According to a 2015 study by the National Student Clearinghouse, less than 53 percent of students who enrolled in college in the fall of 2009 completed a four-year degree within six years of enrollment.
, a hyperlocal academically oriented social network is trying to do something about that.
The Chicago-based startup helps students connect with peers taking the same classes they are to crowdsource answers and easily form study groups. It officially launched last week at Pasadena City College in California.
Founder Marquett Burton, who has a background in teaching as well as policy work, said the philosophy behind Fletch is that forming meaningful relationships with fellow students is key to student retention. To keep students engaged with the platform, it's also designed to serve a social function as a school-wide message board of sorts.
The idea for Fletch came about when Burton reflected on his own experience of being overwhelmed by the transition from being a high schooler and community college student to becoming an undergraduate at Berkeley.
“I was in a lecture hall with over 300 students, and my first semester there — after having sailed through school my whole life — I was having some major troubles,” said Burton. “The five kids sitting around you change every class, and you don’t get to know anyone. You just really feel insignificant and kind of like an ant.”
Required to join a study group by a fraternity he joined, Burton found that regularly meeting with other students to discuss course material helped him both with improving his grades and with getting to know like-minded individuals. To Burton, this success story stands out in large part because his closest childhood friend, although equally academically gifted, failed to form those connections in college and ended up dropping out.
Fletch’s interface draws inspiration from popular social apps like Instagram, with a five option menu on the bottom and a “publish” button prominently featured in the middle. School-wide posts and messages from relevant courses and study groups are displayed in the app’s home screen feed, as well as under their respective tabs. To ensure privacy, the app only uses first names, school and major information and a single profile picture to identify students.
Although the app looks simple from the outside, its inner workings are anything but. The app’s backend is configured to process user generated content to identify students at risk of dropping out, and target them with push notifications about academic enhancement services like workshops, advisor sessions and tutoring. This automated backend is a huge boon in selling the app to colleges, said Burton, because solutions that require administrators to do the work run the risk of becoming neglected. He also emphasizes the app’s focus on engaging students as a major selling point.
Proudly headquartered in Chicago, Burton said his company has been fortunate to be nurtured by the Chicago tech community from its first app iteration as the Smarty Pants app to its first major sale. In particular, he cites mentorship from Impact Engine — an 1871-based social impact-centered investment fund — and the opportunity to be a member of DVX Lab’s inaugural class.
Fletch is currently in the planning stages of a spring pilot with the DuPage-based DeVry Education Group.
The platform is licensed annually to colleges who in turn make the app available to their students for free. Having seen the product in action and received feedback from early users, Fletch is now raising money to expand its Chicago team with two business development staffers.
Images via Fletch.
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