Keeping Students on Track With a Mobile "Nudge"

Photo: Colleen Carmean

Retention and student success have long been among the biggest issues facing institutions of higher education, but a new generation of students is complicating matters. "There has been a change in who goes to college," according to Colleen Carmean, assistant chancellor for academic technologies at the University of Washington Tacoma.

 "We think of the traditional student as the person right out of high school; but now the demographic is across the board. What in the past was a small percentage of students returning to college is now the majority. We are a nation going to college, as people realize they need a college degree in order to have a more successful life."

The Mobile Nudge

Looking for a way to help these "new traditionals" persist from freshman year into succeeding years, UWT turned to a technology that is already ubiquitous to most students: mobile. The institution was the first school to use Persistence Plus, a personalized mobile support system that uses behavioral interventions to reach out to, engage and support students throughout their college years. The service helps keep students on track by delivering a mobile "nudge", a daily text message that reminds them about quizzes and tests, helps with timeoto, stress, and performance management, and encourages appropriate behavioral responses. 
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Source: Campus Technology