Campaigns and Events

Campaigns and Events

OnCourse hosts a variety of outreach campaigns for staff promote student success, including:

  • Appointment Campaigns: encouraging students to meet with staff for a specific reason
  • Messaging Campaigns: providing consistent messaging and/or nudges to groups of students for a specific outcome
  • Events: inviting and tracking students attending an event

OnCourse also provides two types of staff to faculty outreach:

  • Progress Reports: inviting faculty to provide an update on student performance in their classes*
  • Travel Letters: allowing staff to let faculty know about student populations in their classes; most often used by SASSO to let instructors know about student absences from class

Centrally, the OnCourse team also sends Enrollment Campaigns as part of a university-wide retention process.

*Progress Reports are also managed centrally by the OnCourse team and regional campus success partners. Find more information on Progress Reports here.

Appointment Campaigns

Setting Up Appointment Campaigns

Setting Up Appointment Campaigns

To create an appointment campaign: 

Staff should click the Campaigns tab from the left sidebar. Under Appointment Campaigns, staff should select Add New. 

Define Campaign 

  • Campaign Name- Staff should add a name that is unique and includes the date range of the campaign, the office, and the creator’s name.# 
  • Instructions of Notes for Landing Page- This field shows instructions for the campaign that the student sees when they open the Appointment Campaign notification. Staff should make this text short and descriptive. 
  • Care Unit- The Care Unit the Appointment Campaign is associated with. 
  • Location- The location where the appointments will be held. 
  • Service- The Student Service associated with the campaign. 
  • Course or Reason- The reason or associated course for the campaign here. This only appears if the Service is tied to a course. 
  • Appointment Limit- How many appointments staff want students to schedule during the campaign. 
  • Appointment Length- How long will the campaign appointment be. Durations begin at a 5-minute length. 
  • Slots per Time- Appointments can be individual or group. By adding more than one "slot per time", you can have a group appointment. The maximum number of slots is 500. 
  • Restrict Scheduling to Assigned Staff Only- When this option is selected, the link to schedule an appointment will include a filter for assigned staff. If the student's assigned staff is not assigned to the campaign, and this setting is selected, this system will not allow the student to schedule an appointment. 
    • If unselected (default state), the appointment campaign will function as usual without any restrictions. This means students within this campaign may schedule appointments with any staff associated with this campaign.
    • If selected, students within this campaign may only schedule appointments with their assigned staff. 
    • Note: Staff will have the ability to override this and assign appointments students create outside of the campaign to the campaign. This restriction will not apply to that functionality. 
  • Allow Scheduling Over Courses- If checked, this box lets students schedule over course conflicts. Course conflicts refers to time slots where either the potential organizer or the student have conflicts due to either instructions or enrollments. 
  • Staff Reminders- These checkboxes select what kinds of Appointment Campaign notifications the staff attached to the campaign will receive. The two options are Email and Text. 
  • Recipient Reminders- These checkboxes select what kinds of Appointment Campaign notifications the campaign recipients (usually students) will receive. The two options are Email and Text. 
  • Start and End Date- The date range that you want students make campaign appointments for. 
  • Launch Date- The date the Welcome Message sends. If students are added to the campaign after this date through automation, the Welcome Message sends to the student as soon as they are added. 

Select Recipients 

After entering the details on the Define Campaign page, staff should click Continue. 

The next step is adding recipients. If staff created this campaign directly from a Student List or Saved Search, they are asked to review the students. If not, an Advanced Search opens. 

Staff can add all students assigned to them to a campaign using the Invite All My Assigned Students option. The other option is an Advanced Search. Staff should use Advanced Search filters to find and select students. 

After starting the search, staff are presented with a list of students. Staff should select the students they wish to add and then choose Add Selected Users and Search for More from the actions menu. 

Staff can remove students from the campaign if needed and add more later. For example, if staff already met with one of the students and do not need them to come in during the campaign period, that student can be removed. 

Once finished, staff should click Continue to move to the next page. Staff are asked to review the students in the campaign if students have been added. If these are correct, staff should click Continue. 

Select Staff 

Next, staff need to choose Organizers for the campaign. Staff must select themselves. To be added to the campaign as an Organizer, staff must have an Advisor or Tutor User Type. Staff can also select additional staff to make them available for appointments based on role permissions. 

Staff must have availability defined before they can be added to an Appointment Campaign. If expected staff do not appear as available, staff should make sure their calendars and availability are up-to-date. 

If there are staff that do not set Campaign Availabilities who need to be included in the campaign, select the Include Appointment Availabilities options to show available advisors. Add staff to the campaign and click Continue. 

Configure Goals 

Campaign Goals allow campaign creators to use reports to set criteria to reach a “success” condition or goal that will also make it so the campaign stops sending nudges. For Appointment Campaigns, the default campaign goal is Appointment Scheduled, which is checked. If staff want to add an additional goal, they should check the Add Additional Goals box. 

