PILOT: Tuesday Tips Mid-Project Assessment & Report

March 2014

OVERVIEW The Tuesday Tips email pilot project began in May 2013; the main planning and development of the project took place during Summer 2013 and was presented to MOSS at this time. The project launched at the start of Fall 2013; the first email that was sent to students using the Email Tool developed by the District office was on September 24th, 2013. Additional forms of communication also included an initial launch of 1000 printed postcards to help promote the new communication strategy. We are now in Winter of 2014, this mid-project report assesses the project from start-up to week 6 of Winter 2014. The project has been success with some minor hiccups such as: limited email capabilities and 2 known delivery/send failures. At the beginning of each quarter, an email template is sent to new students introducing them to Tuesday Tips at the same time, a separate regular Tuesday Tip email is sent to current students. After a full cycle of this development year, we should have a skeleton of topics and content for following years, minor edits and changes can be made on dates, and rotating urgent items. Next Steps & Recommendations are addressed to complete the pilot of this project and needs to maintain this project. General Data & Successes 79,764 total number of emails have been sent to date 21 Tuesday Tips have been sent to date (includes tips during break weeks) 4212 is the average number of students receiving Tuesday Tips per week 13+ number of departments involved and collaborating 20 total number of Facebook likes on Tuesday Tips promo (started in Winter 2014, total of 7 graphics created see Appendix A) Highlighted Challenges Limited email tool capabilities 2 known send failures Communication & Process Map: The regular communication process includes two levels of approval 1) at the MOSS level and 2) at VP and PIO level; see Appendix B) Key components of this project are highlighted in Appendix C See the Tuesday Tips Task List Quarterly Cycle for an in depth, week by week process (Appendix D) Projected Hours Required to Maintain Project Hours are estimated based on actual hours spent on this project. Task & Hours Measurement Annual Projected Hours 20 hours per quarter development x 4 quarters 80 hours 3 hours per quarter PIO text x 4 quarters 12 hours 2 hours per quarter Miscellaneous review x 4 quarters 8 hours 1 hour per quarter Weekly Monday Queue x 52 Weeks 52 hours 152 Hours Annually The maintenance of this project will take 7% of a full-time staffs work allocation (152 hrs /2080hrs (40hrs * 52 weeks)). Cheng, B - Page 1 of 10

PILOT: Tuesday Tips Mid-Project Assessment & Report

March 2014

CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES Overall, Tuesday Tips is well received by students and staff in the Student Services division. Although there have been no formal survey or questionnaire to assess impact and quality, informal student feedback received by SS staff have been positive. Challenges Successes Limited email tool capabilities ie: Template for quarterly email schedule o Hyperlink tracking to track is complete for annual Fall and Winter what links are clicked quarters development of Spring and o Open click rates to track how Summer is next; rotating content is many emails are being opened also successful and assumed being read Implemented smooth and easy o Ability to add images, videos, process for collecting and uploading and other media related items email content to enhance visual appearance Established a presence with SS o Ability to send adhoc emails (2 departments and WorkSource instances where emails did not Established a web-presence with go through and a request was Tuesday Tips archive page made to district for same reo Successful collaboration with send; all resends were Mario Mitchell and Kevin successful in a timely fashion) Maloney Getting responses from departments At the start of Winter 2014, began during request time delays partnership with PIO to introduce o However, I do get requests presence in social media (7 total throughout the quarter usually graphics highlighting Tuesday Tips after a Tuesday Tip email is have been posted on the colleges forwarded to the SS team; this Facebook page w/20 Likes) prompts staff to send in o Successful collaboration with requests for upcoming event Danna Culhane and Kevin o I also scan through my inbox Maloney for any valuable information At the start of Winter 2014, like new online class schedule, implemented a Word of the Week that or like how to access 1098T highlights the definition of a in which case I check with college/SS related word send to see if they recommend including it in the Tuesday Tips Limited capabilities to assess impact on student success and feedback loop from students Growth Areas Started conversations on how to embed video clips into Tuesday Tips (PIO, NSS, TRiO) Request additional features for the Email Tool Assessing the impact on student success Explore use of infographics in Tuesday Tips

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PILOT: Tuesday Tips Mid-Project Assessment & Report

