A Plan for Maximum Participation in Campus-Based Text-Messaging Alert Systems

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Opinion

A Plan for Maximum Participation in Campus-Based Text-Messaging Alert Systems

11/8/2007

By Terry Calhoun

I know how to maximize campus community participation in your alert messaging system. Since the start of the current semester, I've spent time talking with students about the issue, and, after I had the kernel of an idea, I consulted with an internal expert. We both agree that the system we've come up with is a win-win for the school, its students, faculty, and staff--and the community. In fact, we'd be surprised if there isn't a campus somewhere already using some variant of this technique.

The Challenge: Getting Voluntary Participation
How do you get students (and others) to opt in to text-messaging campus alert systems, such as the one used to good effect earlier this semester at the University of Colorado? Once they've opted in, how do you capture their attention and get them to keep your system loaded with their current information?

Earlier in this academic year, it looked as though one way, albeit impractical, to get students to opt in was to have a crisis on campus. At the campuses mentioned above, student signups to the alert system increased dramatically post-crisis. However, even on campuses that have had crises, administrators are finding that participation is not at the level they would like.

The Solution: Monthly Lotteries Using the System
As usual, the first solutions I came up with were cheap ones. That's just the way I am. Even when a project is fully funded, I can't help it; I try to find cheap ways to make things happen. So at first I was thinking about a "big splash," one-time lottery for something that is nearly always in demand on a college campus--something that the institution already "owns" and thus doesn't have to purchase: parking space!

Just imagine what your public relations folks could do with various permutations on the theme of someone winning semester-long prime parking space!

Then I got to thinking about the process of selecting the winner. At first, the concept was selecting a random recipient from among those who had opted in by a certain date in the first month of the semester. Unfortunately, that method would probably create an immediate decline in attention and signups once the winner of the prime parking spot had been named.

That's when I consulted the internal expert: my wife, Sheila Calhoun. Sheila's worked in the corporate wellness, fitness, work-life arena since before earning her masters degree in the field in 1984. She knows the kinds of things that work to get large populations of individuals making behavior choices that are healthy for themselves, and it is certainly a "healthy choice" to opt in to a crisis warning system.

So, here are our suggestions, very practical ones, assuming that your institution considers this important enough to at least budget some intelligent staff time to the effort.

1. Publicize the fact that you will be having a monthly test of the text-messaging alert system and how those who are current in your system can win a prize (prizes).