S2 - E17 - President outreach to students not registered (Nudges)

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Another nudge we have utilized, primarily to help get students registered for the next semester, is to have the university president send an email to all students who haven’t registered past a certain date to see what can be done to get the student back. An email from the university president can be a powerful tool for encouraging students to register for classes. The university president holds a position of authority and influence, and their communication can carry significant weight. In drafting this nudge, make sure you find a way to address students by their names or use a personal salutation to make the email feel more individualized. Next, craft an engaging and relevant subject line that piques students' interest and communicates the importance of the email. For example, “Important: Register for Classes Now to Secure Your Spot.” Throughout the text of the email, make sure it has a warm and welcoming tone to establish a connection with students. Expressing the president's excitement for the upcoming semester and their commitment to students' success is also important. With these types of nudges, it is vital to create a sense of urgency by mentioning registration deadlines or the limited availability of certain classes. Address common concerns students might have, such as financial issues or course availability, offer potential solutions or resources, and mention the availability of academic advisors or registration assistance if students have questions or need guidance.
As you might imagine, this nudge can generate a significant number of responses back to the president. We work closely with her team to alleviate the work that this nudge creates. We help write all the responses back to students so she doesn’t have to. And, the most common response we send is something along the lines of, “Thanks for your good questions (or comments). I’m going to connect you to my friends/colleagues in Academic Advising who will be able to directly assist you. I will make sure they reach out to you very soon. And, if you still have other questions (or comments) please don’t hesitate to reach back out to me directly and I’ll continue to help out however I can.”
We find that we get a bump in course registrations every semester after the nudge email goes out from our president. For whatever reason, these students that we have not been able to reach through our traditional outreach efforts from academic advisors, faculty, peer mentors, and others will be responsive to an email from the university president.