gretchen Bonfardine
• Wellness Solutions Consultant
• American Student Assistance (ASA)
• gbonfardine_at_amsa.com
• [phone]
• www.amsa.com