New More top rated students are choosing the · 2016. 2. 29. · attracting the most academically talented students — and it’s happening, which is re- ... along with outstanding

16 Summer 2011

The saying goes: if you want to succeed,surround yourself with people who are

smarter than you.When it comes to choosing an institu-

tion for their higher education, most topstudents care about only one thing: “Howsmart are the kids sitting next to me?” Inother words, what’s the competition like?

e University of Kentucky has a proudtradition of top-notch programs and grad-uates who go on to unequaled success. Welike to note our winning tradition in ath-letics. But more and more, that winningtradition includes our academic successes.One notable example is the high caliber ofstudents UK is attracting each year.

Alumni are very proud of what’s happen-ing at UK. So are faculty, staff and currentstudents. People are excited about the aca-demic tone that is set at the university. Topranked students coming in means topranked graduates going out into the work-force, and a higher value placed on a degreefrom the University of Kentucky, as well aseven greater pride for our alumni. “We’veworked very hard to align all our resources

and align our objectives to reach this goal ofattracting the most academically talentedstudents — and it’s happening, which is re-ally exciting,” says Don Witt, vice provostfor Enrollment Management.

e statistics speak for themselves. Lastfall, UK boasted its most well-preparedclass in its history. e average ACT scorefor the fall 2010 incoming freshman classwas a 25.2 — well above the national aver-age of 21 and the state average of 19.4.Also in 2010, 33 of Merit Scholars, 147 ofhigh school valedictorians and 371 of Gov-ernor’s Scholars and Governor’s School forthe Arts students enrolled at UK. oseaverages speak well to the fact that moretop students in state and out of state arechoosing to enroll at UK.

And candidates for top scholarships areup as well. UK’s top scholarship, the Otis A.Singletary Scholarship, requires applicantsto hold a minimum 31 ACT score and a3.75 unweighted high school GPA. In 2010,the university set a record of just under 600students eligible for the 25 available Single-tary scholarships. As incredible and exciting

as that is, Witt says, “is year, we knowwe’re going to break that record.”

As a group, this year’s admitted studentshave higher scores than last years, andthose were better than the year before, andso on. But of course, for many high schoolstudents, receiving an acceptance letterfrom UK is only one of many acceptanceletters from which they have to choose.

So why are more highly-qualified stu-dents choosing UK?

e main reason: success breeds success.As more top students talk about attendingUK, their friends are listening. Students ofthis caliber are watching statistics andweighing their options. If they see that UKis attracting top students, they are morelikely to come to UK. It is more desirable tosay, “I’m admitted to the University of Ken-tucky,” because it’s no longer an automaticthing. Students want to know when theychoose UK, they are making a step up. Noteveryone is accepted and when those thatare get here, it is going to be challenging.

“Students want that. ey want to be com-petitive when they graduate and they see

By Christina Noll

More top rated students are choosing the

University of Kentucky as their place to shine

www.ukalumni.net 17

that at UK we have very successful alumniwho graduate and go on to do really greatthings,” says Brian Troyer, associate directorof Undergraduate Admission. “ey under-stand, as my colleague, Stephen Barnett likesto say, ‘College isn’t the 13th grade’— this isa whole other level.’”

High-caliber students now look at UK asone of their choices, right along with theIvy League and elite schools. “Times havechanged — and the image of the universityhas changed,” says Witt. “at message isgetting out there inside the state and be-yond. at momentum just keeps buildingand building.”

The laws of ‘blue’ attractionPersonalized information is the key to influ-

encing the college decision, especially in out-of-state markets. Launched in 2007, theuniversity’s “see blue.” marketing campaignhas been instrumental in increasing awarenessabout UK in out-of-state markets. In addi-tion, current students, along with alumni andstaff, help attract the best and the brightestthrough letter writing campaigns, personalphone calls, Send Off Parties, Preview Nightsand more. Record setting events, with strongturnouts, result in more applications to UK.And more applications mean a greater per-centage of top ranked students chosen.

But making the critical college choice isabout more than just a “good feeling.” Stu-dents are evaluating a return on their in-vestment; they want to know if the costand time will be worth it in the end.

e task for everyone in enrollmentmanagement is to make sure students andparents are aware of the incredible aca-demic offerings at UK. Specifically, that in-cludes the undergraduate researchprogram. “e top high school studentsare coming here having already been ex-posed to research. When they learn fromour recruiting efforts that we have an officededicated to undergraduate research, theyare excited,” says Diane Snow, director ofthe Office of Undergraduate Research atUK. “ere’s a long list of people who havebeen successful in their careers because oftheir exposure to undergraduate research— in many cases, independent research —here at UK.”

ere are so many opportunities at UK,with over 200 majors, and so many topranked programs, prospective students

can’t help but be drawn to the university.Lizzy Bauer, a biology and chemistry fresh-man and Singletary Scholar, agrees. “Whileresearching schools, I noticed that UK of-fered a large variety of major/minor op-tions,” she says. “In fact, UK was the onlyschool that offered all three of my topmajor choices.”

