GoalQuest, a software company providing automated, intelligence-based enrollment management tools, initially worked with UMaine to increase the yield of newly admitted students, engaging this audience in an interactive “pre-orientation” program delivered via the company’s unique suite of tools. The program (known as EYOp™, for Enrollment Yield Optimization) worked to mitigate the effects of common yield impediments—such as “summer melt” and multiple deposits—while providing early indicators to help UMaine anticipate and manage its incoming freshman class.

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal (“College Bound,” Technology Journal, 8 April 2004) highlighted the advantages the GoalQuest tools have given UMaine over rival schools, likening the programs to a “virtual admissions officer.”

Each GoalQuest product utilizes a proprietary messaging technology that deploys “nuggets” of information and engaging activities to a school’s target audience, while monitoring engagement in that content over time. GoalQuest’s Enrolligence™ index then delivers real-time engagement data, giving schools unprecedented intelligence with which to make informed decisions. This dynamic knowledge base works to impact acceptance and enrollment yield, student attrition, alumni development and other critical enrollment and development metrics. The company’s core products include the eCRUIT™, EYOp™, FYRe™, PICS™ and AlumNet™ programs, which dramatically improve communication effectiveness and efficiency with school constituents.

MAINEadvice, the University’s eCRUIT program that targets prospective applicants, has demonstrated a significant impact on both application quantity and overall diversity. The program’s Web-based sessions engage prospects with highly relevant content, such as college selection strategies, financial aid tips and practical advice on creating successful applications. “Although there’s no single factor that encourages a student to apply to or attend a university,” remarked John Beacon, Dean of Enrollment Management, “some things exert a stronger influence than others. MAINEadvice is one of them.”

Data gathered by UMaine during its summer orientation shows that 21% of the new students who participated in MAINEadvice said their decision to attend was influenced “very much” by the program; 47% said they were “somewhat influenced.” Parents offered their perspective as well. Of the 42% aware of their students’ participation, 34% said the program influenced their students’ decision “very much.” “This is solid data,” said Beacon. “It’s clear these are the kinds of messages that aren’t turning students off.”

The University of Maine continues to take advantage of GoalQuest’s new program features—including integrated Live Alerts, narrowcast time-sensitive announcements and custom survey and assessment modules—to help assess the “fit” of prospects and the yield likelihood of admitted students. According to Peter Tomassi, GoalQuest’s Vice President of Product Development and Editor-in-Chief, “UMaine’s strategic enrollment objectives were a perfect match for our tools. The ability of our editorial and research teams to customize the content and speak in an engaging voice to the target audience certainly added to our synergies.”

About the University of Maine
A center for learning, discovery and service to the public, the University of Maine is the state's principal research and graduate institution. As the flagship campus in the University of Maine System, UMaine awards more undergraduate and graduate degrees than any other higher education institution in the state. Established as a Land Grant University under the Morrill Act in 1862, UMaine was accorded Sea Grant College status by the Federal Government in 1980. Today it offers nearly 160 academic programs of study at the undergraduate and graduate levels. With a total enrollment of 11,222 undergraduate and graduate students, the campus consists of more than 200 buildings on 600 acres in Orono, Maine.

About GoalQuest
GoalQuest, Inc. is a New York City-based software company specializing in innovative solutions for the education market. Since its inception in 2000, GoalQuest's proprietary software tools have assisted colleges and universities across the country in their recruiting, enrollment yield, retention, parent and alumni communication efforts. GoalQuest's proprietary Enrolligence™ index delivers real-time engagement data to schools, providing them with unprecedented communication intelligence. NASPA (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators), the nation’s leading organization for student affairs administration, policy and practice, recently approved GoalQuest’s suite of retention and student assessment tools. For additional information about GoalQuest, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.goalquest.com.