The University of Rhode Island, which debuted a unique first-year retention program with GoalQuest last August, announced plans to enhance its first-year experience course materials with an advanced version of the Company’s Web-based FYRe™ (Freshman Year Retention) program.

URI partnered with GoalQuest in 2003 to enhance its retention efforts using the Company’s custom-built Web-based solutions. This pilot program, branded Rhode Rules, offered multimedia content to engage freshmen on critical topics, such as adjusting to college life, improving academic skills and planning personal and academic goals. The program utilized GoalQuest’s FYRe product, designed to increase the chances of student success while providing faculty with a real-time view of student participation.

The new program, URI 101e, will support instructors of the University’s mandatory URI 101 course with Web-based features like automated progress reminders, interactive self-assessment activities, assignment submission tools and narrowcast messaging with which instructors can target specific groups of students. URI 101e will launch in June, as part of freshman orientation and continue through April of 2005.

According to Jayne Richmond, URI’s Dean of University College and Special Programs, “While our initial deployment of GoalQuest supported a range of freshman initiatives, we soon realized that the program was extremely well-suited to consolidate and standardize the content of our existing URI 101 curriculum. In addition to providing the primary course material for URI 101, which runs through mid-November, we’ll continue to offer timely, relevant content by expanding URI 101e into the spring semester.”

URI 101e gives faculty unprecedented information about student reactions to and progress in this course. URI 101e will take advantage of GoalQuest’s Enrolligence™ index, which delivers real-time engagement data to help schools make more informed decisions. Colleges and universities across the country use the Enrolligence knowledge-base to impact acceptance and enrollment yield, student attrition, alumni relations and other key enrollment and development metrics.

“We are extremely pleased to integrate FYRe more deeply into URI’s first-year experience efforts,” said Tracy Howe, GoalQuest’s Executive Vice President of Sales. “URI 101e will become the first-ever retention curriculum that incorporates real-time, Web-based intelligence to support campus decision-makers. The expansion of our relationship with URI demonstrates the real, quantifiable value our programs bring. By replacing expensive student assessment programs and textbooks, FYRe allows budget-conscious schools to do more with fewer resources. In addition to providing faculty with a powerful course tool, the program will continue to offer a confidential environment through which freshmen can connect to the University on personal issues and academic concerns.”

About the University of Rhode Island
The University of Rhode Island is a public 4-year university. Its main campus is located in Kingston, Rhode Island, with three other campuses located throughout the state. URI enrolls 10,320 undergraduates, 3,115 graduate students and has a teaching faculty of 615. URI prides itself on offering a comprehensive learning community with a small school flavor. URI is the principal public research and graduate institution in the State of Rhode Island with responsibilities for expanding knowledge, for transmitting it and for fostering its application. Its status as a land grant, sea grant and urban grant institution highlights its traditions of natural resource, marine, and urban related research. With undergraduate and graduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences and focus programs in the areas of marine and environmental studies; health; children, families, and communities; and enterprise and advanced technology, the University strives to meet the rapidly changing needs of the State, the country and the world.

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 for more informed decisions. NASPA (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators), the nation’s leading organization for student affairs administration, policy and practice, recently endorsed 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.