March 2014

Other: Communication Climate: o Departments use varied methods to post and distribute information. What has been working well is when there is a link or visual flier accessible on the website that I can link to. The visual fliers that are embedded in announcement emails from staff are not linkable for students (public) to access. o Date-type information that is communicated in Tuesday Tips may or may not appear on the campus calendar; a streamlined process of a master calendar might be a useful tool to develop. Conversations around this topic has been started. Suggestions and Tips: o Pay attention to email announcements from staff that may be worthy to highlight in Tuesday Tips. o Set-up reminders in your calendar to push into queue the weekly email and other majors tasks of the project. Facebook o In the February 18th Facebook Post, a student asked what is FAFSA and a response was given to the student. This demonstrates an effective way to engage our students in multiple media outlets. I think our collaboration with PIO is successful and hope it grows.

NEXT STEPS Transition Planning (Passing the Baton): Transfer excel spreadsheet into word document to keep hyperlink formatting since excel spreadsheet only holds one hyperlink per cell. Having it in a Word Document will ease the cut/paste process. Meet w/Vanessa and Rosie on where this project will fit into Student services considering the project amount of hours required to maintain this project. Assessing the Project (SUGGESTIONS): Informal Assessment o Request general feedback from staff o Hold a FUN booth in SS Lobby, Cafeteria, Library and Club Center to engage students in general questions about Student Success and quality of Tuesday Tips. Two purposes: 1) gather feedback about needs to support students & 2) assess effectiveness of Tuesday Tips Formal Assessment: 1. Embed survey link into Tuesday Tips email in Spring quarter using Surveymonkey or Google Survey questionnaire 2. Added question to the college-wide survey regarding effectiveness of Tuesday Tips or what level of satisfaction students have about Tuesday Tips 3. Other?

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PILOT: Tuesday Tips Mid-Project Assessment & Report

March 2014

Recommendations for further review at Final Project Report: Work towards establishing a increased capacities with the Email Tool; high priority is the reporting tools that allow for statistical data on open and hyperlink click rates Develop and implement an assessment plan for mid-Spring quarter; suggestions are mentioned above Work towards improving processes to continue flow and communication between collaborators Develop a transition plan for institutionalizing this project

Added 3/5/14: Challenge w/International Programs consistency in college-wide messaging. What subpopulations are we confusing/not thinking about? o Students w/out emails addresses o Students who do not regularly check emails because of time o CE Students o BAS Students Annual Model: Fall= Gain Knowledge & Resources Winter=Advise/Persist/Retention Spring=Graduate/Success Suggestion: o Send only to first years (how do we track that?) o Announce to Faculty Added 3/10/14 Build in time for infographics Emailing tool to identify sender so that admin users can contact if necessary ie. Mascot Survey Added 3/13/14 Add a Student Success Link to the Student Resources list w/ o Regular tips that can be accessed at any time: Time Management Being Stress-free Learning, Leaning and Loathing Target First Year retention by sending target emails ie. Tuesday Tips for First Year Community College students o All other can have access to the tips? Added 3/27/14 Challenges: finding information on the web ie. Tuition deadlines, FACTS open, etc. not as intuitive. Added 4/3/14 Every time you reopen a pending letter it will default to the current quarter to be safe double check all of the fields Cheng, B - Page 4 of 10

PILOT: Tuesday Tips Mid-Project Assessment & Report

March 2014

Request for Dave: logo-> South Seattle College, is there an opt-out tracking list? Questions for Rosie: When do we switch over to South Seattle College in the Subject line, Logo Naming: o REGULAR TUESDAY TIPS EMAILS o Subject: Tuesday Tips from South Seattle Community College o Description: Tuesday Tips, Quarter 20XX wkXX o NEW STUDENTS THIS QUARTER o Subject: Welcome to Tuesday Tips from South Seattle Community College o Description: Tuesday Tips, Quarterly Template for Welcome New Students: X/X/XX (DATE)

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PILOT: Tuesday Tips Mid-Project Assessment & Report

March 2014

APPENDIX A Go back: Top of the Document

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PILOT: Tuesday Tips Mid-Project Assessment & Report APPENDIX B Go back: Top of the Document

March 2014

Student Services Email Campaign Communication Process Map

Project Coordinator sends email to MOSS and contributors requesting for Step 1 content Departments & Offices submit topics/content to Project Coordinator

