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Coordinator for alumni student recruiting
IUB Office of Admissions
For any number of students, first contact with a college or university representative at a college fair can be the beginning of a lifelong relationship with that school. The IU Bloomington Office of Admissions makes contact with thousands of prospective students every year through high school visits, "Preview Nights" in various communities, counselor appointments, campus tours, college fairs and direct mailings. Even so, high travel costs and the large number of recruitment activities across the nation prevent the IUB Admissions Office from sending representatives to every event. For this reason, the university is enlisting the aid of alumni and others all over the world who are interested in serving.
Student recruitment isn't an activity limited to alumni‹current faculty, staff, students and even parents have served as ambassadors for IU in recruitment activities.
On the IUB campus, a program to train a corps of volunteer alumni student recruiters was launched by Mary Ellen Anderson, acting director of admissions, her associate director, Jane Gantz, and Eric Behrman, club director of the IU Alumni Association. The program has grown so quickly since its inception in 1994 that I was hired by the admissions staff last fall to coordinate this effort.
Last semester, IUB was represented solely by alumni at more than 100 college fairs. These fairs brought in around 4,200 names to the IU contact system. In addition, the Office of Admissions expanded the Bloomington on-campus visit options and provided tours to over 5,000 people during the fall semester alone.
It has been wonderful to work with people who are genuinely interested in serving but can't necessarily commit to large amounts of time. The two to three hours that it takes to staff a college fair is fun, interesting and is a significant contribution to the future of IU.
Volunteers assist the Office of Admissions by representing IUB at various recruitment events and activities and by identifying and maintaining contact with prospective students from their communities. The volunteers stay informed of basic admissions information, participate in alumni student recruitment programs and activities, and provide feedback to IU regarding materials and activities.
"We envision this program becoming a cornerstone of our admissions efforts, " reports Don Hossler, IUB vice chancellor for enrollment management. "Prospective students and their parents view alumni as one of the most trusted and useful sources of information about a campus. And well they should. IU alums know what the campus is 'really like' and can describe their experience from an insider's point of view. "
So can faculty and staff. The Office of Admissions and Alumni Association provide training workshops (both on campus and off-site), as well as resource materials to volunteer recruiters. Future endeavors include identifying recruiting markets which have previously been untapped by IU.
If you have suggestions or would like to join our volunteer corps, please
contact me through this Web site:
http://www.indiana.edu/~iualumsr
(Editor's note: Stewart is currently a doctoral student at the School of Music in Bloomington)
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