Bauer, who plans to attend medicalschool aer earning her undergraduate de-grees, believes that UK is an academic in-stitution on the rise, continually evolvingthrough students and faculty who dedicatethemselves to education and success. “I

have no doubt that aer my education atUK is complete, I will have the knowledgeand confidence to be successful in anythingI choose to pursue,” says Bauer.

But even with extensive academic offer-ings, along with outstanding athletic tradi-tions, some students still might not beconvinced UK is the place for them, due tosocial or economic factors. Some prospec-tive students view UK as a large place, onethat can be intimidating. For this reason,Enrollment Management makes it a prior-ity to put a personal face on what’s happen-ing at the university. “We hear time and

Members of Enrollment Management gather at the Boone Center for an informal conversationwith students. Left to right are, Lizzy Bauer (freshman, biology & chemistry, Singletary Scholar);Don Witt, vice provost for Enrollment Management; Dorneshia Thomas (sophomore, psychology), Bill Klingenberg (junior, social work, veteran); Stephen Barnett, associate directorof Undergraduate Admission; Brian Troyer, associate director of Undergraduate Admission; andCandace Terry (senior, Russian studies, Veteran’s Resource Center work-study).

Undergraduate student applications

Fall semester applicants 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

Applied 11,120 12,195 13,537

Admitted 8,757 8,966 9,275

Enrolled 4,110 4,153 4,328

Percent of applicants who were admitted 78.8% 73.5% 68.5%

Percent of admitted applicants who enrolled 46.9% 36.3% 46.7%

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18 Summer 2011

time again from prospective students whenthey’re visiting that once they get on cam-pus they are blown away by how personaltheir experience is,” says Witt.

It all starts with the UK Visitor Center.Prospective students can attend an infor-mation session, followed by a student-guided campus tour. Individual itinerariescan also be arranged. Christine Spiecher,

director of the UK Visitor Center, ex-plains, “We’re a one-stop shop. Prospectivestudents and their families can get all theinformation they need in just one visit tocampus. With a few weeks advance notice,we can set up individualized appointmentswith any department on campus they’d liketo talk with, for a truly personalized cam-pus tour.”

Students agree — it’s all about the campusvisit. “When I visited, I fell in love with thecampus,” says Bauer. “Not only that, but theUK employees took the time to connect withme on a personal level and make me feel asthough this was my home.”

Another area of concern for prospectivestudents is the rising cost of a college educa-tion. “More and more students and their fam-ilies are having conversations about theeconomy and how they’re going to pay for acollege education. We are very empatheticwith families and we’re open to having verycandid conversations with students and par-ents about what the process of paying for col-lege really looks like,” explains Troyer.

For this reason, many UK Preview Nightsfeature separate workshops called “FinancingYour Future” where students can gain valu-able information about academic scholar-ships, such as the President’s ScholarshipInitiative, financial aid and account services inan informal setting. Advisors at UK walk stu-dents through the application process, all theway from getting admitted to how they’regoing to pay their bills once they get to UK.“We’re very open and up front with familiesabout the cost,” says Troyer. “And knowingthat our tuition rates are relatively competi-tive, we find that it’s one of the reasons stu-dents are choosing UK.”

Rolling out the Wildcat welcome matApplication. Acceptance. Decision.

These are major steps on the journey tohigher education, but it doesn’t stoponce the students get to UK. The Chell-gren Center for Undergraduate Excel-lence has been identifying andsupporting talented undergraduate stu-dents at UK since 2005. Its mission is toadvance the university in three areas:student excellence, teaching excellenceand program excellence.

“e highest level of academic attainmentrequires talent and the right experiences.e Chellgren Center strives to affect thelatter,” says Philipp Kraemer, ChellgrenChair for Undergraduate Excellence. “Weprovide the kinds of guidance and opportu-nities that enable our most talented studentsto excel well beyond their stellar perform-ance in the classroom. Equally important,we attempt to instill in these students theconfidence, ambition and tools to realize ex-traordinary aspirations.”

