Networking · For UCI Merage · Journey
For the Paul Merage School of Business

The right nudge. The right person. The right time.

Journey learns what each Merage student is building toward, then texts them the one event, introduction, or resource that moves them forward. Personalized matching. Timely nudges. No new app to open.

Matches this quarter
Every event, intro, and connection. Anonymized.
Priya N.RSVP’d to the MCA case night
Diego M.intro’d to a Merage alum at Deloitte
Sofia L.joined the Merage Analytics Club
Marcus A.booked the Career Center
Hana K.signed up for the finance mixer
Ravi P.matched with an executive mentor
Imani R.joined the Product Club
Eli W.connected with a second-year in tech
Tara S.reserved a spot at the employer info session
Noah B.emailed an alum before a case interview
Lena V.joined the FMA
Chris D.met a classmate for a mock interview
Sana M.went to the Beall Center speaker night
Owen R.did a coffee chat with a 2019 grad
Priya N.RSVP’d to the MCA case night
Diego M.intro’d to a Merage alum at Deloitte
Sofia L.joined the Merage Analytics Club
Marcus A.booked the Career Center
Hana K.signed up for the finance mixer
Ravi P.matched with an executive mentor
Imani R.joined the Product Club
Eli W.connected with a second-year in tech
Tara S.reserved a spot at the employer info session
Noah B.emailed an alum before a case interview
Lena V.joined the FMA
Chris D.met a classmate for a mock interview
Sana M.went to the Beall Center speaker night
Owen R.did a coffee chat with a 2019 grad
SepJanJun
Year in review · anonymized cohort
78%
of students engaged with a networking nudge each week
1,840
Introductions made
92%
Event seats filled
260
Alumni mentors matched
640
Career Center bookings
100+
Club sign-ups routed
31%
More alumni who stay engaged

Illustrative readout. Modeled on Journey’s measured engagement rates applied to a Merage-size graduate cohort. Real figures are set with your team during the pilot.

Trusted by universities

University of New Haven
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Michigan
Modo
University of New Haven
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Michigan
Modo

See the student journey

One thread across the quarter.

Journey asks a small question, updates what it knows, and connects the student to the right Merage resource. Sometimes it checks in. Sometimes it proactively surfaces one relevant opportunity.

Interactive demo. The examples are illustrative; Journey sends links and connections, not appointments or actions taken on a student’s behalf.

Week 0 · first touchpoint1 of 3

What do you want this degree to help you do?

Start with the outcome. Journey can get more specific over time.

Week 0 · first touchpoint2 of 3

Where are you aiming?

This gives Journey context for which opportunities are actually relevant.

Week 0 · first touchpoint3 of 3

What should Journey keep in mind?

A little context helps Journey send fewer, better-timed things.

Profile

Start with what the student wants.

Before classes

Journey starts with a small amount of context, then keeps the profile current through the quarter.

JourneySMS
Week 0
got it. you want to find a jobget promotedchange industriesstart something, with a focus on healthcareconsultingtechnologyfinance. i’ll use that to decide what is actually worth sending.
you can change any of this whenever you want.
Check-in

Ask what would help right now.

Week 1

A check-in is student-led. Journey asks one question, then routes the student to the relevant Merage resource.

JourneySMS
what would be most useful this week?
Matched to your path
Merage events
Journey filters the calendar around healthcareconsultingtechnologyfinance and surfaces the relevant event link.
View events →
Merage resource
Executive Mentoring Program
A direct path to Merage’s mentoring program. The student decides whether to explore or apply.
See mentoring →
Merage resource
Career Center
Job-search, coaching, recruiting, and career resources in one place. Journey sends the link; the student takes it from there.
Open Career Center →
Merage resource
Student organizations
A simple route into clubs and communities related to the student’s interests.
See organizations →
Proactive nudge

Surface one thing because it fits.

Week 3

A proactive nudge starts from the student’s profile plus a timely opportunity. No survey is required first.

JourneySMS
you said you’re trying to find a jobget promotedchange industriesstart something in healthcareconsultingtechnologyfinance. there’s a Merage opportunity this week that lines up with that.
here’s the link if you want to take a look.
This week’s match
Relevant Merage opportunity
The match is based on the student’s stated goal, career path, and current timing.
View opportunity →
Goal: Find a jobGet promotedChange industriesStart somethingPath: HealthcareConsultingTechnologyFinanceTiming: this week
Profile refresh

Keep the profile current.

Week 5

Mid-quarter, Journey checks whether the original goal still reflects what the student needs.

JourneySMS
quick refresh. what’s changed since the start of the quarter?
Profile refreshed. Journey keeps the same goal and continues filtering for relevance.
Profile refreshed. Journey will ask for the new industry before the next proactive match.
Profile refreshed. Mentoring is now a higher-priority category for future nudges.
Profile refreshed. Future check-ins can prioritize on-campus support rather than more opportunities.
Check-in

Ask before assuming.

