Student Engagement Starts Before Move-In Day
How Universities Can Build Meaningful Student and Family Connections
Student affairs teams are being asked to do more than ever before. They are expected to answer questions, support families, share timely information, and help students feel connected to campus before they even arrive.
While websites, emails, and online resources remain important, they do not always address the questions students and families care about most.
Today’s students and families want more than information. They want connection. They want opportunities to hear from real people, ask questions, and build confidence about the transition to campus life.
That is why many institutions are creating new ways to engage students and families through interactive conversations rather than one-way communication.
Why Student and Family Expectations Are Evolving
The student journey begins long before move-in day.
Prospective and admitted students, along with their families, spend months evaluating decisions, completing requirements, and preparing for a significant life transition. During that process, they often seek reassurance, guidance, and firsthand perspectives from people who understand what they’re experiencing.
Many institutions provide extensive information through websites, email campaigns, and FAQs. However, some of the most important questions are not easily answered through written content alone.
Students want to know what campus life is really like. Families want to understand how their students will be supported. Both groups are looking for authentic insights that help them feel informed and confident about the next step.
Creating Opportunities for Real Conversations
One of the most effective ways universities can support students and families is by creating opportunities for direct interaction with the people who know campus life best.
Through Broadnet’s Access Live platform, institutions can host live virtual events that allow students and families to hear directly from campus leaders, current students, parents, and support staff. Participants can join online or by phone from anywhere, ask questions in real time, and receive answers from trusted voices across the campus community.
Access Live also helps universities reach students and families who may not be able to visit campus before enrollment, orientation, or move-in. By allowing participants to join from anywhere, universities can make important conversations more accessible while ensuring that distance, schedules, and travel limitations do not become barriers to engagement.
These events help institutions deliver personalized engagement at scale, making it easier to answer questions, share information, and foster meaningful connections before students arrive on campus.
More importantly, they create opportunities for authentic conversations students and families seek throughout the college decision-making and transition process.
During Access Live events, students and families receive firsthand perspectives on topics such as:
- Housing and choosing roommates
- Orientation and the transition to campus
- Study abroad opportunities
- Greek life and student organizations
- Food services, parking, and other campus logistics
- Finding community and getting involved
- What current students wish they had known before arriving on campus
These conversations provide something traditional communication channels often cannot: real experiences, practical advice, and reassurance from people who have been there before.
When students and families can ask questions directly and hear honest answers from current students, parents, alumni, and campus leaders, they often feel more confident, informed, and connected to the institution.
Supporting Students at Critical Moments
Meaningful engagement doesn’t end once questions have been answered.
Throughout the student journey, universities must communicate important information at the right time to help students and families stay informed and take action.
Voice outreach can help create a more personal connection during those moments. Universities can use Broadnet’s VoiceNotify platform to deliver prerecorded messages from campus leaders, orientation staff, current students, or other trusted voices, reinforcing important information and creating a stronger sense of connection.
Personalized text messaging can build on those efforts through timely, targeted communication. Using Decantr, institutions can send reminders and updates related to enrollment milestones, financial aid deadlines, orientation registration, move-in preparation, family events, and other key campus communications.
Together, voice outreach and text messaging help institutions reach students and families with timely, relevant, and actionable information.
Helping Students Arrive Connected and Prepared
The transition to college can be exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming for students and families.
When institutions create opportunities for meaningful conversations and provide timely communication, they help students feel more informed, connected, and prepared for what’s ahead.
Broadnet’s Access Live, VoiceNotify, and Decantr solutions help colleges and universities engage students and families, answer questions, and deliver important information across the student journey.
Ready to strengthen communication with students and families?
Connect with Broadnet’s team to learn how colleges and universities are using Access Live, VoiceNotify, and Decantr to strengthen engagement throughout the student journey.
