Initiatives & News

Explore Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) initiatives, success stories, and exciting news articles for a glimpse of what’s happening now – and what’s coming next. This is just the beginning, and there’s so much more in store.

Key Initiatives

News & Articles

Key Initiatives

Starting in fall 2025, we’re transitioning to a more eco-friendly paper for our most-used enrollment materials like booklets, mailers, and flyers. This shift reflects a shared value between Utah State and the next generation of students: a strong commitment to sustainability. This new paper still delivers vibrant visuals, but with a softer, more authentic finish that reflects the character of our university. While this transition doesn't account for all our materials, it’s a small but meaningful step in our broader commitment to sustainability.

To enhance financial transparency and assist prospective students in understanding the true cost of attendance, USU has partnered with Meadow to implement a modern net price calculator. This mobile-first tool delivers accurate, personalized cost estimates in under three minutes, reducing sticker shock and supporting informed enrollment decisions. For more information, please contact Ian Anderson or Craig Whyte.

In January 2025, we initiated a comprehensive overhaul of our CampusESP Parent & Family Connection, aiming to enhance communication and engagement with the families of both prospective and current students at all USU campuses. This revamp focuses on delivering timely, relevant information to parents and families, thereby strengthening their connection to the university community and supporting student success. For more information about this initiative, please visit usu.edu/parents.

In October 2024, we launched a generative AI-powered chatbot through ivy.ai to support students and families across Admissions, Recruitment, Student Financial Support, and Student Orientation and Transition Services. Since its launch, the chatbot has handled over 60,000 messages, significantly improving real-time assistance and reducing staff response time. The tool provides 24/7 support and enhances the student experience by delivering accurate, immediate answers to common questions. To learn more about the chatbot, contact Lexi Melmoth Collins.

Following a comprehensive RFP process, USU selected Shamrock Solutions' Freedom transcript processing software. Implementation began in February 2025, with a projected go-live date in June. This advanced OCR technology automates the evaluation of domestic high school and college transcripts for admissions and scholarship purposes, significantly reducing manual data entry and processing time. Additionally, the software will automate transfer course articulation, ensuring accurate and efficient assessment of transferable credits. By integrating Freedom into our admissions workflow, USU aims to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and the overall experience for prospective students and staff. For more information, please contact Lexi Melmoth Collins.

The Enrollment Systems & Data team launched an automated admissions process in Fall 2022, which has since processed over 30,000 applications, including 8,799 this fall alone, saving more than 1,000 hours of manual work. This efficiency, combined with streamlined workflows for admissions officers, enabled 96.7% of students to receive their admissions decision within one week of completing their application. Furthermore, this fall, the admissions team broke the all-time record for the highest number of students admitted in a single week—twice

This fall, we launched a streamlined application process for concurrent enrollment students transitioning to undergraduate studies at USU. Alongside the simplified application, we introduced a dedicated "After CE" landing page to support these students. Over 1,000 students submitted applications through this process since launch.

In partnership with the National Common Application, we launched USU’s application in mid-November. Since the 11/25 launch, 1,399 students have submitted applications, 76% of whom are out-of-state students, directly supporting our institutional goal of increasing out-of-state enrollment to 25%. Additionally, 3,796 students have added USU to their "My Colleges" list. This initiative expands our national reach and reduces barriers for prospective students, enhancing access and visibility for USU.

This fall, we strengthened our partnerships with EAB, Encoura, Niche, and other platforms to expand our student name purchases and targeted marketing efforts. These partnerships enable us to connect with prospective students across the U.S., supporting our strategic goal of increasing out-of-state enrollment.

In January 2025, USU launched the OneUSU CRM initiative—powered by Salesforce Education Cloud—to unify student engagement, admissions, marketing, data analytics, and event management into a single, AI-enabled platform. We are executing a two-phase rollout:

Phase 1 – August 15, 2025: Go-live for Marketing Cloud and Blackthorn event management functionality.
Phase 2 – January 2026: Deployment of undergraduate and graduate application processes through Recruiting & Admissions modules.

This phased approach ensures smooth technical integration, effective stakeholder training, and immediate improvements in personalized communications and event operations. To view the current status or detailed roadmap, visit the OneUSU CRM status page or contact Lindsay Farnworth, Director of Enrollment Systems & Data.

This fall, we launched the Aggie Advantage Grant, a $1,000 award for qualifying new students to support educational expenses. Part of the broader "Aggie Advantage" initiative, the grant highlights USU’s unique offerings, including hands-on research, study abroad opportunities, a robust Honors Program, vibrant student life, and flexible degree options across 30 campuses and online. This initiative reinforces USU’s commitment to student access, engagement, and success.

Personalized Financial Aid Videos (PFAV) continues to be a strategy to help influence yield of new student enrollments. In November 7,141 videos were sent. New videos will continue to be sent, continuing through May 2025.

USU participated as a Beta 3 partner and had over 200 students successfully submit the 25-26 FAFSA, prior to the form opening nationwide. This allowed early access/info to student records to help develop/test Banner and other systems. The FAFSA is now open and USU has received more than 2,100 student records. Promotion of 25-26 FAFSA will continue through February 2025.

All campuses have completed a recruitment plan that is an assessment of prior events and initiatives to meet campus goals. Plans include: USU System, USU Eastern, Campus specific plans for all Statewide Campuses. We started the process of creating recruitment plans for each academic college. This will be an 8 to 12-month process. Recruitment and Communications plans can be found by using USU credentials and logging on to usu.edu/sem/resources/recruitment.

  • Undergraduate Recruitment Presentations were given during a meeting with the College Dean’s and their leadership. Presentations were also done with the Assoc. Deans during their retreat.
  • Academic College Discover Sessions were held with each Academic College during Sept and Oct.
  • Academic College Recruitment Training Series will be held through the spring semester. These trainings will be held twice a month for anyone involved in college or academic program recruitment.

In the News

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