Despite evidence of practices that support online students in university learning, promoting engagement and building a student sense of belonging continue to be a challenge. To enhance student engagement, a suite of evidence-based learning design strategies was incorporated across online units of study in initial teacher education programmes at a regional Australian university. To determine the impact of these strategies or elements, students were surveyed regarding their perspectives on how the elements had positively impacted their sense of belonging within the online university community. The systemic functional linguistics Appraisal framework was used to analyse qualitative survey data, which reported students experienced an increased sense of belonging expressed as positive judgements of their own mental capacities. Students also expressed feeling cared for, valued and supported by academics and experienced enjoyment in their learning and reduced levels of stress. All elements were positively evaluated; however, unit coordinator behaviour, especially social capacity, was unexpectedly important in increasing student sense of belonging. Whilst ongoing incorporation of design elements to enhance engagement is important, the behaviours of unit coordinators actioned through these elements were paramount in promoting student belonging.