GoalQuest Inc. and The University of Scranton today announced the successful implementation of GoalQuest FYRe™ (Freshman Year Retention), a Web-based program designed to help freshmen transition to college, connect with support resources and excel academically.

Known to Scranton students as The Royal Way (Surviving and Thriving in Your First Year), the program took its title from the Jesuit institution’s athletic nickname, The Royals, and from a central campus walkway. The Royal Way uses GoalQuest's proprietary adaptive messaging system to reach out proactively to students with informative content, lifestyle-oriented articles and interactive self-assessment activities. The program, which debuted last fall, provides helpful information about common issues faced by first-year students. At the same time, it enables administrators to identify students who may need help with a wide range of academic and personal issues.

"The University of Scranton demonstrates a genuine concern for the well-being and development of our students, which is one of the reasons we enjoy such consistently high retention and graduation rates, " said Mary Kay Aston, enrollment management information coordinator. "We looked to GoalQuest to improve on our current success by helping us to make the many services and opportunities we provide to students more accessible. The Royal Way also allows us to give targeted attention to specific students, such as commuters or students in at-risk populations. In addition, GoalQuest FYRe's reporting tools allow us to see who is participating in the program and to what extent, something we were not able to measure in the past."

According to Peter Kraft, GoalQuest chief executive officer and co-founder, "We are extremely pleased to be working with The University of Scranton. That the University chose FYRe despite its already solid retention record reflects the ability of our tools to continue growing retention even among a satisfied student body."

Highlights of Scranton's FYRe program include:

• 25 In-Depth Topics – Featured subjects include: time management, college-level writing, health and wellness, exam prep, choosing a major, information literacy and money management. Each topic highlights the many support resources available at Scranton and offers advice on how best to use them. The Royal Way also provides links to qualified external sites.
• Advanced Survey and Assessment – Designed to help gauge student satisfaction or assess risk, identifying individual and aggregate trends.
• GoalQuest Heuristics™ – Including an interactive time management calculator and personality/learning styles self-assessment modules.
• UPeers™ – An online community with an academic twist, UPeers lets first-year Scranton students interact virtually, find study partners and participate in group discussions.
• GoalQuest Enrolligence™ (Enrollment Intelligence) Alerts – Allow academic advisors, administrators and other university staff members to receive real-time "event" notification as students progress through the program. For example, the system can notify an advisor when students indicate that they are having trouble managing their course load. Or the system might alert Scranton’s Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence of students who are struggling with essay-type exams. These alerts can be customized to track particular groups – such as athletes, conditional admits, high achievers or historically underrepresented students.

About The University of Scranton
Nestled in the Pocono Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania, The University of Scranton is a Catholic and Jesuit university that is nationally recognized for its academic excellence, exceptional sense of community and state-of-the art campus. Founded in 1888, Scranton has more than 38,000 graduates, with a current population of approximately 4,700 students, including adult, part-time and graduate students. Our professors are known for their excellence in teaching and for the personal attention they give to students. Of 259 faculty members, 86 percent hold doctoral or other terminal degrees in their field.

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™ and 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.