8A || Friday, Oct. 30, 2009 || Central Michigan Life
Admissions now using blog, Facebook for recruiting Long thinks using Web-based tactics can be useful to the university. “It will get them more wellknown with people,� she said. While admissions is using the Internet and e-mail more frequently to communicate with prospective students, it is not slowing down with the methods that have served well in the past. Letters and pamphlets sent through the mail are still used. “You can’t let go of traditional things,� Wagner said. “Parents read them and influence their children’s college choices. People also like to have something solid in their hands.� Campus tours are still the number one factor for bringing students to campus, she said.
By Emily Pfund Staff Reporter
Central Michigan University’s Office of Admissions is looking to cyberspace to draw in new students. Since 2006, the University of Michigan has had students blogging about their campus experiences and posting them on the school’s admissions Web site in hopes of giving high school students a glimpse at what life is like on campus. “The use of video on the Web is something that’s fairly new for us,� said Betty Wagner, director of admissions at CMU. “We’re in the process to develop blogs.� Wagner said the student blogs will be online sometime in the next few months. Admissions already has a “microsite,� which contains videos and a link to the department’s Facebook. Fairgrove freshman Missy
Other ways to draw in students Phone calls also have proven to be a successful way to reach students, Wagner said. “We’ve had a lot of success with our voice response program,� she said. The voice response system
union township| continued from 3A
are administering it to a random sample of Union Township residents — including students — to determine their experiences with and opinions about township services and related issues. “The questions are structured so that answers to earlier questions may determine subsequent questions,� said Union Township Zoning Administrator Woody Woodruff. The information will be used to help with the making of the new master plan, including budgeting, planning and goal
Connect w go.cmich.edu is an automated voicemail system that calls potential students with a pre-recorded message and is used to garner interest in the Centralis scholarship and CMU and You Day programs. “We’re trying to be creative with who makes the calls,� Wagner said. This year, the call for CMU and You Day featured the CMU fight song playing in the background as Bob Garcia, senior assistant director of Admissions, and head football coach Butch Jones addressed students. Wagner programs such as these are not designed to persuade more students to apply, but to get those who have already applied and been accepted to actually attend CMU. “We have the third-largest applicant pool in the state, so that’s not a problem,� Wagner said. university@cm-life.com
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Biotechnology building on hold Economy slows lobbying, but it’s still an interest
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$65 million The university is asking for about $65 million for the building, Smith said. “The campus master plan puts the building just east of the new Education and Human Services Building,�
Steve Smith, director of public relations Smith said. The EHS Building, which opened this past June, cost about $50 million to construct. When CMU was requesting funds last year from the state’s joint capital outlay committee, it certainly looked good, Caul said. However, when it came down to it, there were not enough funds, and the other projects had been in the request process for a long time, Caul said. Caul, who will remain a part of the committee next year, said funds are limited, but are not part of Michigan’s general fund. Capital outlay funds are bonded funds. Caul said requests get approval in two phases. In the first phase, a $100 placeholder is added to the fund. This allows those requesting a project to move forward with fundraising, architecture, design and more. The second phase is when approval is given to start the building process. “Once a project gets phase one approval, it is almost certain it will be approved in phase two,� Caul said. “It would be some extraordinary circumstance to prevent complete approval.� The building, if approved, would house research, lab rooms and teaching facilities. “It would be used for biotech classes and medical classes,� Smith said.
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The proposed biotechnology building that has been in talks for several years at Central Michigan University may have to wait to see development. Michigan’s struggling economy postponed efforts for CMU to receive the funding needed, said Steve Smith, director of public relations. “Due to Michigan’s current economic climate, we do not anticipate money from the capital outlay fund this year,� Smith said. Smith also said he was unsure of any new capital outlay requests made this year for the biotechnology building. “Each year, the university submits a letter to the state for our building request,� he said. The past capital outlay funding request was the biotechnology building. Smith is unaware of any requests after last year. State Rep. Bill Caul, RMount Pleasant, is a capital outlay committee member and remains a strong advocate for the building. “Central’s project is certainly one that is important, but some buildings have been in the request process a lot longer,� Caul said. “Like the recent approval for Ferris State University’s School of Optometry building.�
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By Lonnie Allen Staff Reporter
“The campus master plan puts the building just east of the new Education and Human Services Building.�
setting, and should be ready by end of the year, Woodruff said. “The survey work should be completed in the fall semester, analysis in the winter semester,� he said. Senter said the survey is being conducted with the help of students in assistant professor of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work Jean Toner’s SOC 350: Social Research Methodologies class and associate professor of political science Moataz Fattah’s PSC 280: Introduction to Empirical Methods of Political Research class. “They will staff the lab
for three-hour shifts, inviting people from randomly generated phone numbers to participate in the survey,� Toner said. “Toward the end of the semester, students will also facilitate focus groups with student residents of Union Township to gather their opinions and beliefs about services to students provided by Union Township.� Collaborating with CARRS has resulted in savings for Union Township. “Work such as this in the private sector would cost eight to 10 times the $8,000 cost,� Woodruff said.
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CMU expanding ways to reach out to prospective students
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