If Add Additional Goals is checked, the creator has to choose if the student must meet any or all of the goals listed. The creator then selects a Navigate360 report and makes selections using the data filters. For example, if staff wanted a student to make an appointment to apply for graduation, staff might want the appointment made and then for the staff member to tag the student with Applied for Graduation. In that case, staff might select a filter indicating that once a student both scheduled the appointment and was tagged, only then would the student stop getting nudges. Alternately, if desired, the creator can mark it so if the student does not schedule an appointment but files for graduation and is tagged, they meet the goal and stop getting nudges. 

The campaign creator/editor does not run the report at this point. Instead, when the user clicks Continue, the report compares the list of students in the campaign to a list of report results. Thus, only students in the campaign get nudges and are required to meet the campaign goal. 

Configure Outreach 

Welcome messages are the first nudge sent to students. They are sent when the student is added to the campaign or at the start of the campaign and are required for each campaign. 

Each nudge is an email or SMS message sent to the campaign list. Staff can customize the message sent to the student; however, the link and link text will always be the URL and text set in the first step of the Appointment Campaign. 

Nudge emails and SMS messages are sent the morning of the date chosen when you create the nudge. Welcome messages send immediately after starting the appointment campaign. As with any email or text, some may be slightly delayed. 

To create a nudge, staff should define the campaign and create the list of students for the Appointment Campaign. The Nudges page opens. 

Creating Nudges 

Staff should click Add Welcome Message to create the first nudge. 

Staff have a choice to create either an Email nudge or an SMS nudge. Staff must create at least one nudge per campaign. The nudge can be either an email or an SMS. There are no limits on how many nudges staff can send. Only one nudge type (email or SMS) can be sent per day. 

For email messages, staff should select the Email nudge type from the tabs, enter a subject line, and customize the message. If desired, staff can use a Content Template. The available Merge Tags are listed under the Message text box as well as other rich text options. If the school has HTML templates, staff may use that option by clicking the Switch to HTML Mode button. Merge tags can be directly inserted in the message after adding a template. Staff can see a preview of the message in a panel right of the composition panel. Staff can also attach a file to this message. Note that errors may occur when copying and pasting a table or image from another source into the nudge body. 

Fields used in the message composition are: 

  • Email Subject- The subject of the nudge email going to the student. It is Schedule an Appointment by default. 
  • Message- The customized email message going to the student. Merge fields are available for this message and if your user has access to Expanded Merge Fields, those appear and are pulled from the V3 Students Report as well as the individual schedule link. 
  • Send Date- The date the email nudge is sent. This does not apply to the Welcome Message. After creating a nudge, click Save Nudge to continue. 

Note: When composing the Welcome Message nudge, the compose message page shows Save Welcome Message instead of Save Nudge at the bottom. 

For an SMS, staff should select the SMS nudge type. A similar page with more limited options displays. SMS nudges for Appointment Campaigns are automatically generated. Staff should set a send date and click Save Nudge. Note that staff may only send one nudge a day. Staff may continue creating nudges after this. 

For nudges that are sent after the welcome message, you can send the nudge on a specific date or a relative date. Follow-up nudge messages are only sent to students who have not scheduled their campaign appointments. 

Sending on a specific date is more useful if you have a narrow, time-bound campaign that will not add many (if any) new students. If a student is added after a specific date nudge, they do not receive the nudge. 

A relative date may be more helpful if you are using an automation to add students to the campaign, or if you will be adding new students to a campaign regularly. This allows you to send a nudge X number of days after being added to the campaign based on what you enter in the Send Offset field. 

Staff can also create a Success Message on the Nudges step of an Appointment Campaign. This is an email or SMS message sent the day after the recipient schedules all appointments for the campaign. It is for communication purposes only. Staff should click Add Success Message to start creating a Success Message. 

The Add Success Message page is like the Add Nudge page; however, there is no Send Date because the Success Message only sends after the student schedules an appointment. You may also use content templates, HTML mode, merge tags and Sender Email Settings when writing your Success Message. 

After staff have finished composing the message, it is time to send out the campaign. 

Verify & Start 

Review your campaign details, nudges, invitees, and advisors on this page. Selecting View Email/SMS for any nudge displays a preview that includes any branding templates and Sender Email Settings. 

If the option to restrict scheduling to assigned staff has been selected and there are some students either missing an assigned staff member or are assigned to staff who are not included as campaign organizers, a warning message will display and a csv of impacted students will be available for download.  

Important! In order to avoid a student receiving a campaign invitation for which they are unable to schedule in, it is essential that campaign organizers review the CSV file of impacted students and correct either the campaign organizers or students before sending. 

This validation runs every time on the Verify & Start screen. 

The Impacted Students CSV file download Type is Restricted Appointment Campaigns: Impacted Students Report and contains the following columns: 

  • Student ID 
  • Student First Name 
  • Student Last Name 
  • Assigned Staff 

Click Start Campaign when you are ready to email the invites to the selected students. The Welcome Messages are sent out on the launch date; however, if you add new students AFTER the launch date, the Welcome Message sends to those students on the day they are added to the campaign. 

