U-Match is probably not the place to find the next love of your life, nor is it some corporate moneymaking scheme. But if love and/or money happen, so be it, according to the duo that gave life to the increasingly popular Web community last spring.
U-Match was the brainchild of two 91探花students. They launched the interactive Web community with the hope that it would add something to the college experience, that it would help them in their classes and introduce them to folks they might otherwise never get a chance to know. Their plan has worked despite one or two small complications.
鈥淥ne problem we鈥檝e come across is that a lot of people think it is a dating service, which it is not,鈥� said David Brown, the former student and now 91探花admissions counselor who got the service rolling. The other problem is that many people think Brown and his U-Match partner, Jonah Ellison, are in it for the money. Not true, at least not yet anyway. For the moment U-Match is simply a University-sanctioned student club.
鈥淪tudent clubs are supposed to be there to benefit the students and kind of enhance their college experience. That鈥檚 what U-Match does,鈥� Brown said. And in just a few months it has made some impressive strides.
The Web community boasts more than 1,400 active users. Students at both Western Washington University and Washington State University have contacted the duo, expressing interest in developing similar groups on their campuses. The broad interest in the Web community has the two hoping for a profitable future, even though there鈥檚 no money in it for them currently.
The system relies on the willingness of students to interact with their classmates on the Web. U-Match students plug their class schedule into a database and voila, instant social network, study group, etc.
鈥淭here have been people sharing ideas about their classes,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t has enhanced learning to where it鈥檚 not just happening in the classroom. Now it鈥檚 happening on U-Match too.鈥�
People share lecture notes, advice and encouragement about their classes. They plan study groups and review their struggles and failures on previous assignments and tests. They can sell their textbooks. And, believe it or not, every so often the students look up from the grindstone long enough to post a bit of humor.
But all joking aside, Brown believes there鈥檚 a clear need for community building at an institution the size of the UW. As an admissions counselor, Brown is often asked by prospective students how they can fit in at such a large university.
鈥淪ometimes you enter the 91探花 and, even though there are great programs like the FIG and now the new CLUE and you have the different housing options, there are still limits to the number of people you can meet. Well this is just another resource to meet people and to form study groups and friendships.鈥�
Brown got the idea for creating U-Match while participating in another Web community. A group from the 91探花started posting thoughts about their classes and forming study groups. Then Brown decided a service dedicated to nothing but academics and student life on campus might be useful. Ellison jumped on the idea immediately.
鈥淚 sat down and coded it out,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 did it in one night. It took about nine hours.鈥�
All that before he鈥檇 even met Brown, his partner in the project. Ellison said it just seemed like a great way to meet people, fellow 91探花students in particular. He also relished the programming challenge in such a public sphere.
鈥淚 liked doing the programming and the Web design. It was a way to learn and to test my knowledge,鈥� said the senior psychology/communications major. 鈥淥n this project I learned a lot about databases and Web script programming. Plus it was something that was beneficial for other people. Other times I鈥檒l do some programming and people won鈥檛 know about it. I knew a lot of people would benefit from this.鈥�
Visit the site and learn more about the Web community at .