CSUMentor's Second Edition Ready to Assist Students
Activity includes more than 618,000 visitors and 36,000 applications in first year.
The second edition of CSUMentor, the online system that helps students and their families plan and apply for admission to the California State University, has been expanded and is now operational and accessible at www.csumentor.edu.
Use of all the site's services is free.
The original CSUMentor edition was established Nov. 1, 1997.
In the first year, more than 618,000 students and counselors visited the CSUMentor site, more than 55,000 students established academic portfolios, and more than 36,000 students applied for admission through online and downloadable applications, accounting for about 15 percent of the CSU application pool.
The initial filing period began this year on Nov. 1, and usage has more than tripled last year's figures.
In the first four days of November more than 1,500 applications were submitted, compared to less than 500 during the same time period last year.
"The system has been very successful in helping the CSU to reach out to students at an early stage in their academic careers, and in helping them reach out to us," said Allison Jones, CSU senior director of access and retention.
"CSUMentor will continue to play an important role in early outreach activities to students enrolled in K-12 while adding outreach opportunities for transfer students, graduate students and adult learners."
The latest version of the website, designed by XAP Corporation, contains many new features including:
- Application redirection, which forwards a student's application automatically to an alternate-choice campus should the applicant not be admitted to his or her first-choice campus
- An academic planner designed specifically to assist students transferring from community colleges to the CSU
- Modules to help graduate students select campuses and programs suited to their need
- Assistance in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the primary financial aid form for college-bound students
These new additions complement updated features from the original CSUMentor version, which includes online admission applications, multimedia campus tours, student-campus matching assistance, an academic planner for high school students, free e-mail accounts, and assistance in understanding financial aid eligibility and opportunities.
Although the website appeals largely to prospective undergraduates, features such as an online graduate student application make the site useful for a broader spectrum of students.
In fact, the age of visitors creating student accounts ranged this past year from 9 to 68.
"We're extremely pleased with the interest students have shown in using this Internet technology," says Russ Utterberg, senior director of strategic projects for the CSU.
"It has been much higher than any of us expected and validates that this type of website can be successfully used by a wide diversity of audiences."
XAP Corporation, a Los Angeles headquartered firm, is expanding the "Mentor" vision to other systems and states.
Currently, the company is working on Mentor systems for independent college associations in California, Texas, Illinois and Massachusetts with the goal of creating a national database whereby students from across the U.S. and abroad can easily and conveniently seek out higher education opportunities.
