How strong partnerships can improve the college student experience

It’s a scenario that has played out many times in Joseph Robinson’s career: A college or university CIO approaches him and asks how to build technology infrastructure that will support a better student experience.

They know that for today’s students, connectivity matters — and that students might choose another school if they can’t stream content or post on Instagram from anywhere on campus.

These types of interactions are at the heart of why Robinson does what he does; he has always been focused on creating better student experiences. He got his start helping K-12 students with special needs achieve their potential. Now, as a Spectrum Enterprise account executive specializing in education, Robinson has the opportunity to help improve the student experience at higher education institutions. We sat down with him to learn more about his work.

What do you appreciate most about your job?

I like building relationships with clients. It’s not about selling something and moving on to the next one. It’s about cultivating a strong partnership. To do this, you have to understand the client’s strategic goals and then consider: What is it we can do as a company to help the client realize those goals? What services would benefit them the most?

Improving the student experience is a common higher-ed goal because there's a clear connection between it and student recruitment and retention. Can you describe how you've partnered with a specific client to enhance the student experience?

We’re in the process of helping a Florida community college that is looking to expand and become a four-year college. As they were growing, they came to us and said, “We’re building a whole series of dormitories on our main campus. From a technological standpoint, what are some things we should consider as we’re moving forward?”

We’re helping them with four key things: Internet access, managed WiFi, voice services and streaming video. The video piece is a good example of how we’re helping them improve the student experience.

We’re providing traditional HDTV service to common room TVs via set-top boxes — but we’re also going to enable students to watch live and on-demand programming anywhere on campus using their personal devices. With our SpectrumU® service students can watch sports, movies, news and TV shows where and when it’s most convenient for them, on their personal devices. The service is delivered via an IP connection and doesn’t require any equipment, so it’s really cost-effective.

We’ve been providing SpectrumU for a while now and have received a lot of positive feedback from schools including Central Michigan University.

How do colleges and universities benefit from partnering with Spectrum Enterprise?

Colleges and universities are competing for students, and our solutions can give them an advantage. For example, when a school can tell prospective students, “We have dependable WiFi and you can stream content from anywhere on campus using your phone or tablet,” that helps them stand out.

Another benefit of partnering with us is our education expertise: We have sales and account management teams that are dedicated entirely to this one industry. Because education is all they’re focused on, they have a really deep understanding of the challenges colleges and universities are facing, and how technology can help address them.

A strong partnership with an experienced technology provider ensures you can deliver the experience today’s college students expect. View our infographic to start planning for a network that can transform your campus and help you stand out from the competition.