For some of my work as the ITS Communications and Planning Intern, I facilitated focus groups with students working at the ITS Helpdesk, during Spring Break, Spring Term, and Summer Break 2024.
One of the primary focuses of these sessions was to identify effective communication strategies between ITS and students. Three of the recommended strategies are highlighted below:
Strategy 1: Use email well
It is important to use email communication as the main communication method, because that is where students are expecting official communications from campus offices or departments. Some students, especially those that live off-campus or further away from Sayles, don’t check their mailboxes very often, or only check their mailboxes when they are expecting mail.
Some official communications have confused students in the past. For example, some students were suspicious of some of the emails ITS has sent in the past instructing students to change their passwords after a phishing incident.
Emails should look legitimate and come from a recognisable name or address. One suggestion is to include the full text of a link, rather than replacing the link with alternative text, so it is more obvious that it isn’t a phishing attempt.
Strategy 2: Use multiple communication channels
To make sure students are well informed about events or big changes on campus is to make sure there are multiple forms of communication informing students.
If students receive information from another channel of communication, like posters or cards left in their mailbox, in addition to an email, this can help students know which emails are legitimate.
Strategy 3: Offer prizes or incentives
Incentivising students with prizes, raffles or free food is an easy way to initially get the attention of students and bring in a larger group of students.
One example of this form of communication or motivation for students was the Workday themed scratch cards left in student’s mailboxes. Before receiving the scratch cards, many students were unaware that Carleton was implementing this move from the hub to workday.
The scratch cards included some information about the transition from the Hub to Workday, and provided an opportunity for students to participate in a raffle, if they scratched off the correct answer for a Workday move related question. Although this might not have helped students to remember specific details or dates with the implementation of Workday, it brought about more general awareness about this change that could work with other communications about workday to prepare students for the transition.