Revolutionizing Startup Incubating: How Participant Satisfaction Rate Rocketed Using CLASSUM
Kyung Hee University’s Campus Town
Kyung Hee University (KHU)’s Campus Town is a university program offering entrepreneurship development opportunities and resources for aspiring startup founders in the local community. KHU’s Campus Town offers nearly 350 participating startups and members a strong network and ecosystem that allows for a channel of support through the resources it provides, such as accelerator programs, mentorship programs, and promotional content creation.
CLASSUM spoke to Woo-Jae Jung, who is in charge of administration at KHU’s Campus Town, to discuss how CLASSUM helped them operate four successful programs that reached participant satisfaction rates of 4.5/5 in just a span of 8 months.
The Challenge
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, many programs were forced to shift to asynchronous formats, naturally resulting in a need for quick adjustments. KHU’s Campus Town was certainly not an exception to these changes, as it battled three primary concerns, listed as follows:
1. Diverse programs, large-scale participation
Because of the large number and diversity of participants, it was difficult to facilitate clear communication and cater to the needs of each individual. Questions such as “How can we effectively operate each program and heighten participant satisfaction?” were often asked internally within the program.
2. Lack of face-to-face communication due to social distancing
Face-to-face communication is undoubtedly a critical component of such community-based programs, but the pandemic made this unfeasible, bringing forth concerns about how to maximize effective online communication as much as possible.
3. Revised business plan for asynchronous operations
The given circumstances brought many difficulties, to the extent to which KHU’s Campus Town had to revise its entire business plan. Upon this, there were lots of internal discussions regarding methods that would help efficiently initiate newly-revised programs in online environments.
The Solution
As KHU’s Campus Town looked into CLASSUM as a potential platform to support its asynchronous program formats, there were several questions to consider:
Is the tool easy and convenient for participants to use?
Does the tool allow for announcements and other crucial program components?
Is the system already set to use without extra adjustments being necessary?
Compared to other platforms such as Slack or messenger tools, KHU’s Campus Town ultimately decided that CLASSUM was the best tool to operate the program.
Why CLASSUM?
Prior to implementation, the administration examined several potential software. When analyzing CLASSUM’s fit, some administrators worried as to whether users would be able to adjust well to using a new platform, and others wondered how CLASSUM would differ from other free services.
When reconciling such opinions, Jung and others emphasized how much more satisfied participants would be when using CLASSUM compared to other platforms. For instance, how CLASSUM fits perfectly not only with KHU’s Campus Town’s online format but also with hybrid and in-person settings in the case that social distancing regulations subside. In addition, CLASSUM would be able to facilitate faster and easier communication, increasing engagement and allowing for smooth flows of information that would contribute to the establishment of a strong and stable community.
KHU’s Campus Town saw possibility and potential in CLASSUM’s communication-centered features, focus on customization, and data analytics, and believed that with CLASSUM, their programs could materialize into something of substantial value.
KHU’s Campus Town x CLASSUM
After implementing CLASSUM into KHU’s Campus Town’s programs, administrators found that CLASSUM’s friendly, social media-like user interface and all-in-one capability allowed participants to quickly adjust and communicate with ease like no other platform. Throughout the programs, CLASSUM also managed to engage participants of KHU’s Campus Town from start to finish, unlike methods such as email interrupting continuous and smooth communication.
With analytics insights such as the ‘announcement read receipt’ function, KHU’s Campus Town could monitor participant activity. The Announcement Read Rate feature allows administrators to view the percentage of participants who have read a certain announcement and offers the option to renotify those who have not, ensuring consistent participation.
After using CLASSUM for 8 months to operate four programs, post-program evaluations revealed that the participant satisfaction rate was 4.5 out of 5. Not only were participants content, but the program operators were also satisfied with the convenience and clear results that CLASSUM provided.
KHU’s Campus Town noted how in an age where online communication is so crucial amongst the MZ generation, it is necessary to have a tool capable of enriching both the online and offline experience all-in-one. While other platforms are mainly one-sided regarding information delivery, CLASSUM allows for a continuous, back-and-forth flow of communication amongst participants and administrators.
CLASSUM: A Space Where Startups Grow Together
In the future, KHU’s Campus Town intends to utilize CLASSUM to operate different programs in hybrid formats, with the ultimate goal being to create spaces where startups can come together to share concerns and exchange information.
From its initial implementation in 2020 to now, in 2022, KHU’s Campus Town remains an avid user of CLASSUM. KHU’s Campus Town recommends using CLASSUM not only for the education sector or startup incubator/accelerator programs but also for those generally looking to make a program more effective in multiple ways at once. In addition, they claim that CLASSUM would be a good fit for those eager to maximize participant communication and heighten participant satisfaction.
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