UniSA students were looking to engage in different ways

Overcoming the COVID challenge to engage with students

COVID-19 brought disruption to the tertiary education sector in 2020. Revenue streams and traditional business models, including international students, were impacted, requiring many Australian universities to pivot their approach. Faced with the reduced ability to reach students in-person, the need for digital solutions became key.

UniSA already had learned a lot from its previous online expos and from earlier Open Days trials. In 2020, the university could clearly see students looking to engage in different ways and knew they could create a better customer experience. In the past, the university experienced all the common problems, ranging from mobile usability issues to device incompatibility. Collaboration such as Chat and Q&A functionality had limitations, and users weren’t automatically directed to active live webinar sessions. Staff also spent a lot of time with very manual registration management processes and with reporting limitations, such as not being able to follow-up with students adequately.

Going forward, UniSA’s students will expect a level of interactive engagement while researching their study options online, so this consolidated digital platform will be of continuing importance in the future. It will form the basis of all future events such as the University’s Virtual Campus days, Virtual Fairs and year-round Careers Expos.

Matthew Sayer

CTO, Sudo Roux

UniSA uses Optimizely to create virtual open days to engage students

The University of South Australia (UniSA) is Australia’s University of Enterprise on the global stage, agile and astute, known for relevance, equity and excellence. Educating and preparing global learners from all backgrounds, it instills professional skills and knowledge, and capacity and drive for lifelong learning. Undertaking research that is inspired by global challenges and opportunities, UniSA delivers economic and social benefits, and which in turn informs teaching.

Creating a calendar of virtual events

UniSA wanted to take a data driven approach to deliver an experience that would resonate with students. This included hosting a series of events across its calendar. Events are integral to the prospective student recruitment process. They have historically generated new sales leads and they allow the university to showcase its offerings and facilities, often providing a one-to-one personalized approach.

To do this, UniSA needed a hybrid events platform that had the potential to scale across domestic, international and online students. Partnering with digital consultancy Sudo Roux, UniSA deployed the Optimizely suite, which complemented its existing tech stack. 

Using Optimizely’s CMS, Monetize, a solution was implemented fast - with deployment in less than two months. This involved over a thousand assets and 350 webpages, a suite of 60 new videos, 25 webinars, 155 campus and facilities tours and 51 study booths.