Colleges Find Virtual Networking Key to Enrollment Management and Retention Success

GoalQuest Inc. today announced the expansion of UPeers™, an online community platform that enables colleges to provide students with a social and academic network designed to support enrollment yield and retention. UPeers is an integrated companion module to the company's pre-orientation and student success programs, and may also be configured as a stand-alone application. Features include verifiable community membership, "double-blind" secure messaging, profanity filtering/behavior controls, discussion groups and event invitation. In addition, the toolset lets colleges customize user profile options as well as program design. Upcoming releases of UPeers will include a virtual marketplace where students can buy and sell used textbooks and other items.

UPeers is a standard component in several of the company's products, including EYOp™ (Enrollment Yield Optimization), FYRe™ (a student retention and development tool) as well as parent and alumni programs. For example, by combining UPeers with EYOp, a college can quickly launch a supportive online community exclusively to its admitted population. During the period between their admission and matriculation, students can create custom profiles of themselves while interacting with others who share their interests (academic subjects, co-curricular/athletic activities, hobbies, etc.). As an informal pre-orientation, UPeers increases the likelihood that admits will develop substantive bonds with one another, with current undergraduates (such as student ambassadors) and with the institution itself. As users interact, they are also exposed to EYOp's editorial content, which includes orientation and registration details, additional marketing material and pre-college success tips. GoalQuest has shown that the cumulative effect of participation is an increase in enrollment yield - especially among those who are undecided about where they will matriculate.

"With UPeers, we finally have the methodology to study social interaction at a campus-wide level," said Dr. Adam B. Troy, director of research at GoalQuest. "By observing how and when social connections are formed, we begin to distill the important aspects of social involvement as it relates to enrollment and retention. In addition, UPeers provides a catalyst to increase retention by sparking social connections where none might have existed. Prior research has confirmed that social variables influence students' commitments to a school, and the UPeers approach allows us to replicate and extend these findings through a novel digital medium."

According to Andrew Telatovich, associate director of admissions at the University of West Florida, "UPeers gives students the ability to find and contact other students from their area, share their interests with others, and even make a few friends before they enroll in the fall. UPeers definitely adds an appealing feature that entices students to come back into the EYOp program and learn more about the university, while giving them another way to meet incoming students." The school also makes UPeers available to both freshmen and their parents.

The University of Alabama has offered UPeers to first-year students and their parents for the past two academic years. Part of its GoalQuest FYRe program, which includes a range of highly interactive, expert-written student development and success content, UPeers gives students the opportunity to find study partners, make friends and connect with others interested in attending campus functions, such as athletic events and club meetings.

"UPeers provides a great medium for both directed and spontaneous interaction among students," said Dr. Jennifer Jones, director of academic retention at The University of Alabama. "Most importantly, the tool has given our freshman class a secure medium with which to connect to their peers and to the university."

Last spring, Drew University introduced EYOp and UPeers to its admitted student pool. The liberal arts college will soon offer UPeers to its entire undergraduate population, positioning it as an integral component among its strategic retention initiatives.

"We believe the UPeers program has a great deal of potential to positively impact our retention efforts," said Mary Beth Carey, dean of college admissions and financial assistance. "Drew is very excited about the new initiative we are undertaking this fall. It is a natural extension of our other existing successful programs with GoalQuest."

About GoalQuest
GoalQuest, Inc. is a New York City-based software company specializing in innovative solutions for higher education. The Company's proprietary software assists colleges and universities in maximizing recruiting, enrollment yield, retention, parent communication and advancement efforts. Its suite of products, including eCRUIT™, FYRe™, PICS™, AlumNet™ as well as its Universe™ tools such as UPeers™ and UPortfolio™, are based on a revolutionary technology that immerses participants in highly interactive content. The tools provide clients with a full-featured reporting center and automated activity alerts that monitor the real-time interest trajectory of users. GoalQuest is a NASPA strategic partner. For additional information about GoalQuest, please visit the Company's Web site at http://www.goalquest.com or e-mail info@goalquest.com.