STRATEGIC PRIORITY 2
DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT STRATEGIES THAT SUPPORT STUDENT RECRUITMENT AND PROMOTE THE ALABAMA EXPERIENCE.
CATHERINE AND PETTUS RANDALL WELCOME CENTER
DSC departments collaborated with many partners on the planning and opening of the Randall Welcome Center, the new front door to our campus. The more-than-15,000-square-foot RWC includes a lounge, theater, multiple galleries and the one-of-a-kind Roll Tide Room, providing an immersive game day experience. More than 8,000 people visited the RWC within the first three months of its opening on January 19, 2024, including more than 3,000 prospective students and their families.
DSC led the charge on project management, content creation, design and institutional storytelling throughout the expansive space. Collaboration with Undergraduate Admissions and development of marketing strategy for the RWC began in March 2021. Every department within DSC assisted in making this innovative space a reality.
OUR IMPACT
- Wrote informative and captivating content to welcome visitors to the Capstone
- Crafted 30 custom videos, including the immersive Roll Tide Room hype video
- Designed more than 20 large-scale custom graphics
- Provided stunning, high-quality images featured throughout the space
- Provided countless hours of project management
- Coordinated an exciting ribbon-cutting ceremony
- Promoted the grand opening through news stories and media coverage
- Created engaging social media content to highlight the facility and encourage visits
GRADUATE AMBASSADOR INFLUENCER NETWORK
The marketing team collaborated with the UA Graduate School on creating a strategic plan and structure for a first-of-its-kind network of graduate students at UA: the Graduate Ambassador Influencer Network. Through this dynamic initiative, graduate students from across campus help with marketing and recruiting efforts of the UA Graduate School. They do this by creating social media and digital content that they share to their own social media pages, using their personal audiences to promote the Alabama experience.
MERIT
Our communications team uses Merit, an online service for publicizing student achievements, to celebrate the great things our students do.
With their Merit pages, students can receive recognition for achievements while also creating an online profile that they can use for jobs, internships and references after graduation.
RECORD ENROLLMENT
Through digital marketing, storytelling, printed materials, photography and videography, DSC supports all enrollment efforts and goals for UA Admissions and Enrollment Management. Our division’s strategies supported the fall 2023 record-breaking enrollment of 39,623, including 3,184 freshmen from Alabama, representing every county in the state. This marked UA’s fifth consecutive year with an in-state increase and the largest number of in-state freshmen since 2010.
The University enrolls a record 1,142 National Merit Scholars, making UA one of the nation’s largest enrolling institutions of National Merit Scholars. This year’s incoming class continues to be academically talented, with 43.4% boasting a 4.0 high school GPA, a record average high school GPA of 3.87 and 300 National Merit Scholars.
SCRIPT "A" TIME LAPSE
Among the many traditions we love and support is the annual Script A photo for our incoming freshman class. Each fall, our freshman class gathers on the field in Bryant-Denny Stadium to pose in our Script-A format for the largest group photo of the year. Our photography, video and creative media, and social media teams work organization magic each year to capture this memorable event for our students.
COMMENCEMENT
Overseeing 10 commencement ceremonies with 9,105 degrees awarded, the DSC events team makes sure that graduation is a fitting culmination to the stellar Alabama experience.
GAME DAYS
Football is an unforgettable part of our traditions at UA, and DSC is always there. Before the games, our communications and social media teams work with public safety to share information that helps the day go smoothly for fans. During pregame festivities and game days, our video and creative media, photography and social media teams capture the events. And, a communications team member is in the Emergency Operations Center assisting with game day safety, while another team member is always staged off campus, ready to assist in the event of an emergency.