There’s little doubt now that enrolments for colleges and universities are going to look very different this year. Luckily, although there is nothing ordinary about 2020, educational staff are rising to the challenge and seeing it as an opportunity to push through much needed change and create a new kind of student experience this year and beyond.

COVID-19 Response Barometer

The COVID-19 Response Barometer has been borne out of necessity – the necessity for Higher Education Institutions to hear and understand the student voice during the pandemic, and the necessity to understand that student voice in the context of a global comparison. Here we look at how the survey has been received and the aspirations of those institutions that are sharing the survey with their student population.

As colleges and educational institutions across the nation try to adapt to a ‘new normal’ way of working in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic, how will enrolment look for a new year of learning?

You are a long-standing Tribal customer and thinking about booking tickets for the Tribal Empower Online Conference. But, you are busy, budgets are especially tight, and your manager wants return on investment. Time away from the day job can be difficult to muster but there has never been a better time to invest in becoming an expert in your field and join the conversation online.

For anyone returning to university, the apprehension and unknows that Covid-19 presents will likely be playing on student minds. Indeed, Student Minds, the UK’s student mental health charity and Headspace in Australia, have been providing unprecedented levels of dedicated support to both students and staff to help them through this period, and publishing up to date  guidance and resources on a regular basis.

Starting university life is challenging at the best of times. From meeting new people, to moving away from home (likely for the first time), and discovering a new way of learning… it’s not unusual for students to feel apprehensive about what lies ahead. Throw Covid-19 into that mix and the new challenge becomes even more overwhelming. With so much uncertainty and lack of clarity on what the future holds, there has never been a more important time for universities to provide a robust student support and welfare service, especially to those first year students who will be joining the university in the near future.

With the latest update stating colleges will begin to reopen to provide face-to-face contact from June 15^th for some students, to help them prepare for exams next year, it is now obvious that for most students, the rest of the academic year will need to be studied at home.

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘Data is King’. Having data at your fingertips provides valuable insights on how well your institution’s student recruitment activity is performing against your desired targets. Being able to quickly analyse and visualise that data is key; no one has the time in their day to spend hours manipulating it just to extract the information they need. The demanding nature of our roles within institutions require the need for tools which do it for us, at a simple click of a button.   

Like many organisations, the rapidly evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and the change in people’s working habits, locations and timings has presented a unique challenge to Tribal’s Professional Services team.

Competition for students is fierce at the best of times as universities strive to hit their increasingly ambitious recruitment targets. But in the current climate – with the pool of would-be undergraduate students predicted to be smaller due to the coronavirus pandemic – focusing on the most effective ways to drive applicants and convert them to enrolment is crucial.