Illustration by Allison Gross
strategies for online learning. She said both faculty and students have felt more comfortable with their remote learning environments over the last year thanks to the eLearning and instructional design teams. Salvucci is also teaching the freshman clinical nursing course, which meets for three hours each week. With over 120 students enrolled in the course, Salvucci says student engagement is critical. By using the ECHOplatform, she integrates polling questions, patient case studies, Zoom breakout rooms, videos, and other engaging activities that help reinforce the class content. “I stress to students the importance of taking time for themselves and recognizing the difficulties they may be facing with online learning,” she said. “It’s key for students to hear that we are here for them.” Attracting New Students For prospective and admitted students, the university’s move to remote learning meant a sudden stop to campus events and visits. To avoid any disconnect, Director of Enrollment Management Corey Ford said that within a week of moving to remote work, the enrollment team had shifted their events and resources online, including a campus walking tour video and a virtual “Welcome Day.”
The team has since refined their approach to virtual engagement. They created an online space that features prerecorded videos and live programming using a new tool called PlatformQ and integrated a system where people can schedule one-on-one appointments with different university representatives. For those who want to visit the campus in person, but safely, they rolled out a new Campus Driving Tour that ties in virtual elements along the route. Ford credits the different modes of technology, the university’s commitment to transparency, and the unversity’s concern for the health and safety of the campus and local community for last year’s increased numbers in both new and continuing enrollment. Ford said they will continue to use virtual tools, noting the flexibility they provide students and families to engage with the university in a meaningful way. “It’s been nice to break down barriers of entry,” he said. “From that standpoint, we will continue to look to improve on some of our virtual offerings so that students can engage with us and get a sense and feel of the campus without necessarily having to come here.”
UMass Boston Spring 2021
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