University, New York State DEC Combine Forces
for Research, Teaching and Technology
President Hitchcock and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) Commissioner John P. Cahill have signed an agreement that establishes
a unique working relationship between a nationally recognized research
university and one of the nation�s top state environmental policy agencies.
"This partnership truly will benefit everyone, and is an excellent
match," said Hitchcock. "The University�s Atmospheric Sciences
Research Center (ASRC) and School of Public Health are national leaders
in studying air and water quality and in finding solutions to problems
in those areas, and the Department of Environmental Conservation is recognized
nationwide for its progressive, pro-active concern for the quality of New
York citizens� air, water and land."
"DEC is delighted to establish this partnership with the University
at Albany," said Cahill. "Gov. Pataki has committed New York
to the most ambitious agenda of environmental restoration and protection
in our state�s histroy, and we need to draw upon every resource the state
has to offer to fulfill that goal. Albany faculty and students can contribute
a great deal to DEC�s efforts."
The agreement will enhance DEC�s research efforts by allowing DEC to
draw on the resources of University faculty experts as colleagues and advisors.
The University, in turn, will benefit by having highly-qualified DEC staff
available as researchers and adjunct faculty members, and from internship
opportunities that will be available at DEC for undergraduate and graduate
students.
The University�s key liaisons with DEC are Professor Kenneth Demerjian,
director of the ASRC, and School of Public Health professor and former
dean David Carpenter. Demerjian says ASRC scientists will work with DEC
to develop joint laboratory and research facilities, explore opportunities
for technology transfer, help evaluate new air and water quality instrumentation
technology, and create joint appointments and internships to facilitate
these activities.
Carpenter says the relationship is similar to the long-standing relationship
the School of Public Health has enjoyed with the State Department of Health,
in that DEC and University scientists will collaborate on research and
teaching in areas such as environmental health, chemistry and water pollution.
In addition, the School�s risk-assessment expertise and East Campus laboratory
resources will be available in collaboration with DEC in these important
areas.
According to the memorandum of understanding signed by Hitchcock and
Cahill, areas of collaboration may include remediation technology; dredging
projects; air quality; risk analysis/assessment/management; technology
transfer; environmental modeling; measurement; environmental data analysis
and interpretation; and industry de-regulation.
Focusing on Graduate Recruitment: A Campus-Wide
Commitment
By Greta Petry
The University is taking a closer look at how it handles the recruitment
of graduate students, as funding for universities and colleges throughout
the SUNY system becomes increasingly enrollment-driven.
With 83 master�s degree programs and 38 doctoral programs spread across
Albany�s eight schools and colleges, a major responsibility for recruiting
and retaining graduate students has long rested with individual departments.
"The issue of graduate recruitment requires commitment at all levels
throughout the University," said Jon Bartow, director of graduate
admissions. Bartow said a campus-wide recognition of enrollment objectives
is needed. A natural extension of this recognition is the idea that the
University take a service-oriented approach toward its customers � the
students. "We want to remove administrative obstacles so prospective
students can focus on the academic aspects of our graduate programs."
Some graduate students enroll right after earning a bachelor�s degree.
Others return many years later.
"While Americans still value the role of education in society,
the playing field and especially the player�s expectations of what constitutes
a good education has changed," writes Paul B. Mack of Lesley College
in a recent issue of National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals�
Journal. "The graying of our campuses by the adult learner has certainly
raised the bar. For them, a good education shouldn�t require hurdling over
high jumps to get the services they want and need. They simply don�t have
the patience . . . to continually jump over the hurdles we place in front
of them. They want . . . to focus on learning, not waiting in lines. They
want to focus on growing and relating to others, not completing duplicative
forms . . . They want to hear our voice, not our voice mail. They want
a helping hand, a handshake, not a hand-off. "
Randi Levitz, Ph.D., of the national enrollment consulting firm of USA
Group Noel-Levitz, said a successful graduate recruitment coordinates among
the departments and with the Graduate Admissions office, and requires:
� clear goals.
� a written action plan.
� an effective organization that responds quickly to inquiries.
� professional and support staff, working with faculty, who are all
trained to be proactive in recruiting.
� a strong database to measure progress.
� using financial aid at key points in the admission process to turn
interested students into enrolled students.
� exceptional customer service and a service-oriented attitude toward
both potential and current students.
Technology
Technologies like e-mail and departmental Web pages are some of the
tools that are being used to carry out graduate recruitment plans. These
are used as means to an old-fashioned, yet ever-important end: personal
contact with prospective graduate students.
