Recruitment Services working

by Emily Williams

Daily Lobo

In the past five years enrollment at UNM has gone up more than seven percent and more than three percent in the last year.

Enrollment will continue to rise with Recruitment Services working strategically to promote the school.

Recruitment Services markets UNM to undergraduates in New Mexico and nationwide. It sets up campus tours and assists with advisement. With more than five traveling representatives, recruitment services attend all college fairs in the state and many throughout the region.

Terry Babbitt, the director of Recruitment Services, said several thousand prospective students visit UNM each year and at least two tours are given each day. Unlike most large universities, Babbitt said they work one-on-one with students and he thinks that is one reason for their success.

"The biggest impact on whether a student comes here is if they make a campus visit," Babbitt said. "Then we continue to check in with them about every 30 days."

The department receives information about students through SATs and ACTs taken by high school juniors and seniors. The prospects are entered into an extensive database containing over 175,000 students, including activities, addresses and any athletics or extracurricular activities the students participate in. Prospects are kept in contact with though e-mails, mailing and phone calls.

Recruitment Services doesn't only target high school juniors and seniors, it starts with kids as early as middle school. Babbitt said that by getting the idea of UNM in students heads early it will help them develop a high school curriculum, be better prepared and more successful in college.

Recruitment Services works with financial aid, housing and admissions.

"It is a team effort," Babbitt said. "We all have to do a good job to get everything to work right."

When students and their families visit they are taken on an hour-long tour, shown specific areas, residence halls and receive a meal ticket for La Posada. Some students even have the opportunity to stay the night in a residence hall and fallow a student host around for a day.

"Students want to know about activities and what it is like to live on campus," said Laura Lindenmayer, a senior and Recruitment Services employee. "We encourage students to go to classes and see what they're like and how they differ from high school."

"The tour was helpful," junior Jacob Shapiro said. "It helped my mom, too, and I saw parts of campus that I wouldn't had made the effort to see otherwise."

Todd Christensen, a senior and Recruitment Services employee also took a tour before attending UNM.

"I was looking at Fort Lewis, U of A, and New Mexico State but they weren't as helpful as UNM."

Student employees for Recruitment Services do not need to be work-study qualified. The students make about 700 phone calls to prospects each night and answer their questions. Babbitt said that alumni are also a big help in the process. In states such as California, alumni attend college fairs, assist students with questions and promote the school. This saves a lot of money in travel expensive.

The widespread construction on campus may be seen as a deterrent for some but according to Babbitt many visitors view it as encouraging.

"The new capital projects have been seen as positive," Babbitt said. "We've been focusing on improvement, not sitting in concrete falling down."

The Recruitment Services Office is currently located in the Student Services Building.