People: Who are you connecting and who is helping them to connect?
By Janeen Galligan, Partnership Engagement Specialist and Ana Hernandez, Co-Founder & Chief Operations Officer at InScribe
This is part 3 of the 4 P's™ series. In case you missed it…part 1: purpose and part 2: placement.
People - Make sure you know who you do and don't want included in your community, both as regular members and as moderators. Communicate clearly to those folks the expectations of their role in the community. Our team is here to support you if you need training for people supporting your communities.
Peer to Peer: This community should be student driven. We recommend turning on flagging and maybe add custom keyword flagging if there are particular things you don't want to miss. For instance, maybe add a flag for "moderator" and let users know you'll be alerted if they mention "moderator" in a post. As a reminder, you want to have a light presence in any peer to peer space. Too much moderator participation will lead students to believe the community is a place for moderators to share information, much like announcements or an information kiosk.
Academic Support: Encourage your students and TAs to help support one another in the community. If the moderators answer too quickly, students are less likely to jump in to help each other. Set a reasonable expectation for moderators to respond and encourage students to help each other first. We have some areas in InScribe to help you easily see who may need help or who hasn’t gotten a response.
Information Sharing: Make sure the right folks have been brought in to share pertinent information with your student body. This might be the team in financial aid, the career center, program directors, or anyone directly related to the purpose of your community. Take the opportunity to showcase these groups of people on a weekly or monthly basis.
Student Success: Make sure the advisors know that this space is another great way to connect with students, especially those who might be available for school in off hours or who may not want to connect in traditional ways. Live sessions are a great way to connect and reach more students in a single session.
Next week…plan.
About the Authors
Janeen Galligan is an educator in higher education and a Partner Engagement Specialist at InScribe. Her mission is to lighten the load for her partners, allowing them to focus on what truly matters: ensuring every student feels seen. Janeen is dedicated to creating spaces where learners—regardless of their life stage—realize they are not alone in their academic journey. By fostering these deep connections, she helps build communities where belonging is the foundation for success.
Ana Hernandez began her career as a high school English teacher in Denver, CO. Now as a Latina entrepreneur in education technology, she is creating solutions that make educational opportunities more accessible and attainable for everyone. In 2014, she launched an education technology consulting company, which spawned a product company, InScribe, in 2017. She’s a Colorado native and avid runner who has completed eleven marathons, including the 2018 Boston Marathon, Ana is also the proud mother of a 15-year-old son and two badly behaved standard poodles.