Admissions & Recruitment

U South Alabama Adopts Engagement Software for Admissions

The school will start using Evolution Labs' S360 with algorithms designed to individualize the recruitment process for each possible student.

• By Michael Hart
• 09/14/15

The University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL, has adopted a new recruitment and admissions software platform that is expected to engage both prospective and current students more.

Evolution Labs' S360 Engagement Suite, according to company officials, will create, collect and deploy information to individual applicants and potential applicants that is designed to create a more meaningful affinity between the potential student and the school.

S360 uses a proprietary algorithm that analyzes the propensity of prospects and recently admitted students on a spectrum that considers academic, financial and lifestyle fits. Insights determined by the algorithm are communicated back to the school in real time, allowing admissions officers to help students make decisions about enrollment. It can signal which of many subject areas are most important to the prospective student: for instance, academics, faculty, campus location, size, personality.

As the prospective students move further through the process, they may receive expert-written essays, videos, surveys, social media feeds and messages from current students.

"The platform takes advantage of what we already know about prospects — their location, academic and co-curricular interests, demographic background," said University of South Alabama Enrollment Services Director Christopher Lynch, "and creates an experience they find personally relevant, which we believe will encourage them to dive deeper into our institution."

The software includes several different modules, all accessible to users on smartphones, tablets and laptops. The S360 Recruit module will go into use this fall, driving applications while engaging prospects both before and after they apply.

Later this year, the school will incorporate S360 Search, which engages cold leads to generate inquiries about the school and keep them engaged until and if they apply. S360 Yield is designed to strengthen the affinity of admitted students with the school and specific programs and activities they have demonstrated interest in.