Engineering School uses video to recruit

High tech for students in the Engineering School is nothing new. But now the school is trying to bring that same technology to prospective students. Students accepted to the Engineering School will get a sneak preview of what life is like on campus -- at least from the point of view of a 14-minute video being sent to them. The video, commissioned by Engineering officials to show "Engineering students doing Engineering things" is a move designed to encourage accepted students to matriculate at the school, Engineering's Associate Undergraduate Dean John Keenan said this week. The video, which was produced by an outside company, highlights the Engineering School and its role at the University. A tour of the facilities, a visit to a classroom and the words of faculty and students comprise much of the video. Although the video is costing the school approximately $40,000, Keenan called it a good investment. He said that he was shocked by the fact that many students make their college decisions based upon limited information about each school. He said that only about 150-200 perspective students visited the Towne building for tours this year -- far fewer than the number who apply. Keenan added that the main purpose of the videotape is to combat complacency among the accepted students. "We ought to go visit them," he said. "This video is designed to meet that need." This aggressive recruiting strategy was adopted partly in response to this year's decreased freshman enrollment, Keenan said. He explained that since the country is in a recession and has a smaller pool of 18-year-olds applying to college, applications are down and the school would like to see a greater number of accepted students enrolling. "We would not like [the low enrollment] to be a trend," he said. Students involved with the video were very excited about the project. Engineering and Wharton senior Bob Sheker said that he believes the video will help improve the school. "I think it is effective for what it does," he said. "It's meant to be a selling tool." The Engineering School is not the first undergraduate school at the University to produce a video. The Wharton School distributed copies of their video to those accepted for the class of 1994.

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