When Duquesne University decided to refocus and improve their family communications, they got to work formalizing a cross-departmental, strategic parent engagement plan. Through intentional selection of a vendor, establishing buy-in across campus, and devising a manageable content strategy, Duquesne has not only found a platform that “exceeds their expectations” but has improved their recruitment and retention goals.

More than two years later,  Patty Swisher, Assistant Vice President Marketing and Communications, Tracy Jackson, Executive Director of Marketing, and Jennifer Smith, Assistant Director/Parent Relation have published their CampusESP success story in the Journal of Education Advancement & Marketing. Read the peer-reviewed article below, or check out the highlights!

Selected a vendor that fits communication needs (um, that's CampusESP)

Before researching vendors, Duquesne took the time to analyze what they most needed in a parent communication tool. This included : 

1. treating parents as partners;

2. sharing the university brand messaging with this important influencer group;

3. combating the misinformation of existing private parent Facebook groups;

4. increasing retention in a streamlined and holistic manner;

5. helping to move away from outdated paper forms of communication to save staff time and create a centralized place for Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) data.

Within four months of starting the vendor discovery process, Duquesne had chosen and implemented CampusESP. The top two reasons they decided to implement were the “superior customer support and the speed at which the platform could be launched into the market.” 

Established buy-in by including multiple departments in the decision-making process

Duquesne was able to establish buy-in and “break down silos across nearly every department of the university” when they showcased the value that having a strategic parent communications platform would bring to each of these departments. This cross-departmental collaboration made the decision making process smoother and ultimately led to higher recruitment and retention rates. 

A single-point of contact was assigned the role and responsibility of managing parent engagement in the new platform. The office of Marketing and Communications and Enrollment Management collaborated on the communication strategies, taking into consideration needs and expectations that prospective families had. 

Devised a manageable content strategy

The Duquesne team brainstormed a parent engagement strategy that would meet their families expectations while reducing the workload on employees. Their current strategy includes: 

• Maintaining a schedule of posting once per day to ensure families are updated on the most current affairs 

• Posting bi-weekly newsletters which includes a compilation of information found on that parent users portal 

• Granting portal access to additional department administrators who can send out targeted messaging/announcements based on user information (ie. first-generation families, fourth-year families, prospective families or all current families)