Oregon State University - Beaver Yearbook (Corvallis, OR)

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Story by Melinda Purvis •The large increase i$ based on good work done by a lot of people on campus ’ Jill Schuster. OSU Director of Marketing Photo by Cv j hen the faB of 1998 arrived, more MM 1 students chose lo head to Corva s to pursue their academic endeavors As classes got started, the enrollment of freshman increased by 48%. while the overall student popriation increased by 526 students. The increase in enrollment was the first that the university had seen in several years. The past decrease had been attributed to a somewhat complacent attitude that was adopted by the university in the 1980's. After almost a century as the ■ choce for most Oregonians, OSU had failed to make the necessary transitions reqiired to keep them as the top consideration of higher education for coiege bound students. The 1980 $ saw rival. Universiiy of Oregon, soar in enrollment while OSU steadily declined. As OSU entered a new decade, serious changes needed to occur university wide. When Dr. Robert Bonirager. Director of Admissions and Orientation, arrived at OSU only a few short years ago, his first priority was to re-engineer the admissions and orientation office. With the admissions and orientation office better prepared to service student needs, the next step was to launch a new marketing campaign The most notable campaigns were tiie billboard and television advertisements. designed to get students thinking about OSU. These campaigns were the most visible to prospective students and provided interested individuals with an easy way to obtati more information. After coiege bound students visited the OSU web site, an avenue of communication was opened between recruiters and visitors. Another aspect of the new recruiting campaign was the geo-demographic study, which was conducted by an outside firm. The study helped to profile prospective students, and gave the diversity a target group. With a profile of prospective students, they were aWe to put more money into recruiting students for whom OSU was a reaistic choice for higher education In addition to marketing and recruiting new students. OSU also revamped some of their financial ad packages. If marketing caught their eye. and recruiting got them to apply, many students stl needed financial assistance to actuafly get them to enroll. The scholarships program was restructured so that financial need was taken into account, m the past scholarships were awarded at one flat rate, giving the same amount to students no matter what their financial need was. With the new program financial aid was awarded based on the needs of the individual. To continue to increase enrollment at the current rate was probably not a reaistic expectation, therefore an annual growth rale of five percent was a goal for the university. Issues to be dealt with due to a continued increase in enroflment included dorm space, class offerings, and limited resources. According to Bontrager. growth is good, but if it took away from the overall college experience, then it could become a negative thing. After the new reacting and marketing campaigns were put in place the ioversity had to focus on the future and the maintenance of the product which drew students to attend Oregon State University. 20 °° Qbudent Ltje

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 I (?• ten Ferrahi y tudied abroad in China and while there managed to make friends with many of the locals. Photo fey Shreon f rrafc ift-r of the more historical places to visit in Italy is the coliseum. The massive coliseum, as shown here, was home to the first Olympics. Photo by Genevtoe Moore rgers. France rf shows off its breathtaking beauty. Photo fey Eric oil'd education. °° IQ

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 pf ' students C drift into the streets to avoid over crowding on the sidewalks. More students than ever trudge their way from class to class. Aye of the more (✓obvious places that the increase was noticed was the MU. The added students made the popular lunch place more crowded than ever, making it even more difficult to find a table at lunch time. Photo by Yaroslav PUatov 7 hlc wls increase of students was significant in number it wasn't necessarily felt by the student population on a daily basis. Photo by Yaroslav Bulatov im ten e in wio QrnmL 00 2