Exploring A Digital Campus’s Student Recruitment at an Organizational Level

Below are a list of recommendations for organizers of events at George Mason University. For a breakdown of the dataset, analysis, and reasoning for the recommendations provided, please click here: Dataset & Analysis.

#1 - Social media platforms such be leverged in addition to Mason360.

Mason360 (and other such official platforms through college), focuses on creating a presence of the event. However, this is not enough to be able to engage with the potetnial audience. Organization cannot only rely on Mason360 because of the limited functionalities. Engagement involves building channels of communication, which Mason360 does a poor job at. While Twitter is an unofficial platform in this context, but it is more accessible and easier to use by students. Therefore, organizations’ leaders are encouraged to use both platforms to ensure more recruitments and engagement. Different Platforms have different uses.

#2 - Curate as much information as you can about a new event; do not assume anyone knows what it is.

Mason360 requires a few minimum pieces of information to set up an event, but if you follow just the minimum, they can provide no context to new or potetnial users. Make sure your contact information is accessible, up-to-date, and that users are checking whatever media is set up. Additionally, filling out descriptions, keywords, and creating calendars through the application should be a task someone is in charge of.

#3 - Social Media platforms allow for recruitment (and engagement) with inactive students (prospective students and alumni).

Mason360 by design is inaccessible for participants that are not currently active students. If these are potential groups that you are interested, recruitment through a social media platform such as Twitter is vital. This can be seen by the number of responses in the "Admissions/FYE" Interest Categories.

A great example of this cross collabration of Mason360 and Twitter is how the student organization "GMU ESPORTS" recruits. They have both an event on Mason360 and a Tweet to support the event too.

#4 - Follow the existing communities or play the niche and a create new ones - it is your choice.

Through our diversity analysis, we recognize that both the Mason360 and Twitter platforms have a diverse set of events. Based on the type of interest group you are aiming for, as an organization leader, you can either cater to the existing crowd on the platform or try to build a new crown on the platform (much harder).

For example, the Interest Categories show that Research/Scholarship is a topic broached much more on Social Media platforms rather than on Mason360. If your event falls in this category, you may find your voice amplified since a community already exists on the platform.

#5 - *Specifically for GMU as an instiution - Mason360 is not a whole "community engagement" tool...

... at least not the way it is being used. There are far too many inconsistencies with the platform to allow it to manage all the aspects of community engagement. Simply purchasing an off-the-shelf software and placing it into the environment means it won't fit well. We recommend that Mason360 needs to be integrated into the college system beyond just being an administrative tool. One example of an implementation of this is the "Service Record Transcript", which serves as an official document that highlights leadership positions, memberships, etc. that students are involved with.