Club leaders will be able to utilize new features with OrgSync replacement

EngageXU will be tested and launched during the summer, with the full rollout for clubs taking place at the beginning of the fall semester. 

EngageXU will be replacing OrgSync, which was a community management software that the university used to support clubs with processes such as forms used for club position applications, space reservations and event requests. 

Additionally, it was used by the Division of Student Affairs to track engagement at different kinds of campus events. 

During the testing period, staff and faculty across campus will be trained to use the new software with the hope that there will be more use and integration of the software across campus and beyond the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) and the Division of Student Affairs. 

Associate Director of Student Involvement Dustin Lewis stated that the EngageXU software will go above and beyond the capabilities of OrgSync, even putting more features in the hands of clubs. 

“One feature that many student organizations will be excited about is the ability to set up a storefront feature and to sell items online through the system with funds being directly deposited into the club’s account,” Lewis said. “Imagine buying SAC Boat Dance or Ski Trip tickets online — no lines and no waiting!” 

There will also be an online waivers feature, a long-awaited addition for clubs who travel frequently. According to Lewis, the university adopted the OrgSync system in 2011. Knowing that their contract expired after the spring of 2020, the OSI began the process of searching for an effective replacement for OrgSync last fall. In 2016, the OrgSync software was acquired by another company, CampusLabs, which had a competing product known as CollegiateLink. While CampusLabs notified colleges they would honor pre-existing OrgSync contracts, OrgSync would be phased out and eventually discontinued altogether.

Lewis noted that Xavier decided to stick with OrgSync for the remainder of their contract after feedback from other local universities. 

“Several other campuses migrated from the OrgSync platform to CampusLabs’ new system — including The University of Cincinnati and Northern Kentuky University — with mixed or negative feedback about the change for their campuses,” Lewis said. 

“The OSI opted to stay in OrgSync for as long as possible since the system was meeting our needs and the migration feedback was not convincing us that the new platform would meet our needs.” After narrowing the selection process to three other companies, Xavier opted to go with CampusGroups. 

In working with CampusGroups, Xavier had the chance to name the new platform, and after an Instagram contest with 400 votes, it was determined that the “new OrgSync” would be dubbed EngageXU. 

Discontinuing OrgSync was not a voluntary choice for the administration, as there had been signs for years that a change was inevitable.

 Several organization leaders noted that OrgSync was a positive experience for them but were looking forward to new features on EngageXU. 

“I am frankly a little sad to see it go, as I have become accustomed to using it,” junior Noah Schrader, President of Life After Sunday, said. “Life After Sunday works heavily with campus ministry, Catholic Student Outreach, the on campus Cincinnati Jesuit Community, etc. I think that it would be nice to have an ‘affiliates or collaborators’ tab which shows organizations, offices or divisions that each club interacts and collaborates with most frequently.” 

“I hope this new app will do more in terms of helping leaders of clubs, in ways of forms and money,” sophomore Nick Walker, treasurer of Xavier Film and Television Club, said. “As the treasurer, these forms sometimes get confusing on OrgSync.”