Student Recruitment at TAMIU in High Gear for Fall Session

If you have children of high school age, odds are they've already met with the staff of the Office of Enrollment Management and School Relations, Texas A&M International University's team of student recruiters.

The University's student recruiters have been visiting school campuses throughout the year, spreading the word about the availability of a four-year University in Laredo. In addition to local and area campuses, visits are also made to select out-of-state campuses that have provided students in the past.

"We find a great deal of interest about the University from students wherever we visit. They're excited about having a new state-of-the-art campus with quality degree programs that meet their educational and career goals, " said Dr. M. Stephen Brown, Dean of Student Affairs at TAMIU.

"We've been working closely with area high school counselors who are members of our Community Advisory Council. They are an invaluable aid to us in preparing ourselves for the unique needs of questions and in coordinating our appearances on various campuses," Dr. Brown explained.

The University also takes advantage of a high-tech arsenal of portable computer links to the main campus as they conduct recruiting visits.

This high tech-high touch approach has resulted in the first-ever availability of true on-line, on-campus registration, eliminating the need for students to register at the TAMIU campus and providing them with a full, printed schedule of their fall semester classes.

"Students want, need and deserve this type of access and convenience. Having remote access to our computer system has proven quite advantageous and is an avenue we will continue to explore and expand. We hope to soon add on-line application through our Home Page on the World Wide Web," Brown explained.

Brown said students also seem to be pleased with the expanded range of student services and student activities.

"From career planning and placement to foreign student advisors, health services, disabled student services and some 30-plus student clubs and organizations, TAMIU has a full range of student-oriented offices and extracurricular activities. We even have an impressive new student newspaper. Students who think they know what TAMIU has to offer will be pleasantly surprised," Brown said.

"We have an aggressive financial aid program in place that can offer scholarships, loans and work-study positions for students. We think students will be impressed with the financial aid packages they can access at the University," he said.

The international composition and diversity of the University community also seems to impress students, Brown said.

"As our University's name says, we are international. This past semester, we enrolled students from 23 foreign countries. This brings an added dimension to our students educational experience and allows them to see the diversity of our world. As the marketplace is global, we will fill these experiences will serve them well as they move towards their career goals," he said.

Adding to the campus' diversity are students of all ages. "Our student are everyone from your next door neighbor and high school teacher to your grandmother or niece. We structure access to our classes accordingly to allow for working students to attend. You'll find that an average of 40% of our classes are offered at night, for example," he explained.

Brown said the availability in Fall 1997 of some 300 student housing units will bring yet another dimension to the campus.

"We know there is great interest in the availability of student housing and expect to have a record number of students signing up for affordable student housing," he said.

Registration at TAMIU for the Fall Semester will be held Aug. 21-22.

For additional information on enrollment at TAMIU, contact the Office of Enrollment Management at 326-2272 , or email to enroll@tamiu.edu.

Information can also be secured from the University's Home Page on the World Wide Web, http://www.tamiu.edu.