Listening at Scale in a Time of Uncertainty: How Campuses Can Understand Students and Employees and Act with Speed

Why Read This Research

Higher education leaders are navigating an environment where expectations are shifting faster than organizational structures can adapt. This white paper outlines a strategy to help colleges and universities drive meaningful change and improved outcomes by implementing a system that continuously gathers input from students, employees, and industry stakeholders, applying proven experience management practices to accelerate response and impact.

Key Questions Answered

• How can higher education campuses build effective listening architectures?
• How can higher education institutions connect structured and unstructured data without creating another silo?
• What steps can you take now to launch a meaningful listening and response program in ninety days?

Features

• Software Category in Focus: Customer Experience Platforms 
• Future Campus Impacts: Recruit, Retain, Employ, Operations, Innovate
• Author: Matthew Winn, PhD, Senior Analyst, Tambellini Group
• Research Availability: November 2025

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Start with Principles that Travel Well
3. Build a Campus Listening Architecture
4. Design Around Real Journeys, Not Org Charts
5. Connect Structured and Unstructured Data Without Creating Another Silo
6. Put Guardrails in Place Early
7. Measure What Matters
8. A Maturity Path You Can Start Next Week
9. What This Looks Like When It Works
10. The Payoff
11. Future Campus Impacts