Executive Summary



Central Washington University Business CaseNudging Software10/16/20Table of Contents TOC \o "1-1" \h \z Executive Summary PAGEREF _Toc5863583 \h 1Problem Definition PAGEREF _Toc5863584 \h 2Proposed Solution PAGEREF _Toc5863585 \h 3Implementation Considerations PAGEREF _Toc5863586 \h 7References PAGEREF _Toc5863587 \h 8Approvals PAGEREF _Toc5863588 \h 10Appendix: Additional Resources PAGEREF _Toc5863589 \h 11Executive SummaryThe purpose of this proposal is to obtain approval to add enterprise software that supports personalized, automated, and engaging nudges. Contracting with Signal Vine and utilizing their research backed retention platform and unique blended messaging approach, CWU will be able to develop targeted outreach campaigns that are timely, personalized, and automated. The technology allows the university to connect and engage with students in “real-time” within a platform they use and engage with frequently (i.e., mobile device). Signal Vine’s technology is used at over 500 institutions including Colorado State, Utah State, University of Chicago, University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, University of Virginia, University of Arkansas, Olympic, Edmonds, and Highline Colleges. If the product helped CWU retain 45 more students, the conservative estimate of ROI would be at least $165,000 per quarter. Considering the software cost is less than $30,000 annually, the ROI far exceeds the annual cost and time and effort associated with maintaining the product (see Tables 1, 2, and 3 for ROI projects). Further, the product will help us realize staff efficiencies through automated campaigns and the use of their AI virtual advisor. Sponsoring Department(s):Office of the Provost and Associate ProvostStudent SuccessDate of Business Case Preparation: 10/16/20Contact Person Name/Phone: Dr. Aaron Brown, Associate Dean for Student Development and Achievement FORMCHECKBOX New Product/Service. If there is a draft or sample contract, please provide a copy. FORMCHECKBOX Renewal of Existing Product/Service – if checked, include background information. If there is a site license agreement, existing contract or new contract draft, please provide a copy. FORMCHECKBOX Change to a Business Process.Problem DefinitionIn today’s COVID world of enrollment declines and budget shortfalls, retention and persistence could not be more critical to the long-term health of the university. With the online-centric learning environment where every contact count, engaging with students and prompting them to action is essential. Currently, the university has no comprehensive and coordinated communication plan nor a campus wide texting platform to reach matriculated, inactive, or graduated students utilizing the devices they most often use. Diminishing results are had when relying on outdated technology and communication mediums (e.g., email). Notably, Generation Z students have routinely complained about the influx of emails they receive from the university and have confessed to ignoring most. Why continue down this path when we have the research and experiences of other institutions regarding the impact of well-designed nudges? Advisors, career and financial aid counselors, for example, continue to find it challenging to engage with students using email. Imagine what the consequences are for a student when they don’t see or respond to an email from financial aid about document verification or receive information about non-payment. It means the students financial aid is likely going to be delayed and/or they will be unable to register for courses. How about the student who received seven emails over the course of week from seven units encouraging them to register for classes? Even if they read one of these and responded, we are unintentionally conditioning them to ignore our outreach because of unnecessary redundancy. Phone calls, while at times can be a bit more effective with some student groups, it’s time consuming and often ignored by students who are unwilling to answer an unsolicited call from an unknown number. Advising, as an example, has recently used Canvas to improve connection with students, decrease no-shows, and offer a platform for timely information. This is a promising approach but on a smaller scale and is reliant on the continued use of Canvas. Canvas used in this manner is not a campus wide solution based on the funding that supports the license. Addressing Problem with Existing CWU ResourcesSlate is currently being used by Enrollment Management and has been used at times to run limited texting campaigns for the campus. Slate is currently not funded at the level necessary or set-up in a way to offer a full-scale and comprehensive approach for the campus. Further, Slate does not offer a self-teaching virtual AI advisor that would help increase information exchange with students when they need it instead of waiting for a staff member or faculty member to respond to basic or general questions. Slate is also labor intensive, and the additional cost is prohibitive at this time. Demo’s from various texting software companies occurred last year where EM staff attended. In conversations with directors of admissions and the VP of EM, it was determined a solution beyond Slate would be advisable to meet the retention needs for engaging with continuing, inactive, and graduated students. Proposed SolutionContract with Signal Vine to offer an enterprise