Introduction

Student engagement generally includes any co- or extracurricular program that has defined learning outcomes. Some examples are:

• Community-engaged learning or service-learning
• Organizations and clubs
• Student employment
• Study abroad
• Undergraduate research

Challenges

• These programs typically receive less funding from the institution, so every dollar must be tracked and justified.
• Both quantitative and qualitative information is important to measure student success related to these experiences.
• Different offices manage different programs, but students need one place to go to find information and take next steps.

Solutions

• For any funding allocated, keep track of specific award amounts and edit as needed if program costs change.
• Use progress reports to track things like hours spent in each activity and reflections on the experience.
• Consider using an Engagement Hub to be the virtual, mobile-friendly "one-stop-shop" for all student engagement activities. 

Tips

• For any opportunity where the student is requesting funding, collect the total requested amount as a short answer question on the Requirements page, and a more detailed budget narrative as a file upload. That way, administrators and reviewers can quickly see the amounts requested without needed to dig into separate files.
• Use a data feed to seamlessly bring student information (e.g., from Banner or other CRM) into the platform. This can help match student engagement data with academic progress for reporting purposes.
• Ask for reference letters from faculty members, coaches, or other staff members to give a more holistic view of the student.
• Collect group activity information using the Co-Applicants feature. Re-name this field to have applicants identify students traveling together, members of an intramural sports team, or a lab cohort.
• Set up separate routing steps for main contacts in different offices. If the student can identify these individuals, use Applicant-Driven Routing Steps to make the process even quicker.
• To approve extracurricular activities for course credit (e.g., studying abroad), gather the initial information well in advance, and then use progress reports to collect information on learning outcomes later.
• Pull data on a specific student to show any/all submissions over time from the Reports tab > Applications reports.
• Organize your Engagement Hub in a way that makes sense for students. This may be by semester, academic topic, or category. Utilize the weekly analytics email and solicit student feedback regularly to see how the Hub could be utilized more effectively.

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