With the launch of a new, interactive Internet site, UC Davis' admissions office will try to keep up with the Web savvy of today's high school students and recruit them to the university at the same time.
Undergraduate Admissions -- with technical support from the Offices of Public Communications and Information and Educational Technology -- will soon introduce a personalized Web site targeted to admitted students. Efforts are currently focused on students who have declared a major in the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies.
The Provost's Office awarded a $300,000 grant to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs to support the e-cruiting project.
Participating offices received the go-ahead for the site in October and since then have been working at a feverish clip to launch the site by March 1. That's the day that most high school seniors and transfer students should learn whether they've been admitted to UC Davis. They have until May 1 and June 1, respectively, to make their decision to accept the campus's offer.
Next month, admitted students will receive an e-mail from HArCS Dean Elizabeth Langland congratulating them and directing them to the site. When students reach the site, they will be greeted by name. Photos and animation will direct them to find out why a UC Davis education will be "challenging," "enriching," "personal," "relevant" and "exciting."
Keeping it teen friendly
In collaboration with IET staff, electronic communications specialist Craig Hillis has been working on building the technical components of the site and creating its design. To keep it teen friendly, he's checked out other youth-oriented sites, like those for Gap Online, Ally Mc-Beal and the on-line magazine "Chickclick."
"I'm working on the site almost all the time. So is everyone else," Hillis said. "It's a lot of hard work."
If the site launch is delayed beyond March 1, its focus will be expanded to prospective students beginning their college search.
The idea for the site came at a 1999 higher-education marketing conference attended by Leslie Campbell, the senior associate director of admissions, and Associate Director Alice Hom.
Conference organizers focused on the need for universities to reach beyond the traditional ways of recruiting students -- posters, mailers and shiny pamphlets -- and the benefits of using the Internet.
"This is the technology that the kids are using," Hom said. "We thought, let's also use this technology to shape and communicate our messages in a better way."
Courses are academically rigorous
One message the new Internet site will convey is that UC Davis' HArCS programs are academically rigorous ones. Another is that the Davis community is an exciting place to attend college.
HArCS majors were chosen as the test market for the Web site after the results of a Student Affairs Research and Information study showed that these admitted students do not decide to attend UC Davis in as high numbers as students in other fields. Though the campus is well known for its agriculture, science and engineering programs, "It's been a hidden secret that we have such strong (humanities, arts, and cultural studies) programs," Hom said.
The SARI survey also showed that many students do not know much about Davis. They know what it is close to -- Lake Tahoe, San Francisco and Sac-ramento -- but not what amenities the town and campus themselves offer.
Months after the site is launched, project leaders will evaluate it to see whether it did indeed produce results -- more students enrolling in HArCS.
Students in Isabel Montanez's Honors Challenge class will help Web developers by studying other similar college sites. They'll talk to students and parents about what attracted them to each site and how helpful each site was.
In the long term, Campbell and Hom hope to expand their recruiting project into other schools and divisions in the university. "Everyone is recognizing the Web is the way to go," Campbell said.