Many post-secondary institutions have students come from all over the world to attend their school. At some schools, international students make up a substantial chunk of the student population. For example, 30% of Nova Scotia’s Dalhousie University population is composed of international students. So, how do schools like this ensure the safety of each student who travels there?
To save much confusion and chaos, schools would benefit from an automated solution to track international student travel plans. An automated solution to track international student travel plans will make the whole operation run much smoother compared to using any sort of manual process.
At some schools, administrative workers individually contact each student to determine their plans. After speaking with the student, they will somehow record this information in a spreadsheet or a document. If you have many students to contact, you can easily see how stressful and time consuming this could get.
In this blog, we will go over the steps to implementing an automated solution to track international student travel plans.
Step 1: Collect Plans
The first step of the international student travel plan solution is to organize each student’s travel arrangements. This can be done by having each student fill out an online form. After a form gets submitted, the information gets placed into a database where each student will have their own profile.
Students can also simply be imported into the database if you already have all the needed information. Both options will properly complete the first step of the process.
Step 2: Track Progress
Once each student has their own profile, you can create sections in the database where you can group certain students together. Contacts can be grouped automatically based on any recorded information such as their region, major, type of external party, and more.
Based on the data recorded about contacts, messages can be changed based on information tied to the contact it’s being sent to. This will happen automatically, and you will not need to do anything to customize each message once the solution is set up.
These messages will include a prompt for students to reply with, which will easily help administration ensure each student is sticking with their travel plan. Students will be sent the information they’re most likely to care about, which increases the likelihood of student engagement.
Step 3: Confirm Arrival
By making use of emails, text messages, and phone calls to their best of their ability, students can be reached out to with the method they prefer, or the method that best matches the circumstances.
Sudden notices that are time sensitive can be served well by a text message or a phone call. Long announcements and memos can be sent through email. Making use of many communication channels ensures students don’t miss key information.
If students don’t reply to the message confirming their arrival, they will be sent a notification to be reminded to check in. If several reminders are missed, a manual check-in can be booked.
Step 4: Adapt Easily
When students interact with messages, that interaction is recorded. Therefore, there will be data to show whether they ignore it, look at it, or even click a specific link.
By tracking these interactions, advanced actions can be taken in response such as tagging the contact as reaching a certain step in their journey, following up with the student based on their actions, or simply recording the interaction for future use.
Interested in an automated solution to track international student travel plans?
If you’re looking for a solution that can easily and efficiently manage international student travel plans, look no further than SimplyCast. Here at SimplyCast, we have created a solution using our automation software that can be used by any school that is looking to improve the efficiency of their international student travel plans process.
Click the button below to receive a demo from our team to see how you can manage your international student travel plans with an automated solution.
