Listed below are anecdotes about what works and what doesn't work in terms of recruiting for forestry programs in the south. These anecdotes were shared at the March 27, 2008 meeting in Knoxville, TN. As mentioned during this meeting, it is important to collect hard data on what is working and not working. Therefore, the Southern Forestry Recruiting Network will begin to collect recruiting data.
In the meantime, it is worthwhile to share experiences with forestry recruiting. If you would like to share anecdotes that have worked or not worked for your program, please contact us.
The anecdotes are listed in this section are by topic:
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| Universities are structured differently with different admission requirements and may limit the number of individuals accepted to certain programs. |
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At Clemson University, recruiters are given a list of people not admitted into Clemson. The recruiters will send a letter to students not admitted informing them of what courses they should take at the community college and the GPA needed to be accepted into the program the following year.
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| At Virginia Tech, they have a one-day experience for the university admission advisors to let them know about forestry. The university admission advisors will learn about forestry, wildlife, forest products and visit field sites. (This can also be done with university campus tour guides.) |
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| Send out alumni or people that meet the demographic you would like to recruit. |
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| Trying to get upper level students involved in the recruiting effort. This can be through student ambassadors or as part of a communications class. Undergraduate students can make presentations to a K-12 science class. (You may need to check with the school districts about visiting K-12 schools. In Virginia, you cannot send a college student to a high school without a background check.) Undergraduate students can also write and submit an article to their hometown newspaper with a picture showing students using technology in the forest. |
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| Prospective students and parents appreciate interaction with undergraduate student ambassadors. At NC State University, prospective students go with student ambassadors for lunch while the recruiter has lunch with the parents. Parents will talk to the recruiter and the students open up much more when they are with the ambassador. |
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| Alabama A&M works with the Forest Service to pay for student's school. They identify and target high schools and show students career opportunities available after graduation. |
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| There was a University majors fair with about 800 students. The students start on one side of the facility and circle through and at the end, students can register for door prizes. At these events, you need a dynamic individuals to actively 'grab' the students and bring them over to talk to you. There were about 80-100 students that stopped by the forestry booth. |
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| At NC State University they had a luncheon for 15-20 guidance counselors. Over 300 invitations were sent out. The forestry program will tell guidance counselors about the forestry program and what types of students they are looking for. Admissions for the university does the same thing but the College wanted to meet with the guidance counselors on a personal level. |
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| The University of California Berkeley has a summer program open to students who want to declare a minor in forestry. Once you go to the camp, it is fairly easy to get a forestry minor. |
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| There is a minority summer camp run by MeadWestvaco. There are about 15-20 kids in the camp from a 3-4 county region. The camp participants experience all aspects of forestry, including visiting mills and forests. Colleges from Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina will come. Young family members (brothers, sisters, cousins) are recruited as well as children of MeadWestvaco employees. |
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| The University of Kentucky has a program called the Kentucky Forest Leadership Program where students use GPS units and do fun forestry activities. Students are exposed to the full depth of forestry. |
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| Clemson University has a summer program, South Carolina Commissioner’s School for Agriculture, where they target high school juniors and seniors through FFA, 4H, newsletters and guidance counselors. In-state students pay $250 and out-of-state students pay $500. It is a weeklong, multidisciplinary program. This year they are going to have a focus day so if you are interested in forestry you will spend the entire day on that area. They make it fun and interesting, including going river rafting. |
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| Even a poster about summer camp may help. If a student is unable to attend summer camp, they may tell their friends about the camp after seeing a poster. |
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| The University of Florida works with Florida State University on a 'Campus Divided' tour. Together, UF and FSU will talk to advisors at the community colleges. The community colleges will listen when the two universities come together. This helps save time and effort by having the universities together. The state of Florida has a common numbers system for courses. |
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| Virginia Tech has a Wood Magic event where students come to the university. You need to get students by about 8th grade because that is when they have to start taking certain high school courses and getting good grades to get into the program. |
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| Clemson University has a youth day during a football game. They target FFA and 4H students. The youth event will get inexpensive football tickets and serve lunch. This is the second year of the program. Last year they arranged it with the Clemson alumni so there were both alumni and youth. They had 1,000 youths with t-shirts that went to the game. |
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| In Fall 2007, Outdoor Life magazine came to Auburn University to help host a career day for Auburn students and high school students. Outdoor Life set up trailers and virtual archery ranges. Bass Pro Shop also had a display. The School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences and College of Agriculture hosted the event. |
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