Week 7

This is the other side of the product: a simple question can reveal which kind of support matters now.

JourneySMS
what’s weighing on you most right now?
Career support
Merage Career Center
Journey connects the student to the existing job-search resource instead of trying to become the coach.
See career support →
On-campus support
Program support
Journey points the student back to the appropriate Merage program resource when the issue is academic.
Open Merage →
On-campus support
Student support
Journey does not solve the situation in text. It makes the relevant university support easier to find.
See support →
Human connection
Merage program team
If the student wants a person, Journey routes them to the human channel rather than continuing the automation.
Find the right contact →
Proactive nudge

Use the refreshed profile.

Week 9

Journey can now make a better proactive recommendation because the student has updated what matters.

JourneySMS
one thing that may be worth your attention: Merage’s Executive Mentoring Program is open right now.
based on what you’ve told me this quarter, this looks relevant. here’s the link if you want it.
Matched resource
Executive Mentoring Program
Journey surfaces the opportunity. The student decides whether to learn more or apply.
View program →
Profile refresh

Carry context into the next quarter.

Week 10

The relationship does not reset when the quarter ends. Journey asks what should matter next.

JourneySMS
before next quarter starts, what do you want the most help with?
Next-quarter profile: job search is the priority.
Next-quarter profile: relevant people and events move up.
Next-quarter profile: mentoring opportunities move up.
Next-quarter profile: check-ins and support resources move up.
Quarter summary

Simple by design.

10 weeks

Journey does not need to become the student’s advisor, scheduler, or assistant. It keeps the profile current and makes the right existing resource easier to reach.

2
student check-ins
2
proactive nudges
2
profile refreshes
0
appointments booked by Journey
The pattern: ask when Journey needs new context, proactively nudge when the profile and opportunity clearly match, and always route the student back to Merage’s existing people, programs, and resources.
← Previous
Week 0
Week 1
Week 3
Week 5
Week 7
Week 9
Week 10
Quarter complete

The hidden curriculum

The MBA is on the syllabus. The network isn’t.

Merage runs the events, the clubs, the Career Center, and a network of nearly nineteen thousand alumni. The hard part was never the supply. It’s that the right student rarely hears about the right thing at the moment it would have mattered.

1 in 3

Events students never hear about

The mixer, the info session, the alum in town for one night. It lands in an inbox no one opens, next to forty other emails.

18,577

Alumni who would help, if asked well

The Merage network is enormous and generous. Most students never make the ask, because they don’t know who to ask or how to start.

10 weeks

A quarter moves fast

By the time a student realizes they should have started recruiting, the window has half closed. Timing is the whole game, and no one has time to manage it by hand.

How the matching works

It learns the student, then closes the gap for them.

Not a directory to search. A quiet layer that knows what each student wants and puts the next right move one tap away.

Step 01 · Learn

Understand the goal

In a 90-second text onboarding, each student tells Journey their track, the roles they’re chasing, and where they feel stuck. It maps them to what Merage already offers, from the MCA to the Career Center to the alumni network.

Step 02 · Match

Find the one right thing

Journey watches the calendar of events, employer sessions, club nights, and alumni in the network. It surfaces the single opportunity that fits this student this week, not a feed of everything.

Step 03 · Nudge

Reach them in the window

A short text at the moment they can act. One tap to RSVP, book the Career Center, or send a warm intro. Capped at three nudges a week, so attention is respected, not spent.

In their own thread

Four ways it shows up.

Every one of these is a text, not a portal. Tap through what a Merage student actually sees.

Discover the right event Tue · 2:14 PM
Tuesday · 2:14 PM
saw you’re leaning consulting. the MCA case night is thursday 6pm in SB1, and two firms are sending people. want a seat?
yeah actually. i keep meaning to go to these
done, you’re on the list. one tip: bring a question about their work, not their hiring. it lands better.
noted lol thanks
RSVP confirmed →
Wednesday · 11:02 AM
is there anyone from merage at edwards lifesciences? that’s my dream company
there are three Merage alumni there. one’s a ’20 grad in your exact function and she’s said yes to student chats before.
want me to draft the intro? you just read it, tweak it, send it.
wait yes please
drafted. short, specific, mentions you’re a current Merage student. hit send when you’re ready.
Open the draft →
Monday · 8:00 AM
recruiting for summer roles opens in ~2 weeks. the students who start now are the ones who land. one move this week: book a 30-min career center session.
ok you’re right. can you do it
grabbed you thursday 3pm. i’ll remind you an hour before. between now and then, no homework. just show up.
Thursday · 2:00 PM
career center in an hour, SB2. you’re set. go get clarity.
Thursday · 4:41 PM
i want a real mentor not just a coffee chat. does that exist here
it does. the Executive Mentoring Program pairs you with a business leader for the whole year. applications are open right now.
what’s the catch
no catch. it’s built for exactly what you’re asking. 15-minute application. want the link and a nudge to finish it by sunday?
yes
Start the application →

Beyond graduation

The relationship doesn’t end at commencement.

