BullSync unveils new platform
Home to more than 600 clubs and student organizations on campus, BullSync debuted its new platform, offering a more modern and accessible website to students.
The change in platform is due to the merging of collegiate link and OrgSync, two national competitors for student engagement platforms. Campus Labs, the parent company, acquired both products and merged them together to create a new platform called Engage.
While Engage will be the new platform used to find student organizations and get involved on campus, the name BullSync will still be used in the platform’s operations. Before the shift took place, OrgSync was the main platform for more than three years.
The transition to the new platform began eight months ago, with its official launch occurring over the summer. According to Mike Severy, director of the Center for Leadership and Community Engagement, the newly updated platform will benefit and enhance the student’s experience.
“Ultimately, it should be more of an enhanced and streamlined experience for our student organizations,” Severy said. “There are some transition pains and we’ll work our way through that, so we’re learning some little pieces to make sure everything is as functional as possible.”
According to Severy, there are no extra costs associated with the upgrade in platforms. The university is currently under a three-year contract with Campus Labs.
With the new platform, students will have access to a broader array of information to help them enhance their ability to run their organizations, including tracking and communicating with community partners.
Community service tools will also be enhanced. The new platform will offer a service tab where students can connect with community partners more directly and efficiently.
Students will also be able to track their community service hours through Engage. The platform will allow students to record their hours online while connecting with community partners. In case a student organization needs to report its service hours to its national organization, all the data will be available for retrieval online as well.
“The new platform will continue to support student organizations, offices and our community partners and help them engage with one another,” Severy said. “Overall, I think it’s a good platform to support what we’re trying to accomplish here at USF.”