"I believe that e-mail is the perfect mechanism for graduate recruitment,"
said Bartow. "It is a non-invasive form of communication for adults
who are familiar with this technology and have access to it. They sign
on and read it at their leisure."
The Graduate Admissions office receives hundreds of inquiries a week
via e-mail. While not every e-mail will result in a student choosing Albany,
the power of this method to answer questions quickly and establish personal
contact can not be underestimated. It is especially useful in communicating
with students in other countries.
Departmental Web pages are another significant way to communicate with
prospective students. The scope of information that can be covered on the
Web should mean that a prospective graduate student can find the answer
to most questions he or she has about a program.
Sheila Mahan, assistant vice president for Academic Affairs, encourages
all departments to update and maintain their Web pages. "Web pages
are especially important for promoting programs. The Web site and e-mail
are powerful ways of communicating with the increasingly sophisticated
population that is considering graduate school," Mahan said. "The
traditional method of sending out a brochure is only one way - and not
necessarily the most effective way � of reaching students."
For departments that choose to send a recruitment brochure, Leanne Balfoort
in the University Graphics shop has developed several options, including
one two-color brochure with a tear-off reply card that can be a useful
tracking mechanism. For more information about these templates, contact
Greta Petry in the Office of University Relations at 442-3095.
In this discussion of technology, it would be a mistake to overlook
the importance of the telephone. Current graduate students, in particular,
have much credibility with prospective students, according to Levitz, a
University at Albany alumna and former employee, and can help recruitment
by calling prospective graduate students. In the School of Business, for
example, graduate students routinely call prospective students. Whether
the student is home or not, the call is followed up with a letter from
a current graduate student.
Faculty Tips on Recruitment
Faculty members across the campus have long been the experts on the
best ways to recruit graduate students. They offer a range of effective
recruitment strategies. Ray Bromley, director of the graduate planning
program and a professor in the Department of Geography and Planning, said
because of the nature of his program, he emphasizes jobs for graduates.
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Ray Bromley, director of the graduate planning program
for the Department of Georgraphy & Urban Planning.
"I basically run a professional training-type of graduate program.
It is very job-oriented. The most important element of what I do is to
know the job market and to be able to explain how students can use graduate
studies to write their own resume for the job they want down the road,"
Bromley said. He counsels prospective students against having too narrow
a focus, and helps those who do not have a focus to find one.
"It�s very dangerous at the end of the 20th Century to be totally
targeted on one job opportunity," Bromley said. He advises students
to be open to working for a consultancy firm, for a non-profit organization
or for local, state or federal government, and to develop a resume with
a flexible focus. In addition, he lets students know about job opportunities
in other parts of the U.S. and in foreign countries.
Bromley said he has more success in recruiting when a student contacts
him and they talk along pragmatic, job-focused lines about how to prepare
for the professional labor market. When he can show the student why graduate
studies will help him or her find a better job, that student is more likely
to enroll.
"As much as possible I try to get them to come in to campus for
a visit. I also give them examples of alumni success stories and am able
to connect them with these alumni. Knowing your own success stories and
having an alumni base are enormously important," Bromley said. His
department keeps its own alumni records, maintains an alumni newsletter,
and is setting up an alumni e-mail list.
"So we invite visitors to campus, to sit in on a class, and to
visit with two or three faculty members. It�s a sacrifice of faculty time,
but it is important. And we make a strong list of arguments as to why this
is a good graduate school," he said.
Bromley said he points out that, through cross-registration, Albany
students can take courses at area private institutions for the cost of
SUNY tuition. And he highlights the strength of the area�s library resources.
Once students are at Albany, he tries to find them positions as paid
interns in planning jobs or consultancy firms off-campus at around $8 or
$9 an hour if they do not receive an assistantship, Bromley said. Even
those students with assistantships need summer jobs to boost their finances
and build their resumes.
"Financing graduate study is very sensitive. They (the students)
are counting the pennies; they are up to their necks in debt," Bromley
said. Therefore, their ability to go to graduate school is predicated on
making money while they�re in school and building up a resume that will
land them a job after graduation.
Finally, Bromley said, the role of graduate program director should
receive "a tiny bit more recognition." For example, circulating
a list of the graduate program directors would help increase communication
among the departments, he suggested.
