Case Study: Seneca College achieves real-time student support during a five-week strike with Sprout Social

Seneca College Uses Sprout to Support Students During Tumultuous Time

Seneca College, one of Canada’s largest colleges with campuses across the Greater Toronto Area and about 30,000 full‑time and 70,000 part‑time students, relies on a small social media team to engage prospective and current students. When a five‑week province‑wide college strike hit in October–November 2017 the team faced a deluge of questions and distress on social channels — message volume spiked (62% on Oct 19 month‑over‑month; a 75% increase from Oct 14–Dec 14) and engagements surged, creating an urgent communications challenge.

By using Sprout Social’s Brand Keywords, Smart Inbox and conversation history, Seneca triaged and prioritized messages, coordinated multiple shifts, identified high‑need students (including those in mental‑health distress) and routed them to campus supports. The platform enabled real‑time responses across channels, captured prospective students, supported roughly 88,923 engagements over two months, and convinced the college to expand Sprout adoption and cross‑department collaboration.

Seneca College

Lisa Pires

Media Relations Specialist