Upswing’s Onboarding Process: A Comprehensive Guide to Getting Started!

At Upswing, we’re on a mission to break down barriers and empower nontraditional students to achieve their life goals through accessible student support services. Through our innovative technology and holistic approach to student success, we consistently empower more students to not only graduate but also embrace the journey along the way.

Working with higher education institutions across the U.S. and Canada, our team at Upswing has prioritized creating a straightforward and effective onboarding process that is customized for each partner depending upon their goals, products and services, and administrative team. With our 2-3 month onboarding timeline, we aim to quickly launch our platform and products into educational institutions and maximize its impact. 

Setup

The onboarding journey starts with contract signing. Then, our Partner Success Team connects the main administrator with their designated HERO (Higher Education Retention Officer) via email. This HERO becomes their main guide and point of contact throughout the onboarding process and the life of the partnership. This process begins with an intake questionnaire that is then utilized to customize their onboarding steps and timeline. This questionnaire includes information that gathers the product goals, technical requirements, and data ingestion preferences. 

Kickoff Meeting and Training

A crucial moment in onboarding is the kickoff meeting, where IT staff, stakeholders, and administrators familiarize themselves with Upswing’s platform. Led by the HERO, this initial kickoff meeting and subsequent training sessions address questions and help every user from the main administrator to staff and campus tutors learn to use the Upswing platform. After the kickoff meeting, administrators and staff then gain access to the platform and can customize settings based on their institution’s needs.

The HERO collects partner requirements and finalizes the platform setup, including the creation of student, tutor, and admin accounts and uploading your courses. For partners using Ana, the HERO will work to customize your message plan to match your academic calendar and campus resources. 

Demos and Training

With comprehensive demos and training sessions, administrators learn platform navigation and customization, and their staff familiarizes themselves with Upswing’s features. Each partner receives a series of trainings designed to ensure that every level of staff knows how to make the most of Upswing’s platform. This may include administration, staff, campus tutors, and even faculty.

Launch 

As onboarding concludes, the HERO sends a launch email, marking the transition to independent platform usage. Staff can then set up accounts, students can begin to engage with services, and the journey towards student success kicks off

Your Upswing HERO is committed to your success and will be with you every step of the way. Often, this comes in the form of monthly touchpoint meetings in which you’ll review engagement and usage data. In between meetings, our HEROs can be contacted via email. We also provide online support in the form of recorded training and documentation. Students, tutors, and administrators can also connect with Upswing support for immediate questions or concerns. 

At Upswing, we believe effective onboarding is key to a successful partnership. By guiding partners through a tailored process, we ensure they’re equipped with the tools to empower students and drive meaningful change.

Let’s work together to break down barriers, empower students, and drive meaningful change in academic communities. Contact us today to start your partnership with Upswing!