Rio Salado staff continue to show innovation and focus on the needs of students, as featured recently by WGU Labs and Fierce Education.
WGU, through its College Innovation Network (CIN), highlighted Rio Salado College's efforts in addressing the challenges posed by technology fatigue in a recent blog. With a diverse student population and a significant reliance on online learning options, the article noted, Rio Salado recognized the need for a standardized approach to respond to student feedback on tech tools and inter-departmental communication to avoid duplicative efforts. To tackle these issues, the college formed the SDX - Student Digital Experience - committee, which brings together experts from various departments to collaborate and improve the overall student experience.
Leaders of Rio Salado’s SDX Committee shared their efforts with the College Innovation Network earlier this spring during a Partnership in Practice call that was open to College Innovation Network members. Rio’s SDX group focuses on improving the student experience by taking a “more agile approach to tech decision making,” the WGU article about the meeting shared. The committee encompasses members from UX/UI, Marketing, Student Affairs, IT, and Academic Affairs, providing input from the student frontline, as well as backend operations.
"Our initial work was to inventory all student-facing technology across the student lifecycle to identify gaps, redundancies, and product ownership,” said Janelle Elias, vice president of strategy and advancement at Rio Salado College. “Our committee now serves as a central location to examine new and existing technology within the frame of what students experience from the enrollment funnel to credential completion. That means the departments alone do not own the technology in silos but we can better understand how students use tech within their entire relationship with Rio.”
Rio Salado is a founding member of WGU Labs' College Innovation Network (CIN).
Fierce Education also featured Rio Salado College's work, shedding light on the growing issue of technology fatigue and burnout among faculty members as demonstrated through the second annual CIN Faculty EdTech Survey. The article emphasized the importance of implementing technology in a way that aligns with faculty needs and expectations. It also highlighted Rio Salado College's use of data from the previous Faculty Survey to drive change and improve the faculty experience through the SDX Committee's cross-functional collaboration.
Both articles are available online.
WGU
Fierce Education