The new product features are the result of the Company’s extensive qualitative and quantitative research as well as recommendations from its 24-member Professional Advisory Council. The Council, whose members include college and university executives in student affairs and enrollment management, regularly advises GoalQuest on new product development, higher education industry trends and student feedback.

“We are extremely excited to introduce this new group of break-through technologies to our clients,” said Peter Tomassi, GoalQuest’s Vice President of Product Development and Editor-in-Chief. “Version 2.5 is the direct result of four years of focus groups, surveys and meaningful collaboration with prospects, students, parents, alumni, educators, administrators and the other audiences who benefit from our programs.”

GoalQuest introduced an adaptive messaging technology in 2000 that has helped schools dramatically increase the effectiveness of their communications to prospects, admitted students, enrolled students, parents of each of these audiences and alumni. Coupled with advanced reporting tools that provide instant access to real-time data, these programs have demonstrated consistently higher rates of user engagement versus traditional communications, such as direct mail, “bulk” e-mail and Web portals.

The Version 2.5 release offers products and services designed to enhance user experience, smooth integration with SIS platforms and provide convenient access to real-time intelligence.

Version 2.5 features include:

UPeers™

UPeers adds a powerful “e-community” to GoalQuest’s suite of tools by allowing users to interact through instant messaging and online activities. Participants can create their own unique public profiles (including an optional photo), share interests, form study groups and plan get-togethers—all in an environment that safeguards privacy.

UPeers connects prospects and students with common academic and career interests—relationships that can translate into a nurturing support community. Since it’s also designed to be an effective social outlet, students have dubbed UPeers “a power tool for making friends” and “a face book on steroids.”

UPeers in the Admissions-Yield Window
Prospects can pre-register for UPeers when visiting campus. GoalQuest provides a school’s admissions office with a computer-kiosk (configured with a digital camera and registration instructions). Visitors enter information they would like to share with other admitted students (should they be accepted) including hobbies and interests, desired major, hometown, etc. Upon admission, future students can immediately begin exploring the UPeers community, adding to or editing the profile they created while visiting.

UPeers in the Retention Window
UPeers lets undergraduates build personal connections they might not otherwise make in traditional campus settings. The service broadens social circles by introducing students who share academic and personal interests. This “e-circle” helps students avoid cliques based on residence hall, ethnicity or socio-economic factors. And, as the diversity of a student’s social network grows, so does the availability of a support network to boost involvement in campus life and, ultimately, the likelihood of graduating.

“Plug-and-Play” SIS Integration
Plug-and-Play moves user data seamlessly to and from existing SIS platforms (such as DataTel, SCT Banner and PeopleSoft) while minimizing the workload of an institution’s IT department. By interfacing with existing institutional systems, Plug-and-Play ensures that GoalQuest program data matches perfectly the data stored on school servers. Moreover, GoalQuest SIS Integration can accept feeds from all major search data sources (including PSAT/SAT, ACT, NRCCUA and CBSS).

Direct Hit: Audience-Tailored Content
GoalQuest Direct Hit allows schools to engage their audiences with content that is customized according to their interests. For example, Direct Hit can utilize data on a prospect’s GPA, intended major or co-curricular passion. Based on a school’s strategic objectives, Direct Hit identifies those prospects with a GPA of 3.5 or higher, a declared interest in engineering and a passion for theater arts. As these prospects engage in their GoalQuest (eCRUIT) program, their Web experience is automatically highlighted with editorial features that appeal to their interests—such as an article on the school’s honors program, a fact-sheet on its engineering-related majors or profiles of campus clubs devoted to the performing arts.

Live Alerts Version 2.5
Live Alerts 2.5 gives clients a powerful “self-publishing” platform that allows them to edit and publish self-contained e-mail publications at any time. Schools can create and deploy an unlimited number of customized messages to highly granular audiences, such as students in certain residence communities or programs, out-of-staters or a host of other specific target segments. By logging into an easy-to-use administrative Web site, clients can instantly author and deliver time-sensitive messages, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

One-Click Service Center With Integrated Knowledge Base
Since their release in 2003, GoalQuest’s Service Centers have proven invaluable tools for schools seeking a single, one-click resource that consolidates questions and feedback from users. The new Service Center release still enables participants to qualify their inquiries by choosing among appropriate categories (such as financial aid or admissions) and to specify how they would like to be contacted (by e-mail or phone).

In addition, the new Service Center release provides a pre-emptive layer of support by automatically answering frequently asked questions, minimizing or eliminating the need for administrators to respond personally to common queries. Moreover, the Service Center can prioritize inquiries from certain groups (such as queries from prospects with high test scores/GPA or queries from undergraduates at risk of attrition).

Survey, Assessment & Self-Discovery Modules
GoalQuest continues to offer schools an unlimited number of real-time surveys that measure factors like prospect interest, yield likelihood and attrition risk. With Version 2.5, clients can now choose from an array of Self-Discovery Modules—interactive self-assessments and thought-provoking questionnaires. Through fun, engaging, Flash-enhanced modules, users can explore career possibilities by taking a personality test, assess their attitudes toward campus diversity, measure their study skills, test their knowledge about alcohol use, gauge their readiness for college-level academics and much more.

Please contact us to learn more about Version 2.5 and its array of features.