USU students make admissions software
Two USU students, Joseph Irvine, a freshman in computer engineering, and Josh Kerkmann, a junior in international business, are changing the way schools perform admissions lotteries.
An admissions lottery occurs when a public, private or charter school has more applicants than open positions. To determine who gets into the school, a lottery is held. In the past, the process has usually consisted of literally pulling names out of a hat. Parents and administrators spent hours waiting for the results.
As a sophomore in high school, Irvine attended an admissions lottery for a family friend. After two hours of watching names being pulled out and recorded, he realized the process could be simplified. Joseph then set about creating a computer program to make the lotteries work more efficiently.
Kerkmann and Irvine’s program quickly automates a list of children selected to be in the school. The administration can then create printouts of the results or display them on a projector.
The new program dramatically reduces the amount of time it takes to hold an admissions lottery.
“It takes just minutes instead of hours now,” Irvine said.
And the process not only decreases the time it takes; it also decreases the chances that a mistake will be made.
The software has gone through several stages and is now in the marketing stage. Irvine and Kerkmann are working on advertising for their product to tell as many schools as possible about it.
The software has been released and is now being used by schools both locally and in Arizona. Edith Bowen Elementary School and InTech Collegiate High School both use the software for their admissions lotteries.
-katreeves@cc.usu.edu