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SVSU recruiters are competing harder than ever with other universities to attract students
February 11, 2008 —
People tend to think of college recruitment as mainly representatives visiting high schools and trying to attract students with brightly colored signs and a wide array of free, buit mostly useless useless trinkets. Recruitment, however, is a much more complicated process.
This past fall semester brought in more freshmen than ever before, but that fact ought not be shocking. SVSU's student population has grown by 23 percent in the last 10 years, and 70 percent of the campus has been built in that same time frame.
Recruitment director and SVSU alumnus Jim Dwyer attributes much of SVSU's increased population to the president's vision for the school, its reputation, its infrastructure, its opportunities, and its housing.
On March 13 2007, many Michigan high school students took the ACT for the first time ever. This, along with the housing additions and upward inclination of students to live on campus, contributes to the 20 percent increase in applications to SVSU from last year. Lately, recruiters have been working harder than ever to attract students to the ever-growing campus, from increasing the amount of scholarships available and open houses to going through complete 8-step plans for follow-up with interested potential students.
Dwyer believes that personalization is key to winning most students to a school. The specific academic programs and large number of clubs and associations, including athletics and Greek life, offered on campus are easily matched to most any student.
"The best match is the most important thing in deciding on a college," Dwyer said.
When asked about the "unofficial cap" of 10,000 students for SVSU, Dwyer responded that simply put, no one knows. It's up to the infrastructure of the school - whether there will be enough housing and classes available. He claimed that the question really could not be answered, because it was more of a "year-to-year evaluation of what we can and cannot do."
SVSU recruiter and alumna Krista St. Aubin is a member of the "prospect" team in the recruiting department. She does a lot of hands-on recruiting, which involves going out to high schools and giving presentations, as well as setting up information tables to keep students well-informed about their options. She has observed that the most important aspects of a school in students' minds tend to be the availability of a specific academic major, cost, scholarships, and class size. She also noted that SVSU receives a lot of transfers from other, larger schools because of the more studious environment. The ultimate goal of all recruiters is for the students to be successful and go on to do what they want to do in life.