Enrollment Coaching Boosts Online Student Success at Cal State University, Bakersfield

A new initiative at California State University, Bakersfield offers prospective students dedicated enrollment coaches to help navigate the institution's online programs. The university partnered with student success nonprofit InsideTrack, whose coaches help students select the right program, get through the enrollment process and prepare for the college experience.

Students communicate with their coaches via one-on-one meetings as well as connecting digitally via voice, e-mail and text messaging. The coaches "help prospective CSUB online students define their long-term goals, evaluate program options and develop the habits that will ensure their success," according to a news announcement. In addition, the university is able to tap into the coaches' observations of student behaviors and preferences, allowing it to refine the overall student experience.

Initially deployed across four existing online bachelor's and master's degree programs in CSUB's Division of Extended Education and Global Outreach, the coaching program has increased enrollment by 44 percent. The university also utilized the coaches to support the launch of its new online master's program in Kinesiology.

"As COVID-19 continues to reshape the higher education experience, students are grappling with an increasingly complex range of barriers to access and success, including personal, financial, work and health challenges," said Rhonda Dawson, director of extended education at CSUB, in a statement. "Our partnership with InsideTrack is about equipping students with personalized support to overcome these hurdles, identify programs that fit their unique professional and educational goals, and successfully start their higher education journeys on the right foot."

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • abstract pattern of shapes, arrows and circuit lines

    Internet2 Announces a New President and CEO to Step Up in October

    Internet2, the member-driven nonprofit offering advanced network technology services and cyberinfrastructure to the research and education community has completed its search, which began this past May, for a new president and CEO to take the helm.

  • shield with an AI microchip emblem hovering above stacks of gold coins

    AI Security Spend Surges While Traditional Security Budgets Shrink

    A new Thales report reveals that while enterprises are pouring resources into AI-specific protections, only 8% are encrypting the majority of their sensitive cloud data — leaving critical assets exposed even as AI-driven threats escalate and traditional security budgets shrink.

  • stack of gold coins disintegrates into digital particles against a dark circuit-board background with glowing AI imagery

    MIT Report: Most Organizations See No Business Return on Gen AI Investments

    A recent report out of the MIT Media Lab found that despite $30-40 billion in enterprise spending on generative AI, 95% of organizations are seeing no business return.

  • young man in a denim jacket scans his phone at a card reader outside a modern glass building

    Colleges Roll Out Mobile Credential Technology

    Allegion US has announced a partnership with Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) and Denison College, in conjunction with Transact + CBORD, to install mobile credential technologies campuswide. Implementing Mobile Student ID into Apple Wallet and Google Wallet will allow students access to campus facilities, amenities, and residence halls using just their phones.