texting solution to improve our connection with students. Intentionally designed nudges will ultimately improve engagement and response to necessary actions. For current students, increased response rates and action associated with the just-in-time text nudges will have a direct impact on increasing retention and completion rates. We also know that texting works. Well-designed nudges are cost effective (White, 2015), have been shown to increase engagement (Boath, et. al, 2016), and encourages retention (Castleman & Page, 2015). Return on Investment (two types of targeted campaigns displayed as examples)Table 1: 2020 Cohort, New First Year Students Actual2020 Cohort - New First Year Only Cohort1,6812019 FTFTF Cohort Retention Rate71.0%Proposed 2020 FTFTF Cohort Retention Rate73.0%Proposed Student Gain Due to Initiative (2%)45 studentsGross Profit Gain ($4,175 per student annually)$ ? 187,875Total Cost $ 27,000Net Profit (only Includes one Fall quarter; profit increases each quarter student persists)$ 160,875Table 2: Non-Registered Students (Spring to Fall)ActualTotal Cohort Students Fall 2019 (Continuing)7,559Proposed Number of Students Enrolled for Fall 20207,589Percent of Non-Registered 2019 Cohort Usage (Nudge Project Activity)47%Percent of Non-Registered 2020 Cohort Usage (Signal Vine)75%Projected Number of Students Gained by Project30Gross Profit Gain ($4,175 per student annually)$ ? 125,250Total Cost (already calculated in Table 1)$ 0Net Profit$ 125,250Table 3: Total Projected Impact ActualNumber of Students Gained (First Year Campaign)45Number of Students Gained (Non-Reg Campaign)30Total Student Gain – Fall 2020 75 studentsTotal Cost $27,000Total Estimated Net Profit (only Includes one Fall quarter; profit increases each quarter student persists)$ 286,125Strategic AlignmentThe proposed solution is directly connected with our Destination 2025 Objective #3: Increasing retention, persistence, and completion rates; Strategies 3, 4, 5 and 6. The technology will support student success, engagement, and resource development and stewardship. CWU BenefitsSignal Vine software will assist CWU by enhancing the student experience, increasing staff efficiency, and bolstering retention and graduation rates. Further, in order to fully benefit from Signal Vine’s technology, the university will need to develop a comprehensive communication plan. This will have the result of eliminating redundancies and reducing the amount of email communication a student receives that is ignored, outdated, and/or unnecessary. Improve Student ExperienceCoordinated and timely messages that are sensitive to the unique needs and characteristics of students will improve their overall experience at CWU. Engaging with them at the right time and in a manner relevant to their individualized characteristics will have the effect of improving a sense of connectedness to the campus and will increase their response rates. Useful to students are just-in-time reminders sent by a person/office they recognize (e.g., Noticed you haven’t registered yet. Here’s a link to schedule a time for us to meet!”). It can help CWU increase the number of students who register for courses earlier and reduce melt issues by getting students the information they need to make more informed decisions. Increase Staff EfficiencyPre-scheduled and automated conversations that include artificial intelligence will result in freeing up more time for staff and faculty to respond to more complicated and unique issues. This will serve to reach more students while not increasing the workload of staff and faculty. Increase Retention and Graduation RatesWhen students have access to timely information relevant to their situation, they are more likely to persist and graduate. Higher education institutions have seen the following as a result of using Signal Vine’s proactive nudge messaging:11% increase in matriculation and 20% increase in persistence (Castleman & Page, 2015)31% increase in registration rates (Norwalk Community College)98.7% student engagement rate (University of Texas at Austin)Institutions like Georgia State and University of Pittsburg have seen tremendous success utilizing this type of initiative and tool as described in The College Dropout Scandal (Kirp, 2019).Organizational ImpactThe VP of Enrollment Management, Dean of Student Success, and the Office of the Provost are supportive of this request. Further, the Associate Vice President for Information Services and the Director of Enterprise Applications have provided counsel and direction on the process for approval. Here’s what makes Signal Vines’ product unique and the organizational impact it would have at CWU: Blended Messaging Approach with Artificial IntelligenceOffers the ability to conduct both 1:1 text messaging with a staff member and AI responses in one conversation. This means units or areas utilizing the software will need to be trained, granted access, monitor the dashboard, build proactive campaigns, and pre-set them in the system. Monitoring the dashboard will also alert staff to messages from the student and will require responses when AI is unable to respond to the question. Integrated with PeopleSoftConnection to PeopleSoft allows the university to target specific groups based on real-time data and avoids sending outdated texts and reminders. This will require an integration with PeopleSoft version 9.2 in one of the following ways – 1) set up an automatic SFTP transfer, 