Guidebook Meets: How Coastal Carolina University's Campus Event App Transformed Orientation for Record Enrollment

When Coastal Carolina University welcomed their largest incoming class ever, their orientation team faced a critical challenge: how to maintain the personal touch while scaling operations and eliminating costly printed materials. Their solution? A comprehensive campus app strategy that not only streamlined communication but actually doubled welcome week attendance while achieving 100% paperless operations.

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Coastal Carolina's Orientation By the Numbers

• 70%+ out-of-state students navigating campus for the first time.
• Campus app integrated into every check-in process.
• Nearly 2x increase in welcome week event attendance.
• Record-breaking incoming class successfully onboarded.

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What You'll Learn

In this 45-minute webinar, Natasha Golden (Associate Director of Student Transition and Engagement) reveals how implementing a comprehensive campus app strategy transformed their orientation experience, including:

Campus app implementation & strategy

• Integrating campus apps into check-in processes for immediate adoption.
• Using QR codes to drive 100% app download rates before orientation begins.
• Leveraging real-time campus app updates to manage schedule changes seamlessly.
• Creating tracks within your campus app for different audience segments (students vs. families)

Maximizing campus app features for orientation

• Interactive campus maps to help 70%+ out-of-state students navigate unfamiliar territory
• Push notifications and schedule updates that eliminate the need for printed materials
• Session-by-session analytics to understand what content students actually engage with
• Evening activity listings that drive participation and excitement

From paper to digital: the Campus app transition

• Why Coastal Carolina went 100% paperless with their campus app
• Cost savings from eliminating printed schedules and materials
• How campus apps solve the "schedule change" problem that plagues paper programs
• Making campus apps accessible from registration through move-in day

Student engagement through technology

• Combating information overload with strategic session formatting and physical campus movement
• Incorporating interactive elements like student panels, live Q&A via QR codes, and gamification
• Using campus app analytics to measure engagement and continuously improve programming
• Building connections that extend from orientation through welcome week using the same platform

Operational excellence with campus apps

• Streamlining check-in with integrated campus app onboarding
• Managing multiple sessions and hundreds of participants with digital coordination tools
• Empowering student orientation leaders with mobile access to schedules and maps
• Reducing operational complexity while improving the participant experience

Who Should Watch This Webinar

• Orientation and transition program directors considering campus app solutions
• Student affairs professionals managing large-scale campus events
• Campus event planners looking to modernize their technology stack
• Enrollment management teams supporting growing institutions
• Higher education IT leaders evaluating campus app platforms

Real Results from Campus App Implementation

Learn how Coastal Carolina's campus app strategy achieved:

• 100% paperless orientation scheduling and communications
• Near-doubling of welcome week attendance through better information accessibility
• Seamless accommodation of record-breaking incoming class sizes
• Higher information retention with students referencing the campus app throughout their first year
• Significant cost savings from eliminating printing and last-minute schedule reprints

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Featured Speaker

Natasha Golden serves as Associate Director for Student Transition and Engagement at Coastal Carolina University, where she coordinates transfer student programming, class-specific initiatives, and the comprehensive Teal Nation Welcome program.

She oversees campus app implementation for orientation and manages programming that serves thousands of incoming students annually.