It’s easier than ever to apply for admission and become a Mountaineer with the full Sept. 9 launch of MyWVU Portal and a new event management tool that, together, provide a seamless and intuitive digital journey for prospective students from initial inquiry to enrollment.
The new student experience is built on Salesforce Education Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud and the event management platform Blackthorn. This multi-year project, part of the WVU Modernization Program, makes it easier to apply, upload documents, complete a checklist, check programs and majors offered, make a change and more. It personalizes and unifies the experience for applicants, regardless of which WVU campus they choose.
“This is a huge achievement that positions WVU for the future and represents countless hours of work by staff in Enrollment Management and Information Technology Services, with support from our partner, Huron Consulting,” said Joe Cook, executive director of admissions and operations. “To compete in the dynamic higher education landscape, WVU needs tools and processes that help us innovate and support students while collecting reliable data that will inform and shape future decisions.”
Blackthorn provides a central calendar where students and their families can see all events, tours and departmental appointments, as well as better registration pages with FAQs and maps. Since its launch Aug. 25, more than 400 prospects have used Blackthorn to register for campus tours, departmental appointments and other admissions-related events. With this tool, staff can set seat limits, manage waitlists and adjust capacity as needed.
Blackthorn also consolidates what had been disconnected processes and tools. The Salesforce platforms WVU has implemented are now integrated with the Banner student system, the Okta identity management system, the Snowflake data warehouse, the Common App, Amazon Web Services and the payment platform Touchnet.