Saint Mary's College has joined the growing number of colleges and universities who have adapted to the age of the Internet by launching a networking site for accepted students this year.
The designing and building of the "I'm Saint Mary's" Web site began in June of 2008, and the site went live Dec. 15 at the same time as the first round of acceptance letters were sent to early decision applicants.
The idea for the Web site was suggested in a discussion regarding ways to increase the number of students who enroll for the fall, or yield of the accepted student population, Assistant Director of Admissions Stephanie Brown said.
"The purpose of 'I'm Saint Mary's' is to give accepted students the opportunity to build their own Saint Mary's community and become part of the existing SMC community before they ever arrive on campus. This, in turn, will help these students to determine if Saint Mary's is truly the best 'fit' for them as they make their final college decision," Brown said.
As of April 7, the Web site's homepage - iam.saintmarys.edu - stated that 394 students participate as members of the networking site. So far, these students have collectively uploaded 1,672 pictures, posted 11,765 notes and set 91 goals for themselves.
"I think the most popular part of the Web site are the discussion boards. Originally our thought was to have our interns create discussions so the students could participate in the site. However, the accepted students have been the ones to create most of the discussion topics," Brown said.
Discussions include a wide variety of topics, she said.
"They have started discussions on anything from who is definitely coming to Saint Mary's next year, to who is looking for a roommate, what sports they are interested in at the collegiate level and even how to make the adjustment from the California climate to the Northern Indiana climate," Brown said.
There are current Saint Mary's students who are involved with the Web site, as well as administrators. The students' duties include addressing questions students have about the Saint Mary's community and student life. There are four students who write weekly blogs about campus life to give the students a glimpse about daily life at Saint Mary's.
"The Web site is a product of Education Dynamics - formerly known as Goal Quest - that is a company that specializes in enrollment management products for institutions of higher education," Brown said.
Education Dynamics currently lays claim to helping over 1,800 higher education institutions including the University of South Carolina, New York University and Columbus College of Art and Design.
While the Web site is meant to allow students to form a flourishing bond with one another, it is limited to accepted students for the incoming class of 2013.
"The 'I'm Saint Mary's' site is exclusively for accepted students. Once they have arrived on campus in the fall and get settled in to daily college life, they will no longer have access to the site. Each year the site will be limited to the next accepted class," Brown said.
In order to limit the access to the Web site, the admissions department sends the company a weekly updated list of accepted students, along with their first and last names and e-mail addresses which grant students access to the Web site.
Although the date for current accepted students to transition out of the network is not yet determined, those who work with the site are planning ahead to make the transition smooth.
"When that [transition] time comes, we will begin preparing the site for the next accepted class of 2014, and we will be encouraging these students to begin their own SMC social networks on other sites such as Facebook or MySpace in order to keep this established community going strong," Brown said.
It is too early to determine the effect of the Web site on enrollment for next year, Brown said, but the Department of Admissions should have a definite idea in late May to early June.
