University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada June 13, 1997

Top Nova Scotia student likes U of A attitude

Student Awards recruits Canada's best

By Chris Floden

Jennifer Perry sounded a bit worried on the phone. The Nova Scotia student has never been west of Ontario, and will be the farthest travelling graduate from the Sydney Academy this September when she attends the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Sciences.

As the most outstanding student in the graduating class of the Sydney Academy, her decision to accept the Top of the Class President's Citation to the U of A was a big one. She applied to five other universities across Canada and was offered major scholarships from two of them before deciding to accept the President's Citation, worth $25,000 over four years.

What persuaded her to join us here? "The feeling from the literature, letters, publications and web site is enthusiastic," she says. "The U of A is not one of the top rated universities now, but there is definitely a feeling that it wants to be."

That feeling may come from the personal touches the student recruitment programs offer. Winners of the President's Citation and Chancellor's Citation are pulled out of class to be told to expect a call. That evening, the President or Chancellor calls each successful applicant personally to inform them of their award and invite them to the U of A.

Ron Chilibeck, director of the Office of Student Awards, relates a story of a family in Sherwood Park who received such a call. The parents of the student selected phoned Chilibeck to tell him how the excited family gathered in the kitchen with a video camera to record the event. It was the first time they'd ever seen their son at a loss for words, they said.

Perry is impressed with the amount of effort the U of A puts into its recruitment. She has received a barrage of phone calls and has talked to dozens of people at the U of A. Another university, she says, hasn't even sent a calendar.

Chilibeck recognizes that these kinds of initiatives could not be done without the support of President Rod Fraser. "The new president identified [student recruitment] as a priority, and now Student Awards is getting support for it," he said. That support has lead to innovative programs like Top of the Class and On Your Marks, a scholarship program for Grade 11 students.

Applications for the awards are up this year from 150 to 220 and are coming from a significantly wider region. Chilibeck says our current success is no reason to get complacent, however. The U of A is still significantly behind other major universities in total scholarship dollars available.

All the recruitment in the world will not be of any use if a student is treated poorly when they call or arrive, says Chilibeck. It's important to have the support of the whole campus to be successful at student recruitment.

The Top of the Class program has offered about $700,000 in scholarships this year to students with outstanding grades. The minimum average to be considered for the award is 95 per cent. Applicants are nominated by school administrators, and this year they have been received from as far away as Texas, St. Petersburg and the Ivory Coast.

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