2) use Amazon s3 Bucket, or 3) import CSV or Excel files using Signal Vines import and export feature. Signal Vine is customizable for single sing on. Allows for customizable permissions which means personally identifiable information is only accessible to those who have been granted access and the software can narrow the student group down as far as you want to go. Enterprise Solution with a Campaign Dashboard Examples of targeted campaigns would include financial aid setting up an automated text message to go out to only those students who have not yet completed verification; academic advisors connecting with their caseloads regarding their registration dates; department chair outreaching to their majors about a job posting or internship opportunity Comprehensive Communication PlanThe university will need to create a comprehensive communication plan in order to fully benefit from Signal Vine. This will require the following steps: identify shared objectives across units, identify points of contact for each objective, identify where texting should be used in the plan/timeline, establish guidelines and approaches to how and who is texting, edit Signal Vine texting templates for customization, and employ the best-practices for utilizing texting software. Signal Vine will be able to assist with each of these steps. Cost and Budget ProjectionsSource of Funding (Speedkey) and Description of the Source of Funding.From Provost. I do not have the speedkey or description of funding source. Cost BreakdownCWU will have access to an unlimited set of staff users with unlimited messaging. Pricing is determined by total enrollment and based on 11,000 students for CWU. Signal Vine can apply a 10% discount for multi-year contracts. An annual license cost would equal approximately $19,500. Signal Vine can be deployed across any student-facing department on campus with ability to text all enrolled students, prospects, applicants and admitted students. This includes unlimited text messages, MMS messages, account users, and groups. Phone number validation and access to AI platform features and AI included Custom integration, implementation support, and ongoing strategy and assistance are included in the annual cost. (Source: Signal Vine Proposal, 2020).Alternative SolutionsAlternativeReasons for Not Selecting AlternativeAdmitHubPrice point is too high; small business with limited experience.PresidioPrice point is too high with huge start-up costs of over $100K; limited experience with higher education; product presentation was unclearSlooce TechnologyNo examples of success using the texting technology in higher education; price point is on the higher endTechnolutions Travel and lodging for training of 3 captains, summits, and other annual training and conferences, would require approval of general funds to be used during a hiring and travel freeze; to that point, it seems to be more labor intensive on the side of CWU (another example, building of library for text responses); this cost factor could add up quickly - an additional voice account costs $1 per month; cost of $.01 per text for domestic (texts that are longer could end up being more than one text); spoke with CWU’s EM and they suggested we go with another vendor for continuing, inactive, and graduated students. Persistence PlusPrice point too high; does not offer the same robust AI virtual advisor or retention dashboard capability. Status QuoTexting and building timely outreach campaigns has become standard practice among the institutions that have seen retention, persistence, and graduation growth. With lower enrollments in our new first-year incoming cohort, retention is critical to mitigate the loss of revenue. Strategic Investment Request Submitted a strategic investment request in November of 2019 to gain access to funds that would allow us to pilot Signal Vine in Student Success. Was not funded. Implementation ConsiderationsTiming and Scheduling ConsiderationsWhat are the technical requirements from Signal Vine's point of view to go-live? The only technical requirement is getting the data from PeopleSoft?into SV in whichever way works best for CWU (manual, automated, API). After that it’s mostly training and implementing the system with the designated units. ?What data needs to be populated? Phone number and first name are the only required data fields in Signal Vine. The other fields are customizable based on what data we want to use to send targeted/personalized text messages. Minimum data population: Mobile Phone First and Last NameGPAEnrollment StatusNumber of Enrolled Credits Completed, Enrolled In, and AttemptedCompleted FAFSANon-payment statusService Indicators Degree Earned/GraduatedMajor and MinorAdvisor/Support Staff Listed on Student RecordHow frequently should the data be updated? Can be every hour, 24 hours, or every quarter, it’s up to us. Data uploads can be done manually though a CVS or they can be automated through an SFTP (automated pull and upload of CSV data). Single sign-on is optional but would be highly advantageous. What security needs to be set up in Signal Vine and who is managing this along with the technical pieces of the solution? Different permission levels can be set up in Signal Vine to ensure staff are only seeing data/students/text messages that make sense to their role. This is non-technical and can be done by the department head or admin. Technology MigrationScope of implementation - What