LASPAU's New Online Services for Grantees

his summer, LASPAU will launch LASPAUConnect, an online system that will provide grantees with access to information through personalized webpages. The goal of the new system is to aid the flow of information between grantees and the LASPAU staff members who support those grantees throughout their programs. Grantees will be able to log onto their individual pages to receive timely information about all aspects of their programs as a supplement to their regular communications with LASPAU staff.

The personalized webpages will be updated with information relevant to each stage of a grantee’s program. During the university application phase, items such as a document checklist—which indicates which application documents LASPAU has received from the grantee and which are still pending—will appear on the page. Once the grantee is enrolled at a university, the application-phase items will be replaced with academic program information such as progress reports, current visa status, and recent financial disbursements. Each grantee will also be able to update his or her personal data, which includes all contact information, thus streamlining LASPAU’s data entry processes.

LASPAU decided to build the online system when Apply Yourself, the company that developed LASPAU’s customized online application for the Fulbright Faculty Development Program, was acquired by Hobsons, an international company that specializes in enrollment and recruitment technologies for colleges and universities. Since December 2007, LASPAU has been working closely with project managers from Hobsons to adapt its enrollment communications tools to best serve LASPAU-administered grantees.