Engagement Ambassador - Western Washington University

Georgia State University receives national award for undergraduate recruitment innovation. Georgia State University received the 2026 Eduventures Innovation Award for Next Generation Recruitment, recognizing its leadership in developing a data-informed approach to undergraduate enrollment and student engagement, according to a June 18 announcement. The award was presented by Encoura at the Eduventures Summit in Chicago on June 17. The honor recognizes institutions that demonstrate forward-thinking strategies to improve outcomes in higher education. Georgia State was recognized for its innovative approach to first-year student conversion through a strategy that integrates enrollment marketing and the student experience. "We are proud to see Georgia State's work recognized on a national stage," said Jo Ann Herold, vice president for Public Relations and Marketing Communications. "This award reflects our commitment to putting students at the center of everything we do, from how we communicate with them to how we support them throughout the enrollment journey. It takes a team to have a big impact, and the Georgia State University team is one of the best in higher education nationally." The university's model transforms undergraduate yield strategy through a research-informed lifecycle approach that connects marketing, technology, analytics, creative strategy and student support. By aligning these elements around key decision points in the enrollment journey, Georgia State improved conversion rates, reduced undergraduate melt to record-low levels, and created a more sustainable recruitment framework. Allison Calhoun-Brown, senior vice president for Student Success at Georgia State, said, "This national recognition is a testament to the extraordinary dedication, creativity and collaboration of the Georgia State team. The Undergraduate Admissions team and PRMC have reimagined what student-centered recruitment can look like: grounded in data, driven by purpose and focused on improving outcomes for every student we serve. I am incredibly proud of this team for setting a new standard for innovation in higher education and for demonstrating what's possible when we align enrollment strategy with student success." Cara Quackenbush, executive vice president of Eduventures Research at Encoura, said, "Georgia State's efforts show what's possible when institutions stop treating innovation as a separate initiative and start building it into the core of how they operate, from how they recruit students to how they recognize learning to how they prepare graduates for an AI-driven world. Georgia State saw an opportunity, backed it with data and proved it works. That's exactly what these awards are meant to celebrate."

/C O R R E C T I O N - Encoura/. Jun 03, 2026, 12:16 ET In the news release, Encoura and Element451 Announce Strategic Partnership to Close Higher Ed's Gap Between Data Intelligence and Real-Time Action, issued 03-Jun-2026 by Encoura over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that changes have been made. The complete, corrected release follows: Encoura and Element451 Announce Strategic Partnership to Close Higher Ed's Gap Between Data Intelligence and Real-Time Action. New partnership combines AI-native CRM and agents with robust analytics and proprietary research to turn student insights into meaningful engagement. AUSTIN, Texas, June 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Encoura, an industry-leading educational technology and research provider, and Element451, the AI platform and CRM purpose-built for higher ed, today announced a strategic partnership to create a seamless engagement ecosystem - Encoura Connect, built with Element451. Together, the two organizations are delivering what no single platform has offered higher ed before: a fully connected intelligence ecosystem where enrollment and retention combine with agentic AI to help institutions seamlessly manage and support the entire student lifecycle. Colleges and universities across the country are under mounting pressure. Institutions are being asked to recruit and retain students with fewer staff and dwindling budgets, while the data and tools they rely on are often trapped in separate, disconnected systems. The gap between knowing what to do and being able to act on it quickly has long been a structural drag on performance. This partnership directly addresses that disconnect by bringing Encoura's predictive models, proprietary research, and institutional insights inside Element451's AI-powered platform. "Having better insights and a better CRM sitting side by side would be a plus for our college and university partners, but we've gone even further," said Dennis Syracuse, CEO of Encoura. "This partnership means that for the first time, the collective insights we've built over decades are embedded directly into Encoura Connect - and supported by AI agents - into the workflows where institutions make decisions and take action. That's a fundamentally different kind of support." The partnership gives colleges and universities a connected experience where the right information is always in the right place. Institutions no longer have to move between systems to find insights and then apply them; the two now live together, eliminating the manual handoffs that have long slowed engagement operations. Encoura's predictive models are updated automatically based on real-time student activity, and Element451's Bolt agents proactively identify untapped strategic opportunities. At all times, the platform maintains the highest privacy and security standards, making it a trustworthy, all-in-one enrollment resource. "Element451 was built around how higher ed professionals work every day, rather than retrofitted from a different industry's enterprise software," said James Novak, CEO at Element451. "Pairing that with Encoura's depth of data and intelligence means our agents and workflows are informed by the best analytics in higher education and are ready to act on it." The result is a new enrollment and retention ecosystem that expands institutional capacity, reduces friction, and empowers enrollment and student success staff to spend less time managing systems and more time focused on building meaningful student connections that drive long-term institutional engagement. As higher education enters one of its most competitive enrollment periods in decades, Encoura and Element451 are positioning institutions to move from insight to action faster than ever before. Members of the media can contact Courtney Baumann at [email protected]. About Encoura Encoura is an educational technology, marketing, and research organization serving thousands of higher education institutions across the nation. Since 1972, Encoura has been a leading provider of strategic consulting, data science, and engagement solutions that connect institutions to the communities they serve. In 2025 and 2026, Encoura expanded its capabilities with its acquisition of Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL) and Anthology's Lifecycle Engagement and Student Success portfolio. This combined expertise now spans enrollment, marketing, student success, alumni relations, and advancement, providing institutions with comprehensive solutions to achieve their goals throughout the student lifecycle. For more information, visit encoura.org. About Element451 Element451 delivers AI products purpose-built for higher education. Bolt is the AI Agent Engine for higher education, deploying specialized agents across every stage of the student lifecycle to drive outcomes for institutions and students alike. Element is the AI-native CRM for higher education, connecting data, workflows, and AI agents across every team and every stage of the student journey. Element451 supports more than 350 institutions, including Columbia University, Louisiana State University, Tulane University, the North Carolina Community College System, and the University System of Georgia. SOURCE Encoura