FACEBOOK

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FACEBOOK
and International Education
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Presenters

• Kimberly Gillette, University of Minnesota,
  Crookston
• Ludmi Herath, Minnesota State University, Mankato
• Alison Champeaux, College of St. Scholastica
• Laura Pierce, ISA

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Agenda

• Overview of Facebook
• Using Facebook in International Student
  Recruitment
• Using Facebook in Advising
• Using Facebook in Education Abroad

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Overview

• What is Facebook?
• Who is using it?
• Why is it used?

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Facebook is

• a social networking website
• social network service focuses on building online
  communities of people who share interests and
  activities, or who are interested in exploring
  the interests and activities of others. Most
  social network services are web based and provide
  a variety of ways for users to interact, such as
  e-mail and instant messaging services

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Facebook Users

• more than 110 million active users worldwide
• Over 55,000 regional, work-related, collegiate,
  and high school networks
• More than half of Facebook users are outside of
  college
• The fastest growing demographic is those 25 years
  old and older
• Maintain 85 percent market share of 4-year U.S.
  universities

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Why used?

• Stay connected!
• Share information
• Share photos, events, ideas

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Facebook

• www.facebook.com

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International Student Recruitment and Retention
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WHY FACEBOOK?

• More popular among College age students all over
  the world
• Studies shows student recruitment NOT only
  should be traditional methods but also be adapted
  to new technology the students are using this
  era
• As college student recruiters as well as
  advisers, we must constantly be adapting with new
  methods to attract the students attention.
  Methods used by majority of students.
• Easy and convenient. One website does it all!!!
  Chatting, blogging, post videos and pictures and
  many more!

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Why facebook.

• Can message students
• Can send students a birthday greeting, which
  connects to students in an individual level
• Upload photos and videos of your staff, events to
  increase new interested international students
  attention
• Connect new/current international students even
  before they arrive on-campus
• Put a face for the email address. Students feels
  more comfortable talking to a person rather than
  an email address..

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HOW DO I USE FACEBOOK TO RECRUIT STUDENTS?

• I provide facebook information in all of my email
  replies. I advertise my institution via facebook.
• I encourage new International students to join
  facebook
• I chat with new/current international students
  via facebook regarding their admission status,
  application process, accommodation, arrival,
  orientation and everything pertaining to their
  arrival and adjustment to USA

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How do I use facebook.

• Add new groups to my profile and post information
  about the institution (with permission)
• Browse Educational groups (high schools) and
  provide them with US Education options.
• Be available to chat with the students on
  facebook and answer their questions
• Update information, events, calendar , photos,
  videos, staff information and many more
• Have fun with facebooktry out everything and see
  what works well with your institution

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Facebook useful features
Photos
Groups
Pages
Events
Videos
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Student Testimonials

• It was easy for me to make friends on campus even
  before coming to campus. Helped me in my
  accommodation, finding roommates, transportation
  and meeting new international students like me
  who was coming to campus the same semester I was
  coming. (Sashindra, Nepal)
• I was able to find a roommate and also get the
  information I need, for US visa. Students who
  already went for the Visa interview posted sample
  US Visa questions, which helped me to prepare
  (Jayaweera, Sri Lanka)
• Facebook helps us post events, photos and videos
  and show to new students as well as share with
  current students. This is a great way to show how
  the institution cares about their students

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Facebook problems

• Keeping your friends away from your office
  facebook account
• Is it too much information ?
• How do we control what gets posted?
• How do we control the information given by
  current students to new students?
• Is it too much work? Two email accounts to
  monitor?
• How do you decide who should be added to your
  friends list?
• How do you keep a record of the student inquiry
  numbers?

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Why did I decide to join Facebook?

• I completed a study for the Division of Student
  Affairs on how we could communicate better with
  students.
• The study concluded that the college should
  continue to communicate with students with
  traditional methods and add new forms of
  technology into our communication plans.
• I realized that I needed to find other ways to
  build relationships with students.
• I therefore joined Facebook two years ago as a
  way to maintain communication and build strong
  relationships with my students in a format with
  which they are familiar.

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FACEBOOK
and International Student Advising
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How do I use Facebook?

• It helps my office to keep connected with
  students who have graduated, or left the extended
  community and to give personal or work updates.
• I have a sense of how my students are doing
  through status updates.
• Students share photos of themselves and their
  trips and I get to see the exciting lives they
  have!
• I let students know if I am back in the office
  from being sick or on vacation.
• I share filtered personal information about
  myself.

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How do I use Facebook?

• I can be a member of my students groups,
  causes and become of member of groups for myself
  (like NAFSA!)
• If a student is not responding via email I try
  messaging
• (private) on Facebook.
• We can send personal greetings
• (e.g. birthday or get well messages)

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What value do my students place on me being on
Facebook?
I can get a lot of information about activities
of international students, get to know some
information about Alison, and meet some new
friends, when Alison added me through Facebook.
(Ivy) I'm one of those generation college kids
that did not have Alison on Facebook when I was
an incoming student or a freshman. When she got
her "Facebook profile", I could see her updates
immediately and knew whether she was in her
office or not, saving us the time and the walk
across campus! And I can always throw her a cow
or something if I am in a good mood too!
(Marina) Having Alison on Facebook proved to be
very important to foster a solid and harmonious
relationship with the person that will take care
of us while we are at CSS. Facebook is widely
used by students and having the option of
contacting Alison through Facebook saves a lot of
time, effort and helps me to keep in touch no
matter what. Really nice option, indeed.
(Juan)
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Concerns with Facebook

• How much do you post or not mixing friends and
  students on one page.
• How much do you share about yourself? Political
  and Religious views?
• Do you ignore the completely inappropriate
  photos, videos and comments that students have on
  Facebook ?
• You have to treat your students equally
  allowing all students access to your Facebook if
  they ask you to be their friend.
• It may de-formalize the Student-Advisor
  relationship!

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ISAs Facebook Page
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Why use Facebook?

• The goal in creating this page was to have a site
  where
• our students could network before going abroad
• new students could learn about ISA from their
  peers
• our alumni could share their stories and pictures

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Statistics

• The page was created in April 2008 and as of
  October 2008 we have
• Over 2,050 fans
• 525 wall posts
• Over 50 discussion topics

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Advantages of Facebook

• Pages geared towards organizations are available
• Post messages and send updates to all fans
• Gather insights on usage of the page
• Students can setup discussion groups on the page
  or separately
• Fans can post reviews, photos and videos

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Fan vs. Profile Pages

• Fan
• Designed for Organizations
• Public
• New fans dont need to be approved
• Fans profiles remain private

• Profile
• Designed for Individuals
• Private
• New friends must be approved
• Friends profile can be viewed

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Sending Updates
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Gathering Insights
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Discussion Groups
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Fan Postings
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Ease of Use

• Facebook pages can easily be created and
  maintained by small SAOs
• Create a fan page by clicking on Advertising on
  the bottom of any Facebook Page and following the
  instructions
• Promote individual program locations by creating
  albums
• Email enrolled students to promote
• Check regularly and sensor as necessary

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Post Albums for Program Locations
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Promoting ISAs Page

• Automatically generated email goes out every
  Thursday to new enrolled students

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Monitoring

• ISA has a Page Manager who monitors page on a
  regular basis
• The Page Manager can remove comments and pictures
  that questionable, but hasnt had to do much of
  this
• Examples
• Students promoting non-ISA housing
• Pictures of students drinking

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Questions Comments

• Question or comments about ISAs Facebook Page?
• How many SAOs currently have Facebook Pages?
• Do any of you have advice for offices starting
  Pages?
• Has anyone had any negative experiences?