Background: University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

A Legacy of Innovation and Leadership in Higher Education

UW-Eau Claire, located on the banks of the Chippewa River, has been an innovative leader among public institutions of higher education for more than a century. UWEC has produced generations of leaders from K-12 educators and global industry executives to healthcare professionals, research scientists, acclaimed actors, authors and more. Blugolds develop critical-thinking skills, engage in transformative career-focused experiences, and leave the university prepared to join the workforce and make a big impact in their communities.

UW-Eau Claire offers students more than 200 academic programs, the opportunity to collaborate with award-winning faculty, academic advising and support staff, and a path to find their passion and reach their career and life goals. 

Challenges

Overcoming Legacy Platform Challenges 

Prior to implementing CampusGroups (CG) in 2022, UWEC had the same student life community platform for almost a decade. However, the legacy platform was limited in functionality and slow. The main challenges with the previous system were:

• Limited community engagement features - The legacy platform was event-centric. It lacked features that are key to a community engagement platform, including a campus wide feed, chat, or social directory. Mobile functionality was also extremely limited, resulting in low platform adoption.
  
  
• Lack of automation - The legacy system was very manual and lacked analytics and reporting capabilities. Student organization registration and event tracking were particularly challenging. There wasn't an easy or reliable process which meant these processes were still done manually.
  
  
• Poor performance - There was reportedly a lot of lag time with the previous platform. Administrators often couldn’t physically get their work done, let alone do it efficiently. The platform’s poor performance further contributed to a lack of adoption among students.

The Ready Education Solution

Empowering Engagement: UWEC's Success with the CG Platform

UWEC needed a unified and user-friendly community engagement portal. According to Sara E. Thommesen, UWEC’s Senior Coordinator of Engagement, “The CG platform is so complete and easy to use for students and staff, that we are continually transitioning processes to CG ''. Key benefits include: 

1. Unified Campus Portal - The implementation of the (“BluGold Connect +”) portal established a comprehensive platform university-wide. It serves as the go-to resource on campus, connecting students to the information they need and each other. 
   
   
2. Multiple Engagement Tools -  Available on the web and mobile, the platform has over 30 modules. The student groups and membership feature, events management tools, and chat are the most-used modules. The dedicated Orientation app is also key, enhancing the student experience for first-year students and increasing adoption.
   
   
3. Automated Workflows and Robust Tracking and Reporting Features - CG has automated key processes, with data feeding into an analytics and reporting dashboard in real time. The most popular workflows are tracks and checklists, event registration and check-in.

Outcomes

The Impact of CG at UWEC

Since the implementation of CG, student engagement at UWEC has experienced a notable surge. The introduction of the portal not only bolstered engagement but also greatly enhanced the overall user experience and operational efficiency for both students and administrators alike.

These improvements are evident in the impressive user statistics recorded during the platform's inaugural year of use. A total of 12,858 users, including 1,467 group officers, actively utilized the platform, demonstrating its widespread adoption across campus.

Moreover, the platform facilitated the creation of 1,315 events, resulting in a staggering 15,550 event registrations. Notably, 479 events leveraged the attendance tracking feature, leading to 13,550 event check-ins. These statistics underscore the profound impact of CG on fostering student engagement and streamlining administrative processes at UWEC.