Step 2

Project Coordinator enters onto SS Email Tracking Tool (excel spreadsheet) Step 3 and submits quarterly to VPSS & PIO Send PDF DRAFT copy to MOSS & Contributors for feedback cc'd VPSS & PIO

Step 4

Step 5

VPSS & PIO approves/edits/comments

Step 6

Projector Coordinator enters weekly Tuesday Tips into the SCCD Email Tool

Project Coordinator queues in Weekly Email, copies VPSS, PIO, Social Media Step 7 and Web Manager, sends Web Manager archive instructions

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PILOT: Tuesday Tips Mid-Project Assessment & Report APPENDIX C Go back: Top of the Document

March 2014

Components of Tuesday Tips 2/13/2014

Lists by departments, main function in relation to Tuesday Tips, contact person and if necessary reason for impact:
SS Division PIO/ Web Manager Social Media District Office Other Departments that this impacts/ promotes International Programs Impact: Intl students are receiving inconsistent messaging or messages that do not apply. Noah Overby Worksource & Career Resources Impact: Collaborators on these areas: internships, service learning, jobs/career exploration Debbie White Matt Wojciakowski

Tuesday Tips Archives (webpage) ANNAPISI -part of tutoring center Advising Cashiers Office

Facebook (weekly JPG)

Student Services Troubleshooting (email tool) David Stephens Web Team Lead/ Project Development, SCCD

Mario Mitchell Web Manager, PIO

Danna Culhane Social Media and Alumni Coordinator, Foundation

Counseling -Undecided Student Workshops Educational Support Services -tutoring center -disability accommodations Enrollment Services -registration deadlines -refund deadlines Financial Aid Services Student Life TRIO Veterans Affairs Office

Message CoApproval Kevin Maloney Director of Communications, PIO

Student Life Impact: Sends Monday Memes a weekly schedule of events for students Travis Sherer Campus Resources Library Bookstore

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PILOT: Tuesday Tips Mid-Project Assessment & Report APPENDIX D Go back: Top of the Document

March 2014

Tuesday Tips Task List Quarterly Cycle Updated: 2/13/2014

Put out an annual request during the summer month of August, maybe create an annual calendar with all current dates and topics to be featured for that year so that other folks can add to it.
Target Timeline Mid-Quarter (prev. quarter) Week 6 2 Weeks before end of the Quarter Week 9 Last week of the Quarter Week 11 Friday last week of the quarter Week 11 Monday of Break Tuesday of Break Task Description Send email to MOSS and Key Contributors to request topics and content for the next quarter, due by Week 9. Compile all new contents received into next quarters Tuesday Tips schedule (rearrange, reword, refit to Tuesday Tips themes). Send proof of Tuesday Tips for next quarter to MOSS, Rosie and Kevin request for feedback by Thursday of that week. Revise content based on feedback. Action Needed Email

Compile

Email

Revisions

Send Rosie and Kevin final Tuesday Tips schedule for approval. *Send Newly Enrolled Students a welcome to Tuesday Tips template email (regular students receive a regular Tuesday Tips) Enter Tuesday Tips content into Student Services Email Tool Include hyperlinks (recommended 6 weeks at a time so not congest email tool) Create text for PIO, Danna Culhane to input in Facebook JPG (see requirements) 2-3 hours Every Monday Push into queue current weeks Tuesday Tip email Glance over and make any revisions or edits, check hyperlinks etc. (get a copy of the proof email) hyperlinks etc. Get Proof of email and forward to: Rosie Rimando, Kevin Maloney, Danna Culhane and Mario Mitchell In the email provide Mario with a title for archival with year/quarter and week identifiers plus a title for that weeks email ie. Winter 2014 Week 6: Mid-Quarter Check-in Note: Rosie or Kevin may ask you to make slight changes, you will have to take the message out of queue, edit it and then re-queue it by selecting deliver over night. Every Tuesday Receive the automated send report from Email Tool, document the report statistics (sent emails) in the Excel Spreadsheet Forward Tuesday Tip to SSCCStudentServicesTeam@seattlecolleges.edu change subject to FW: Tuesday Tips from South Seattle Community College

Approval Email

Week of Break

Compile

Week of Break Current Quarter Weeks 1 - 11

Compile Send Email Weekly

Current Quarter Week 1 11

Send Email Weekly

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PILOT: Tuesday Tips Mid-Project Assessment & Report

March 2014

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