The University has implemented two versions of WMU Insider. One version delivers weekly messages to freshmen, addressing issues that affect first-year students as they adjust to their new surroundings. Simultaneously, freshman parents receive key information about the first year experience that aids them in supporting and initiating a dialog with their new college student.

“We recognized that retention efforts need not only be focused on students, but also on their parents,” said Vernon Payne, Associate Vice President of Student Affairs. “GoalQuest’s technology has allowed us to deliver a program to both audiences, keeping freshmen informed about resources available to them on campus and sparking positive conversations about their WMU experience with their parents.”

GoalQuest’s FYRe ™ and PICS™ technologies deliver custom written and designed programs that address each audience appropriately. Freshmen receive valuable information about treating homesickness, excelling academically and dealing with troublesome roommates, while parents get helpful hints on how to reassure their students and support their activities at WMU.

“WMU realized an essential part of retaining freshmen is building a strong parent alliance,” said GoalQuest CEO, Peter Kraft. “With this powerful new communications vehicle, WMU is proving to be the vital parent partner that they promised to be when the recruitment process began.”

GoalQuest’s product suite addresses each fundamental communication window in higher education. In addition to retention and parent communication, GoalQuest’s Web-based tools include highly customized programs for the recruitment and yield periods, as well as programs that encourage alumni participation and fundraising.

“We saw a tremendous value in the intelligence that we were able to gather on each student. What's more, the GoalQuest team demonstrated they understood WMU and our challenges, and they remain a crucial extension of our internal team here on campus,” added Payne.

Since WMU strives to raise freshman GPAs, one objective of WMU Insider is to get more freshmen to remain on campus in residence halls their sophomore year. Institutional research has shown that on campus residents have higher GPAs than those who reside off campus and commute. WMU can use the programs to positively reinforce the idea of living on campus, inform students of their housing options and gauge interest in campus life for the upcoming year.

Enrolligence™, the real-time intelligence component built into each GoalQuest program, will allow WMU to not only monitor student awareness, but also receive information from those students who may be at risk. This type of engagement data will provide WMU with unprecedented communication intelligence, resulting in more informed decisions and awareness of previously ignored at-risk students.

About Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University is a nationally recognized student-centered research institution with an enrollment of nearly 28,000. Focused on delivering high-quality undergraduate instruction, advancing its growing graduate division and fostering significant research activities, WMU is one of only 102 public universities placed in the highest category of doctoral-research universities by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. It has been named one of the nation's top 100 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. It offers 151 undergraduate programs, 70 master’s programs, two specialist programs and 30 doctoral degree programs.