Background
Located in the heart of Livingston, the University of West Alabama was chartered as a church-affiliated female academy in 1835. Over time, the school developed into a leading regional university. UWA viewed online programs as critical to their future success and understood that distance learning was integral to their growth as a university.
UWA saw online learning as an opportunity to expand the geographic reach of their recruiting efforts and diversify their portfolio of programs. The institution felt online options would better serve a variety of students, including adult learners who were already part of the job market.
Challenge: Declining Enrollments in Online Programs
While UWA understood the value of online learning, they struggled to overcome declining student enrollments in that modality.
Recognizing the opportunity to attract adult learners outside of the traditional campus classroom, the university aimed to reverse this downward trend by diversifying its online degrees and expanding its enrollment team. However, university leaders lacked the expertise and capital to launch these initiatives on their own.
“We were known primarily as a school that educated educators,” said Dr. Jan Miller, dean of the UWA College of Education. “We wanted to diversify our programmatic footprint while accelerating the growth of our education programs, but we needed help in that arena.”
UWA’s struggles stemmed from limited expertise in online learning and a lack of internal capacity. They needed an external partner with knowledge in the best practices to support online bachelor’s and master’s programs and enrollment growth.
Strategy: An Enterprise Approach to Enrollment and New Areas of Study
UWA sought a partner that had financial resources and personnel to expand its enrollment team and invest in innovative marketing initiatives. Risepoint (formerly Wiley University Services) proposed an enterprise approach to enroll more students in existing online programs and spark additional growth by launching new areas of study.
To make an immediate impact on UWA’s outcomes, Risepoint dedicated a team of enrollment counselors to work with prospective students on the university’s behalf. Student engagement ran smoothly as Risepoint leveraged its extensive online learning expertise and infrastructure to support UWA’s existing and prospective students. Within two weeks, Risepoint was working to enroll nearly 2,000 prospective online students and was also managing the student retention process for more than 1,500 online students.
“Collaboration is the driving force of our relationship. It’s laying the groundwork for growth that we didn’t know was possible before we began working with Risepoint. With Risepoint as our partner, we have the capacity and insights to not only grow, but to provide a better experience to our students. We can’t wait to see where the partnership leads us next.”
Dr. Jan Miller, Dean, UWA College of Education
While many universities simply send automated enrollment emails to leads, Risepoint realizes that students need much more support than that. That’s why we focus on personal contact.
A high-touch approach allows Risepoint enrollment counselors to collaborate directly with prospective students and find the programs that align with their goals. This relationship continues after students enroll at UWA Online, with dedicated online advisors assisting UWA Online students throughout their degree programs and providing resources to promote their success. Contributions from Risepoint also include monitoring student behavior and performance to offer support to students who fall behind.
Results: Sustained Growth and an Enhanced Student Experience
Together, UWA Online and Risepoint have launched 19 new online programs since the partnership began. In the fall of 2019, online programs at UWA Online had 3,944 students actively enrolled, almost double the enrollments from when the partnership began three years earlier. These figures represent substantial gains in a variety of education, business, and psychology/counseling programs at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.
Miller explained that Risepoint exceeded her expectations in terms of flexibility and experience. As a result, UWA Online is exceeding their students’ expectations.
“Collaboration is the driving force of our relationship. It’s laying the groundwork for growth that we didn’t know was possible before we began working with Risepoint,” Miller said. “With Risepoint as our partner, we have the capacity and insights to not only grow, but to provide a better experience to our students. We can’t wait to see where the partnership leads us next.”
