ST. BONAVENTURE (April 15) — Just like any other student at St. Bonaventure University, Stephanie Petty participated in a history class and walked amongst the other students, witnessing first hand a day in the life of a Bonaventure student. Two weeks ago, Petty, from two and a half hours away, took part in Spring into Bona’s, an event designed to help prospective students just like her learn more about Bonaventure and how it works.
To persuade Petty to come to Bona’s, Bonaventure first had to market the university and its programs to her and all the other potential students.
However, St. Bonaventure students and faculty members said the university didn’t market each program the same.
“(Marketing) depends upon the university and how it decides to allocate resources,” said Danette Brickman, a political science associate professor.
The political science department with 51 majors has to market the program almost on their own, said Mary Rose Kubal, department chair.
Brickman updates the department pages on the Bonaventure site at sbu.edu. All four faculty members meet with prospective students as they visit Bonaventure and talk with them at admission-related events, such as open houses and Spring into Bona’s, Kubal said.
For the past few years the department has had current political science students call or email prospective students, Kubal said.
The department did this so potential students may feel more comfortable and ask Bona students questions rather than faculty members, Kubal said. “It seems to have been effective.”
The department has tried to expand its Web presence but doesn’t know if it has worked, said Brickman.
“We created a Facebook page, but it is mostly just alumni,” Kubal said.
She said that with classes, other duties and obligations, the faculty does not have time to update Facebook when they barely have time to update its Bonaventure website.
However, political science has company with trying to market its own program.
Rebecca Misenheimer, assistant professor of theater, agreed.
The theater program has a department webpage and planned to launch a Facebook page, Misenheimer said. A graduate assistant sends press releases to local and campus media outlets, including a fine arts calendar.
However, more departments lack help from the university, too, Brickman said.
Alexandra Henry, a sophomore gerontology major, a program with only 10 majors, wanted her major marketed better.
However, now the program suspended enrollments, according to a special Notice Board issued by the university April 14.
“Even at school when I say I’m in gerontology, people don’t know what I’m talking about,” she said.
Brandon Newsome, a freshman and one of eight music majors, agreed.
Before coming to last year’s Spring into Bona’s, he didn’t know anything about the music major besides that Bonaventure had one.
Newsome said that his lack of knowledge about the program came from poor recruiting.
Professors interviewed agreed.
“We have to make it appealing,” Brickman said. “We have an awful lot to offer and we’re not showing it.”
Having many majors, small class sizes, and being a private school with many financial benefits available, Brickman said those draws seem to be the most popular.
To improve recruiting, Kubal met with admissions team members to give them more information that could help the team market the political science department at admissions fairs and high school college fairs.
But students have their own ideas to market their programs.
“I think that the university should do some fair about majors that don’t usually get a lot of attention,” Henry said.
Andrew Nicholson, a junior and one of nine physics majors, had a different idea.
“(The school) should advertise honorable students in the program,” he said. The university could and should alter its strategy to show off those who perform well, Nicholson said.
However, Michael Fisher, provost and vice president for academic affairs, said the number of majors in each program depends on what subjects interest students.
“There is only so much we can do,” Fisher said in regards to appealing to prospective students’ interests.
The school does provide a fact sheet for each program each year and sometimes would send faculty members to recruit.
Ed. Simone, theater department chair, and Misenheimer have been sent to more than seven cities such as Chicago and New York City to recruit new majors, they said.
Some still felt lost in how to market their departments, Brickman said.
“We have no (marketing) plan,” she said. “We are not marketing people. We make decisions based on common sense. And what we’ve seen and heard from our own students and visiting students,” such as increasing the contact prospective students have with current students.
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