What Is University Calendar Software?

What Is College or University Calendar Software?

University calendar software is a way for institutions to bring together events and happenings from different campus and community groups into one consolidated calendar. University calendar software eliminates the need for administrators to manually compile and upload calendar events. It also allows for distributed collaboration, so different departments throughout campus can add, edit and delete calendar entries as desired. 
 
For students, university calendar software gathers all events into separate calendars. University calendar software for higher ed will also integrate seamlessly with external calendars and provide students with the option to subscribe to your campus calendar.

Why Does My College or University Need to Offer a Higher Education Calendar?

When your school provides students with an easy-to-access, comprehensive calendar, they are more likely to get plugged in to campus groups. And when students are engaged, they’re more likely to succeed. Student engagement has been linked to improved achievement, persistence and retention. Student engagement also has a positive effect on student wellbeing and happiness.  
 
On the administrator side, a consolidated digital higher education calendar that integrates seamlessly into your website and CMS makes it easy for editors and contributors to add, edit and update events and happenings on campus and in the community. It becomes the go-to place for all activities. 
 
A higher education calendar can also be a valuable recruiting tool. Prospective students are interested in figuring out where they fit, so seeing activities and groups listed on your calendar gives them an idea of what to expect when they arrive on campus. It’s also a great way to publicize campus tours, admissions and recruitment events in specific locations and virtual tours and events.

 

What Are Students Looking for When It Comes to a Campus Website Calendar?

Students have an attention span of about eight seconds. They are also accustomed to getting the information they want immediately on other websites. Your campus website calendar should be displayed prominently on your website so that students don’t have to hunt for events and happenings.  
 
Additionally, students expect certain features from a campus website calendar. The best college and university website calendars include these features:

• Customizable formats. Students can switch between grid and list views to display information in a way that’s easiest for them to digest. They can also view photos and videos about each event and even get click-through directions.
• Filtering. Students can filter the main calendar by tags, dates and event type such as featured events.

• Personalized Content. 74% of web visitors get frustrated when content they are seeing isn’t customized to them. Personalized content is constantly shown to students on other websites such as Netflix and Amazon. Why wouldn’t they expect content to be personalized on their college or university website? A best-in-class campus website calendar will also offer personalized content to students who have already seen a specific event.

When you have campus website calendar software built especially with higher ed in mind, you’ll be able to track visit behavior and then provide relevant content in a way that enhances the user experience and increases engagement level.  

What Are Administrators Looking for When It Comes to a College Calendar Software?

When it comes to a website campus calendar, college and university administrators want ease of use, flexibility and all-in-one management. That’s why quality college calendar software should be customizable right out of the box and easy to integrate with existing higher ed systems. 
 
Simple management. If university calendar software is clunky and complicated to use, then chances are administrators will dread keeping your college or university website calendar up to date. A key feature of a calendar system for higher education should be full integration into the CMS with easy-to-understand, easy-to-use calendar maintenance.  
 
For example, a quality calendar should integrate seamlessly with your website and CMS and allow administrators to:

• Manage multiple calendars from different departments throughout campus from an all-in-one master dashboard.
• Add, edit and delete single or recurring events with a single click.
• Add links to events so that visitors can easily get more information and directions.
• Assign approvals, workflows and access controls to other users.  

 

Brand Recognition. A campus calendar should integrate seamlessly with your school’s brand. Colors and fonts should match along with messaging and design. With quality university website calendar software, you can use the raw feed to build custom designs that complement your brand. 
 
Another key feature is out-of-the-box calendar designs that can be customized. You can use a template design when you’re in a hurry or customize the design to meet your school’s unique needs.

How Does Campus Calendar Software Boost Student Engagement and Support Positive Academic Outcomes? 

Research shows that retention rates are higher when students are engaged in campus activities. For example, the yearly retention rate of freshmen who participated in extracurricular activities is 97.9% after a year. The rates continue to remain high for sophomores and juniors: 94% for students after two years and 88.4% after three years. 
 
What this means is that when you have a campus calendar that’s easy to navigate and find, you can expect higher engagement throughout the student lifecycle.

How Do I Use University Calendar Software to Enhance My Institution’s Digital Engagement Experience?

A consolidated calendar that integrates seamlessly with your website shows students that your institution places strong emphasis on student engagement in campus activities. It provides prospective students with a peek into activities they can expect to find on your campus. It also enhances online interactivity since students can select specific events and click through for helpful resources and information.

How Can an Event Management Team Promote Events from the School, Student Organizations and Partners?

Easy-to-use college or university calendar software simplifies event posting so that your event team can easily publicize campus activities to the website. The best calendar software will also allow for multiple contributors, meaning that student groups and partners can also submit and post items to the calendar if desired.  

Conclusion 

The challenges for higher ed have never been greater, but neither have the opportunities. Every system you choose and every strategy you implement must support a personalized, student-first experience. A campus website calendar is an essential feature of a website designed for the modern learner. Schedule a demo now and see how university calendar software can support your admissions and enrollment campaigns today.