Tracking students: sometimes pointless, sometimes beneficial

“Check this if you would like to receive helpful information from colleges and scholarship services,” read the PSAT answer sheet. I couldn’t leave it blank, I thought; I could miss out on some valuable information.

Little did I know that this “valuable information” would come in the form of seven emails a day from colleges I’d never even heard of.

So many of these emails are full of links directing me to quizzes about which college or major would fit me based on my personality, and some want me to view their guides on the school or admission.

 I’ve never considered clicking any of these links before, but ever since I’ve learned about Google Analytics, I feel pressured into opening these emails.

Through Google Analytics, universities are able to track when an email is opened or when a link is clicked. This feature allows colleges to track student interest and use that information to make admissions decisions. Besides observing applicants’ actions online, universities can also monitor the activities of their students on campus, often through the scanning of ID cards.

Some colleges may use this online strategy to identify interested students, but this information should not play an important role in deciding a student’s acceptance into the school.

Colleges must exercise caution when judging an applicant’s interest in their school by tracking the openings of emails. Anyone can click an email, whether it be on an ancient computer or the latest tablet, and it does not require much effort. An action this quick should not have an impact on a decision with much more weight: whether or not a student is admitted to a college.

Tracking students through campus visits or tours is far more reasonable than email-based online tracking because  actual visits to a college shows a greater interest compared to clicking a link.

Furthermore, a student who is truly interested in a specific college would likely already have visited the college website on his or her own without needing an email to prompt the visit. Colleges are not able to record which individual views their website, so by deeming a student more worthy of acceptance than one who did not open a link would be unfair. A student might already know the information sent in the email and not need to click on the link.

There are also some colleges that make use of technology to monitor the whereabouts and activity of students.

While it may seem like an invasion of privacy at first, this system of tracking students is ultimately an effective way of ensuring the success of college students today.

One college that uses this method is Ball State University in Indiana.

Studies have shown that those who are involved in college activities have a higher chance of graduating than those who are less engaged, so the university uses a system to monitor students’ “campus engagement.” Under this system, a retention specialist will contact students who, based on their activity shown through ID card swipes, do not participate in school events.

It might seem like this school is observing its students actions too closely, but the school kills two birds with one stone by being able to work its way up to higher graduation rates and by making sure its students have a more memorable college experience.

It can be argued that the amount of personal and private information universities collect from its students is overwhelming; however, lots of the information is collected from ID card swipes.

If most colleges already implement the use of ID cards granting access to certain buildings, it makes sense to note data from these scannings. The universities should not and are not going out of their way to gather information.

Another college, Purdue University, uses technology in a similar way. These schools track student activity in the recreational centers on campus.

Purdue has found (through information collected when ID cards are scanned) that students who went to the rec center more often to exercise earned better grades. The valuable data collected allows universities to observe trends within their schools and make changes to benefit students’ lives.

In the end, colleges seem to be able to obtain lots of information from students, whether they be prospective or enrolled students. But these schools need to keep in mind how meaningful some information is before taking action, as some pieces of information have little worth compared to others. I don’t want to be judged for not opening all of my emails every day.