Building long-term campus communities

University Business, April, 2005 by Julie A. Varughese

More than ever, IHEs are beginning to understand how student communities contribute to the well-being and satisfaction levels of the student population. NASPA and GoalQuest have introduced Upeers, a "matchmaking" service in the broadest possible sense--its focus is on matching would-be friends, study partners and those who share co-curricular interests.

GoalQuest believes that students who join a UPeers community and build a virtual social network will also be more likely to be retained by that school Although UPeers users can choose who they communicate with, the product limits interaction and ancillary content to students at each particular school, and promotes participation in offline events and activities to build a sense of campus community and identity. This is different from other digital facebook and e-community services, which typically are not sanctioned by colleges and universities. GoalQuest plans to bundle UPeers with its FYRe (Freshman Year Retention) tool, an interactive web-based program that helps students make the transition to college and enhance their personal and academic skills during their first year and beyond. UPeers is also available as a stand-alone service. For more information, visit www.goalquest.com.