pieces are we focusing on first and in what department? We can start with a few "seed" departments such as Housing, Exploratory Advising, STAR, Transfer Center, and Registrar. Second wave of implementation could include departments such as Financial Aid, Honors, CAMP, TRIO, and Running Start. We can add departments to Signal Vine at any time. Who will be managing the solution, what training is Signal Vine providing them, and any obstacles that would need to be addressed? While it gets off the ground, Dr. Aaron Brown, Associate Dean for Student Development and Achievement can partner with a designated person in IS to manage the solution. Signal Vine will provide a web-based training to ensure staff are familiar with the platform. They will also provide ongoing support including best practices, tips and tricks and templates. Typical admins may consist of the department heads but could be a range of individuals at the campus.Further Implementation ConsiderationsSee the Appendix: Further Resources for additional information that may be useful to include.ReferencesViewed three Signal Vine demos over the 2019-2020 academic year.Attended NACADA 2019 Annual Conference Presentation “Academic Advising: Best Practices for Student Success” by University of Texas at Austin which discussed how they used Signal Vine to increase engagement and retention and reduced no-shows. Followed-up with UTA and spoke with Anneke Chy, Deputy Director, Student Success in November 2019, about how they implemented Signal Vine and the benefitsThe College Dropout Scandal (Kirp, 2019)The Right Way to Nudge Students, (2018): Improving decisions about health, wealth and happiness, Thaler and Sunstein (2009)A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outcomes of minority students, Walton & Cohen (2011)The role of simplification and information in college decisions: Results from the H&R Block FAFSA experiment. Bettinger, Long, Oreopoulos, & Sanbonmatsu (2009)Spoke to Olympic College, Shawn Devine, Director of Communications and Web Services. Received the following information: Thanks for reaching out. I can tell you that we’ve been very happy with Signal Vine and we are getting ready to integrate it with our CRM SalesForce, which will make for a very powerful recruiting platform. We have been using it primarily for retention. One area where we say fantastic results was proactively reminding students who have a balance due, to pay their tuition. After drops were processed for non-payment of tuition, we reached out to let students know they’ve been dropped and what they needed to do. I’ve attached graphic that shows the results. Winter to winter we reduced the number of students who were dropped by 133 students. I hope this info helps and let me know if you’d like to chat. *Olympic College reduced the number of students who dropped for non-payment of tuition by 133 students due to timely nudges through Signal Vine. ApprovalsThis section is for official use only. FORMCHECKBOX Business Case shared with Security Services for compliance and security review information FORMCHECKBOX Business Case shared with IS Network and Operations FORMCHECKBOX Business Case shared with IS Enterprise Applications FORMCHECKBOX Business Case shared with IS Auxiliary ComputingReview Log. This proposal has been reviewed by the following Sub-Councils (ATAC or BTAC) or Committee (EISC):DateReviewed By (ATAC/BTAC/EISC) Action Log. The following actions have been taken by the appropriate Sub-Council (ATAC or BTAC) and Enterprise Information System Committee (EISC):DateAction ByUpon secured funding and approval by the Enterprise Information System Committee (EISC), Enterprise Facilities Committee, or one of the two Sub-Councils (Academic or Business) CWU procurement policies and procedures will be used to initiate a purchase.?Appendix: Additional ResourcesProject Resource Identification/Ongoing Ownership of ProductResource Identification Resource Loading ChartUse a chart to illustrate the estimated hours required by month for each resource on the project. Note: If this project spans more than one year, include a second project resource chart to indicate the second year.Project Resource Chart - Estimated Time CommitmentResourceJanFebMarAprMayJuneJulyAugSepOctNovDecExamples:Database AdminProject ManagerAdmin AssistSecretary SeniorSecurity ServicesTotal HoursIdentify the total number of resources (e.g., personnel, equipment, and facilities) that will be needed for the project. For personnel, identify each type of role and describe the skill-set requirements when appropriate. Identify the estimated timeframe (start to finish) for project commitment.ResourceRequirements TimeframePersonnel Equipment FacilitiesOngoing Support/Ownership of the product Identify the data owner and data steward, as defined in the data governance structure detailed in CWUP 2-70-010. In addition, provide information regarding ongoing licensing costs, system administration, and maintenance.Upon Completion of the Project the following will apply:Resource(s) DepartmentData OwnerData StewardOngoing Costs(licensing, etc.)Administrator for the Product/Software(updates, maintenance, etc.)Product Life/Application Sunsetting or DecommissioningThis section should include information about the expected life of the product/service and provisions for sunsetting or decommissioning of the product/service. ................
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