By MICHAEL STRAND

Salina Journal

A whiteboard in Dixie Schierlman's office at Kansas State University at Salina is positioned where she can't help but see it from her desk.

On it are columns showing enrollment for the 2006 and 2007 school years in about two dozen categories, plus another column for the percent of change.

As associate dean of student life and director of college advancement, recruiting new students is a big part of her job -- and that whiteboard is a quick way of keeping score.

Among the largest increases in the past couple of years have been Hispanic students and students from overseas -- both the result of the school's concerted efforts.

Across town at Kansas Wesleyan University, Haakayoo Zoggyie, an associate professor of Spanish who has been at the school since July and also works on overseas recruiting, talks about contacts he's made with prospective students in South America, and also Asia, Africa, Russia -- and Mongolia.

And at Bethany College in Lindsborg, about 4 percent of students are from outside the United States. While about half of those are from Canada, in all, they represent 15 different countries, said Tricia Hawk, dean of admissions and financial aid.

"We feel we have some room to serve those students and broaden experiences of those here," said Jim Allen, director of admissions at Wesleyan. He said the value of attracting students from outside the U.S. goes beyond increasing head count. "These students bring a new understanding for other students and can help us become better educators."

The foreign investment

Wesleyan and K-State at Salina have long had international students, but they're now making that a bigger priority.

This past year, K-State signed an agreement with the private National Collegiate Network placement organization and already has seen success with that in Japan.

"We have a minimum of 15 arriving in the summer of 2008," Schierlman said, with most going into pilot training, and others into aviation maintenance or other majors.

"We're also making inroads in India for the pilot program," Schierlman said, with plans to follow that up with recruiting for aviation maintenance.

Keeping students here is important, too, Allen said.

Zoggyie is laying plans for community forums, where students from other countries could talk about their home and answer questions, as well as international food nights, where students could share dishes from their native lands.

He's also hoping to set up an international film festival, where students could show films that are popular where they grew up.

"Those kinds of things help with retention," Allen said.

Appealing to minorities

Even inside the U.S., schools say, they're looking to expand their awareness into new groups.

"Our engineering technology department for the last two years has been making trips to southwest Kansas," Schierlman said, and is actively working to recruit Hispanic students, who are generally less likely to move far from home to attend school.

The growing population of the area and its changing demographics make it a good place to look for potential students, she said. She noted that K-State's education college is recruiting in the same area.

There's also a conscious effort to feature photos of minority students in various publications, she said. "We're making an effort to show that we have students of color here."

The school has also started hosting a summer program for inner-city high school students from Washington, D.C., who are interested in aviation.

This past summer, Schierlman said, 40 students attended the two-week camp.

One since has enrolled at K-State at Salina.

And, Schierlman said, she is working with Les Hannah, assistant professor of English and a Cherokee, on recruiting American Indian students -- a venture that's already resulted in her riding on a float in a parade in Tahlequah, Okla., and passing out K-State memorabilia.

Recruiting at home

Of course, more traditional recruiting is still alive and well, too.

After all, if 4 percent of Bethany's students come from outside the U.S., that means 96 percent are from inside its borders.

But recruiting at home is similar to recruiting overseas, with a combination of making that first contact, having the right programs and relying on the grapevine all coming into play.

Colorado is a particularly rich recruiting area for Bethany, Hawk said. The college even has an admissions representative living in the Denver area.

One reason the area yields up a lot of incoming students, Hawk said, is the large number of Bethany graduates living there -- about 800 in the Denver-Colorado Springs area.

"Someone goes to Bethany and loves it and tells someone else," Hawk said, adding older family members often also provide that nudge.

"I was talking to an alum a few days ago, and they said 'Here's my granddaughter's name -- give her a call,' " Hawk said.

Isn't that expensive?

When she talked to that granddaughter, Hawk said, she faced one of the main hurdles to persuading a student to come to Bethany -- the price.

The "sticker price" for Bethany is $17,110, plus another $5,500 for room and board.

"The granddaughter, one of her arguments was that she couldn't afford Bethany," Hawk said. "Our biggest hurdle probably is convincing families that our scholarships and other help makes us competitive with the state schools -- people think they can't afford a private school."

But, Hawk said, a 3.5 GPA in high school or a 24 on the ACT is good for an automatic $7,000 scholarship; other scholarships can total $12,000, and the school also offers a small number of scholarships that cover between three-quarters and the full cost of attending.

"In some cases, it can be less money (than a state school)," Hawk said. "But we can't do that all the time."

Stuck in the boonies

The next biggest hurdle is the location, though that depends on who's being asked.

"Location is a tough sell" in some cases, Schierlman. "For students from a rural area, this is a nice-size town. If you're from Phoenix, it's a different environment."

For a student, moving from a major metro area to Salina may not sound attractive, Schierlman said. "But parents love it, the small town, the safety. They're an easy sell."

"The small, rural town is a big selling point for parents," said Allen, adding that's especially true internationally.

"In China, they ask about safety," he said. "They're coming from cities of five, 10, 15 million people -- and they want something different for their children."

In talking with prospective students, Zoggyie said, one of his first steps is to "find out what their interests are -- do they have big-city interests, or small-city interests. Then I talk with them about what Salina is like, what this part of Kansas is like." He also tells them Salina is a good place to come to understand America; because Kansas is generally conservative, while Salina is more liberal, students can experience both sides of American thinking.

And, Zoggyie added, international students pay half-price tuition, which he called "a pleasant surprise for many of them."

Fly, fly, fly some more

K-State at Salina's unique advantages can help overcome objections prospective students might have about the location, especially for pilot students, Schierlman said.

The fact is, what some dismiss as "flyover country" has more good flying days than most places, she said, so students can generally count on regular flight time.

That, plus the college's location right next to the runway -- instead of across town from it -- are important considerations for flight students.

n Reporter Mike Strand can be reached at 822-1418 or by e-mail at mstrand@salina.com.

Join the Discussion:

Salina.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here. Read our full online terms of service policy.

Post a comment
Your best chance of getting your comment posted:

• No profanity
• Be civil
• Everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

Comment:

Poster:

Enter text seen above:

Read our full use policy.