In the Department of Sociology, Louise Tornatore said personal contact
with potential students is a priority. After Albany won a population center
grant last year from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development,
she received a call from a graduate student at the University of Texas
at Austin, a competitor.
"He was doing this as a class project for a methods course for
the chair and he was calling the top 10 to 15 sociology departments in
the country to ask what they do to attract strong students and a good number
of them," Tornatore said.
The student told her, "Whatever you are doing, you�re doing right.
I don�t know whether you realize it, but you have a hot department. People
are talking about Albany."
In a market in which the competition can "literally fly in cohorts
of students for the weekend to woo them," Tornatore said she makes
a point of asking whether students need to be picked up at the airport,
and helps them get in touch with other prospective students in their area
to make transportation arrangements.
The personal touch and a strong academic reputation make for a winning
combination. "The strength of the Department of Sociology can be seen
in the fact that several faculty members are ranked extremely high for
the number of publications in the top three journals in the discipline,"
Tornatore said. "Several faculty members have won major book awards
and others have been nominated. In addition, we are strong in a number
of substantive areas in which students today are very interested."
According to Tornatore, how one handles the accepted graduate students
who do not receive a financial award is extremely important, for these
students may still enroll if they can obtain an assistantship in an administrative
office � like the admissions office, for example.
Networking with colleagues at feeder schools is yet another way to enhance
recruitment. For example, Hayward Horton of the sociology department has
been in Florida on research. At the same time, Tornatore said, he is working
with faculty at Florida A&M, thereby setting up a path by which students
there will hear about Albany�s reputation.
Finally, when an accepted student does not come to Albany, Tornatore
calls to find out why. "I am never hesitant in a pleasant way to find
out what their other choices were," she said.
For Paul Vogt, associate dean of the School of Education, recruiting
graduate students boils down to good communication and thorough coordination.
"Our goal is to make the contact with the students seamless,"
he said. This means the Graduate Admissions office and the School of Education
work closely together to keep track of and to respond to inquiries. "As
simple as it sounds, keeping good records is a must," said Vogt. "The
devil is in the details." Through its 12-member graduate recruitment
committee, the five departments in the school are agreeing on a systematic
procedure so no student is overlooked.
"Let�s say someone calls you. They have called the wrong place.
We spend a lot of time making information about what we do available to
people who do not know how to ask for what they need because we are a large,
complex organization," Vogt said. "It�s not earth-shaking to
fill out a card and inform someone else that a contact with a potential
student has been made, but these details of organization are critical to
doing a good job," he said.
The School of Business has long been marketing-smart in knowing the
value of highlighting the benefits of a University at Albany education.
The school recently implemented a tracking system for inquiries from potential
graduate students. According to Levitz, tracking inquiries is an essential
part of building the relationship that will motivate a student to enroll.
"Each person receives a packet about all of our programs, from
the full-time MBA, MS Tax, MS Accounting, and the Evening MBA to the Saratoga
Weekend MBA," said Albina Grignon, assistant dean for student services.
"We also send a self-addressed, postage-paid postcard asking which
program most interests the prospective student. When the postcard is returned,
a letter is sent out from the director of the program specified. The information
collected from the postcards is keyed into the tracking system that lets
us follow where each prospective student is in the application process."
The next step is to convert admitted applicants to enrolled students
� another area of focus for the School of Business. "We�re working
on increasing the personal contact and trying to get them to campus,"
said Grignon. "If we can get them to feel comfortable with the campus
and meet a few friendly faces, we think we have a better chance of having
them choose Albany for their graduate work."
Removing some of the obstacles to part-time study can be an important
factor in a prospective student�s decision to go back to school. Grignon
said the business school has done a number of things to make the transition
easier. "We have an orientation for evening MBA students before the
first day of classes that includes a tour of the school so students will
be more comfortable when classes start," she said. "We also try
to make it as convenient as possible for them to take care of school-related
errands like getting IDs and buying books. We�ve negotiated with both SUNYCard
and the bookstore to be open one evening so students can get their photos
taken and buy books without having to make an extra trip to campus. We�ve
also developed a news-letter that keeps evening students abreast of what�s
happening in the program and helps make them feel more a part of the community."
The School of Business initiatives are an example of what one school
can do to attract prospective graduate students. And while there is tremendous
variety among the University�s 83 master�s degree and 38 doctoral programs
across campus, faculty, administrators and staff all play an important
role in recruiting and retaining graduate students.
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The new entrance to the Administration Building, first
stop for the potential new Albany graduate student.