Merage wants more than students who succeed while they’re here. It wants graduates who thrive, come back, mentor the next class, and make the network stronger. Journey is the thread that stays with them across the whole arc.

1

Student

Matched to the right events, people, and Career Center support from week one.

2

Graduate

Lands the role. The relationship simply keeps going instead of going dark.

3

Engaged alum

A nudge before the reunion, the regional mixer, the alumni event they’d have missed.

4

Mentor

Matched to a current student in their field. One ask, one thread, real impact.

5

Advocate

Refers talent, opens doors, gives back. The brand compounds with every cycle.

The flywheel: engaged alumni mentor and recruit the next class, which produces stronger graduates, which strengthens the Merage brand, which attracts even better students. Journey keeps every stage warm, so the loop actually turns instead of leaking at each handoff.

What a networking layer moves

Connection you can count, not just a calendar.

The metrics a graduate program actually reports on. Illustrative targets, set with your team, tracked against a real cohort.

78%

Weekly engagement

A student acted on a networking nudge in a typical week. Program email lands near 7%.

1,840

Introductions made

Warm intros to alumni, employers, and classmates. Confirmed, not just suggested.

92%

Event seats filled

The right students in the room, matched to what fits their track.

+31%

Alumni still engaged

More graduates who stay in the network a year out, versus the prior cohort.

The engine is already proven.

Networking is a new surface on a platform universities already renew. Here is what the same engine did for engagement and retention at the University of New Haven.

University of New Haven · Pilot Aug 2025 → May 2026

The same matching-and-nudge engine, applied to student life.

74%
Weekly engagement, where campus email lands near 7%. Students actually answer the text.
100+
Confirmed connections to real campus resources across one cohort in one year.
50% → 94%
High-risk first-year retention, before vs. after Journey. The number that triggered an 18× renewal.

“Universities are clumsy with how they communicate. Journey is the first thing I’ve seen that students actually answer.”

Jens Frederiksen · President · University of New Haven

For the graduate programs office

The questions Merage will ask.

How does it know what to match a student to? +

Two inputs. First, a 90-second text onboarding where the student names their track, target roles, and where they feel stuck. Second, a live feed of what Merage already runs: club events, employer sessions, Career Center availability, and the alumni network.

Journey matches the student to the single best next move each week, rather than dumping a calendar on them. The matching improves as students respond, so week ten is sharper than week one.

How does it connect to alumni without creating spam? +

Alumni opt in and set their own availability, exactly as they already do in the Merage mentoring programs. Journey never blasts the network. It surfaces a specific, relevant alum to a specific student and drafts a warm, personalized intro the student sends themselves.

The alum stays in control of how often and for what. The result is more high-quality asks and fewer cold, generic ones, which is what keeps a network generous over time.

Does this replace our Career Center or the clubs? +

No, it feeds them. Journey is the connective layer that gets the right student to the Career Center session, the MCA case night, or the executive mentor they would otherwise have missed. Every path in the demo routes to a real Merage resource.

Your team keeps doing what only people can do. Journey handles the discovery and the timing at a scale no staff calendar can.

How much staff time and setup does it take? +

A pilot cohort takes roughly 8 hours of staff time to stand up, most of it documenting the resources you already publish so Journey can route to them. Students get texts, so there is nothing to install and no new login. Deployment runs about four weeks from first call.

Ongoing, the load is light. Your team reviews a short signal queue and makes the warm handoffs that need a human.

How is student data and FERPA handled? +

Journey is FERPA-ready and processes student data only under a written agreement with UCI, for the educational purpose you authorize, operating as a school official with a legitimate educational interest. SOC 2 certification is in progress.

Staff see what a student needs, not private message transcripts. We will walk your counsel and IT team through the data-processing agreement and controls before anything is signed.

Can we measure it, including the after-graduation part? +

Yes. Journey reports on engagement, introductions made, events filled, Career Center bookings, and club sign-ups by cohort. For the alumni arc, it tracks mentor matches, alumni event attendance, and continued engagement a year out, the leading indicators of a network that compounds.

We set the specific targets with your team at the start of the pilot, so you are reporting on numbers you chose, not ones we picked.

Turn Merage into one connected network.

A short walkthrough, a live look at the matching engine, and a straight answer on setup, data, and the alumni lifecycle. We reply within one business day.