Today, GoalQuest Inc. announced the successful completion of the inaugural year of the GoalQuest Internship (GQI), a co-curricular program designed to give college students hands-on experience in marketing, public relations, online community development and Web-based market research. The program, which the company began offering to clients last fall, provides selected interns an opportunity to create marketing campaigns that promote usage of the FYRe™ student development suite at their school.

As part of their responsibilities, interns work as community moderators in UPeers™, the online community tool designed to connect undergraduates academically and socially, and design promotional materials, such as flyers and t-shirts, to encourage participation in FYRe on campus. Interns also complete projects to demonstrate their understanding of marketing principles by writing press releases, conducting campus focus groups and making corporate-level presentations to GoalQuest executives.

In addition, interns compete with other interns from around the country for paid summer internships at the company's New York City headquarters, where they assist GoalQuest staff in a broad range of areas, including product development, marketing, finance and technology. Interns are also eligible to win a trip to Europe. This year's winners included students from the University of West Georgia, the University of Scranton, Valdosta State University and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

"GoalQuest's FYRe module has been an integral part of our freshman retention program," said Dr. Kurt J. Keppler, vice president for student affairs at Valdosta State University. "A major key to its success has been the utilization of student interns. The enthusiasm of our three interns has provided contagious enthusiasm to the faculty involved with the program as well as our targeted new students. The interns' ability to create interest in the various contests and surveys has led to increased participation and awareness on campus."

According to Dr. Scot A. Lingrell, associate vice president for enrollment management at the University of West Georgia, "We have had four very hard-working interns who have not only gotten a great internship experience, but have also helped us increase the participation in our programs by two or three times what we had last year without interns. Interns know how to entice other students to engage in the program, and they know what contests will work. The curriculum developed by GoalQuest is excellent, and has allowed our interns to parlay this into academic credit. The company does a great job of managing the interns to help them gain real-world marketing firm experience while at the same time understanding the unique nuances of the higher education and campus culture."

GoalQuest plans to incorporate its internship program into several of its other offerings later this year, including its enrollment yield and graduate student retention programs.

To participate in the fall 2007 GoalQuest Internship Program, contact GoalQuest at 212-868-3500 x108 (Tracy Howe).