PHILADELPHIA, April 16, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- When Haley Gire, Recruitment Manager at the University of Michigan School of Education, began researching CRMs, one of her many goals was to improve response times back to prospective graduate students. In a "secret shopper" program conducted three years ago, she discovered prospects sometimes waited up to two weeks to hear back from their program.
Unlike the more homogenous path through undergraduate admissions, graduate schools tend to be less centralized. CRM can transform stacks of post-it notes and folders into swift dialogue with students, interoffice mail (often insecure) into a streamlined environment where applicant information is all in one place--and easy to find.
"The more I reached out and discovered a knowledge-sharing community in the graduate sector, the more I saw that these were common issues. Where you get into trouble is when you think you are alone," says Gire during her presentation at the recent National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals conference in New Orleans.
The graduate application process can be stressful for applicants, so Gire wanted to ensure that prospective students received the guidance they needed at every stage of their process. "I found it difficult to get started, let alone meet my goals. Like many schools, we didn't have enough IT support, so we were really looking for a partner, which led us directly to TargetX."
"Many graduate schools are duplicating systems from department to department, which wastes time, money and campus resources," says CEO of TargetX, Sasha Peterson. "We're so pleased to provide the guidance and tools that can transform graduate schools productivity, response times and application review--and help them focus on students."
"We're on our second year and students are getting up-to-date information and they are getting it faster. Plus, we're on the same page in the office. Now we just say, 'check the CRM,'" laughs Gire. "We're excited to add two more schools to the program next year. CRM is a really big idea, but the day you get your licenses, you realize that you are not in a paddle boat in the middle of the ocean…the resources are there. TargetX helped us every step of the way."
At this year's annual NAGAP conference, TargetX's Founder Brian Niles also presented "How to Be the Most Productive Person on Your Campus." As a follow up to his session, he will be hosting a graduate admissions focused webinar, "Be More Productive in Recruiting Graduate Students" on Thursday, April 23rd at 2pm. Join Brian Niles, and Haley Gire to learn how the graduate programs at University of Michigan are using the TargetX CRM to build relationships with best-fit potential students and recruit more efficiently. Register for the webinar at: http://www.targetx.com/nagap-2015/
About University of Michigan: Graduate School of Education:
At the University of Michigan School of Education, we consider the development of children and youth as society's most important responsibility. Our young people are the leaders, developers, team members, parents, and citizens of tomorrow. Our mission focuses directly on education practice––in schools, in colleges and universities, in community-school connections, and in education leadership and policy making. Faculty and students collaborate on research and design projects that seek to enhance teaching and learning, as well as to develop educational environments and tools for innovative practice. They seek new solutions to pressing educational problems, such as the need to strengthen teachers' professional preparation, enhance young people's intellectual and social-emotional growth, establish robust urban schools, and support access and equity in higher education. Faculty and students lead major initiatives to promote quality education for a diverse range of students, address persistent inequities tied to divides associated with race and income, improve teaching and learning, and develop young people's scientific, creative, and social capabilities.
About TargetX
Since 1998, TargetX has served as an innovative force in the field of higher education, helping colleges and universities customize and implement effective and comprehensive technology solutions. A leading CRM company, TargetX provides solutions to help college and university professionals build relationships and forge lifelong communications with their most important constituencies. The company's CRM is built on the powerful development platform of Salesforce.com -- the worldwide leader in customer relationship management and a pioneer in cloud computing. With its 16-year reputation for innovative and industry expertise, TargetX has become one of the most trusted CRM providers in higher education.
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