Events

Events

Event Campaigns allow staff to reach out to specific student populations and encourage them to RSVP for an event. Events are best used by staff members seeking to encourage students to attend an upcoming event. Staff can either check students in to the event manually from the event page or can provide students a QR code to check into the event.

Setting Up Events

Setting Up Events

To create an Event:

Click the Campaigns tab on the left sidebar. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Add New button under the Events link.  

Define Event 

In the Basic Configuration section, for Internal Name, choose a name that will only be visible to staff. This name should contain the name of your unit, the event name, the date(s) of the event, and your name.# so that the event is easy to find in the future.  

Choose your usual Care Unit. For Capacity, enter the total number of attendees and guests you can host in the capacity box. There is a box to enter the number of guest per attendee, which will be included in the invite.  

If you only want to allow invitees to check in at the event, check the box Make invitation required?, otherwise students who don’t receive an invite will be able to attend the event.  Click Show Only On Recipient’s Calendar if you only want the event to be shown on the calendar of your invitees. 

In the Event Information section, enter information that will inform students about the event. The Display Name is the name of the event you want students to see. All the information you provide here can be added to the invite email, so include any information you want students to have. The event location can also be for a virtual event and can be a zoom or other link. 

In the Event Registration Window section the registration start date should be the first day you want invites to go out. The end date should be the last day you want students to be able to register. If you want students to be able to register at the event, you should make the end date the date of the event 

Edit Registration Page 

Enter information here that will inform students about the event. All the information you provide here can be added to the invite email, so include any information you want students to have. The event location can also be for a virtual event and can be a zoom or other link. You can also use the custom share URL to create a link to the registration page. You can send this link to invite students you don’t include on the original invite. The Registration Page Preview shows what the event registration looks like on Mobile, Tablet, or Desktop. 

Verify Recipients 

Adding recipients uses the reports feature to search for students. You can also search for students and add them to a Student List, then use the Student List filter in the report to pull in your students.  

Check the box at the top of the report by Student Name to select all the students to add to your event. Check the check mark at the bottom of the report to select more than 100 students. Then click the Add Selected Recipients button. On the next page, if you need to remove students, click the box next to the student’s name and then click Remove Selected Recipients. 

Configure Goals 

Campaign Goals allow event creators to use reports to set criteria to reach a “success” condition or goal that will also make it so the Event stops sending nudges. For Events, the default campaign goal is Event RSVP, which is checked. If you want to add an additional goal, check the Add Additional Goals box.  

If Add Additional Goals is checked, the staff has to choose if they want the student to meet any or all of the goals listed. They then select a report and make selections using the data filters. For example, if you wanted a student to not just RSVP for an Event but attend, you can use the Events Report to set those criteria. Alternately, if desired, the creator can mark it so if the student doesn't RSVP to the Event but is marked as "Attended", they meet the goal and stop getting nudges. The campaign creator/editor does not run the report at this point. Instead, when the user clicks Continue, the report compares the list of students in the campaign to a list of report results. Thus, only students in the campaign get nudges and are required to meet the campaign goal. 

Compose Messages 

On the Compose Messages page, write the invitation email, RSVP email and text reminders, and the RSVP confirmation email.  

In the invitation email you can use merge tags, including the Event Information from the first page, to make inviting students to your event easier. You must include the Hyperlink to RSVP URL to send the email. 

In the RSVP Confirmation email you can use merge tags, including the Event Information from the first page, to make inviting students to your event easier. You must include the Hyperlink to RSVP URL to send the email. 

You can also create optional reminders for students to register for the event and schedule them to go out at certain times. 

Verify & Publish 

On the final page, review the details of the event and then publish the event. 

Students' View of Events

Monitoring the Event

Monitoring the Event

The Event Page

Find all the information about which students have RSVP’ed, have not RSVP’ed, and have attended, as well as how many received emails and clicked the registration link on the Event page. Any of the tabs can be exported for reporting purposes by clicking the three lines next to the search bar above the list of names. 

  • The RSVP Received tab shows all students who have RSVP’ed  
  • The RSVP Pending tabs shows all students who still need to RSVP  
  • The Attended tab shows all students who have checked in or who were marked as attending 

Students can be marked by hand as attending on the first two tabs and marked as not attending on any of the tabs by clicking next to the student(s) names and clicking the Actions button. 

Using a QR Code 

To generate a QR code for students to attend, on the main Events page, click the three lines by the event and click View QR Code. You can also find a direct link for students to check into the event on the QR page. 

Using the Kiosk 

To open the kiosk for students to attend, on the main Events page, click the three lines by the event and click Start Kiosk. This will open the kiosk in a separate window. Students can also check in using the virtual kiosk on their mobile device.