Quality and Retention
Focus on Quality – Retention is the Result
A large part of my time on the job is spent creating learning materials for Customer Care agents whose role is to retain our customers. The greatest lesson I’ve learned working in this area is that retaining customers begins when you make the sale, not when the customer is so angry they want to leave. In some sense, retaining learners in a distance education program is similar to retaining a customer. Learners are “purchasing” a product universities want to “sell”, and in order to continue that relationship, the learner must feel that the education he or she is receiving is of high quality and value. As I work on learning materials for all of my learners, I keep these key points in mind:
- Help the customer create real expectations of our products
- Deliver on those expectations
- Show the customer in words and actions that you genuinely appreciate him or her as an individual and as a customer
Both the customer and my company gain from the relationship that develops from practicing these principles.
Translating this into the world of distance learning, here’s how I would start retaining the learner before he or she ever signed up for a class by building a quality program.
- An easy-to-navigate web site that provides these types of information
- Types of degrees offered, along with course descriptions and graduation requirements
- Testimonials from a range of students who completed these degrees, describing how they combined school with their other responsibilities such as family, work and community activities
- How the terms are structured, along with regional accreditation information
- A “sandbox” of the learning portal where a student can gain a realistic idea of what his or her learning would be like including an actual syllabus and sample lesson
- How to apply and register
- Tuition and fees, along with financial aid and payment options
- The Student Support offerings, including how disabled students can access services
- Contact information for asking questions or resolving registration problems
- An easy-to-navigate learning portal that
- Is a single site for all learning activities, supporting both synchronous and asynchronous activities
- Has a library that is tightly integrated with major academic and commerical databases of published research, with full-rights memberships to any journal referenced in one of these databases. (The student could pay the fees as part of the fees and tuition. The point is to remove any barrier to the information.)
- Delivers learner-centered coursework that has clearly defined outcomes, is well produced, and is rigorously assessed
- Houses the facilitator’s detailed syllabus with assignment expectations and rubrics for assessment available before Week 1
- Allows the facilitator to shape the group of students into one or more learning communities, and encourage the dialog among the learners. The facilitator also builds relationships with each learner, understanding their history, goals, and any particular learning challenges (such as fear of public speaking, learning disabilities, etc.)
- A support system from the University that provides
- The online equivalent for any student services required by federal/state law, or that are commonly found in good quality brick-and-mortar universities, such as academic and financial advisers
- 24/7 technical support for the learning portal, available online or over the phone
- Instructional design and technology support for facilitators as they re-develop their courses for online/distance learning