Top ranked transfer students are also on the riseMembers of Transfer Recruitment are traveling throughout the state to make

sure the best and the brightest transfer students know what UK has to offer.Transfer Recruitment puts a special focus on the Kentucky Community and Tech-nical College System (KCTCS), to make sure students at those institutions areencouraged to transfer to UK. “As long as students are holding a certain GPA atKCTCS, they can transfer in to UK,” says Prim Wathen, associate director ofTransfer Recruitment in the Office of Undergraduate Admission.

Senior Travis Leffew transferred to UK from KCTCS in Somerset after obtain-ing the Trustees Scholarship for Transfer Students. “Going to UK had always beena personal dream of mine,” he says. He credits Wathen, along with the StudentAmbassador Program, as being major factors in his successful transfer.

“KCTCS and UK have an amazing system called Block Transfer where studentscan take certain classes that are completely transferable,” says Leffew. “Outsideof an amazing recruiter and adequate future planning, transferring to UK wasmade easier by joining extracurricular programs, including Wildcat MarchingBand and Men’s Choir, living on campus, and enrolling in UK 201, a class to helptransfer students adjust to UK life.” Leffew says the personal touch and one-on-one attention transfer students receive from UK cannot be underrated.

“Our job is to make that a seamless process for the students,” says Wathen. To make the transfer option even more desirable, an option exists to help ease

the financial strain of paying for a degree at a top ranked university. BCTC Blue +is a transfer/dual enrollment program between Bluegrass Community TechnicalCollege and UK that includes advising, guaranteed admission, UK courses atBCTC tuition rates, and much more for students considering transferring to UKfrom that institution.

First time, first-year student profile

4,110 4,153 4,329

2,099 2,118 2,219

347 403 418

999 897 1,012

32 44 47

4,079 4,111 4,283

389 404 371

32 31 33

133 141 147

www.ukalumni.net 19

In addition to academic support, UK isworking hard to make sure students aregetting a bang for their buck, so to speak.Technology, residence life, and opportuni-ties that take students beyond the class-room are part of the reason UK isattracting the best and the brightest. “Stu-dent affairs and academic affairs go hand inhand,” explains Witt.

An example is residence life. e major-ity of incoming freshmen live in a resi-dence hall — approximately 92 percent —and a good residential experience is a keyto new and current student success. Incom-ing students are strongly encouraged to liveon campus because they are more likely tobecome involved and build a connectionwith the university. “Students who live oncampus make better grades and havehigher retention rates and graduation ratesthan students who don’t,” says RobertMock, vice president for Student Affairs.“at’s the key — living on campus andbeing engaged on campus.”

Enrollment Management and StudentAffairs have worked together to formLiving-Learning Communities through-out the residence halls. These communi-ties allow students who share commonmajors, classes and other interests to livetogether in the same residential area. “Wewant students to feel good about what-ever hall they’re in and these communi-ties speak well to that,” says Witt. “We’retrying to move beyond the facility, andmake it more about the experience stu-dents have here at UK and the benefitsthat come from interactions with facultyand fellow students. It’s all part of whatcontributes to their success.”

Mock cites Student Affairs programssuch as Fusion and DanceBlue as helpingto attract and retain top students. “Servicelearning is important at UK and StudentAffairs is on the front edge of that,” he says.Programs like UK 101, the common read-ing experience, and the many activitiesavailable through the Student ActivitiesBoard all make a difference in making stu-dents feel welcome and involved at UK.“ere is always something going on, andthe students know that,” says Mock.

Another key offering is the EducationAbroad program, which allows studentsthe opportunity to gain internationalknowledge, experience and skills for a

more global perspective and a competitiveedge in the world economy. Tony Ogden,director of Education Abroad at UK ex-plains that an international perspective isnot only an important component of a stu-dent’s curriculum, but an essential one.

“It’s not about why you should studyabroad, or where should you study abroad— it’s about what and when and how youwill study abroad,” says Ogden. UK is mak-ing this easier by integrating educationabroad into the curriculum. “ere is not ajob out there that does not include someinternational focus,” says Ogden. “Goingforward, we’re developing curriculum ad-

vising sheets that won’t say, ‘where do youwant to go?’ but ‘what is your major?’ tohelp students map out particular programsabroad that will benefit them best.”

In the end, it’s more about the experiencethan anything else. Students are drawn toUK because they see that those affiliatedwith this top ranked institution are trulygoing places. Faculty and staff know thatthe student body is the university’s greatestasset and that they are the stewards of thatasset. “ere’s a tangible energy about UK,”says Witt. “It’s an exciting time to be a stu-dent here and it’s an exciting time to be analum of the University of Kentucky.” �

Diversity recruitment yields quality studentsWhen it comes to attracting more top ranked students to UK, excellent exam-

ples of the university’s efforts can be found in diversity recruitment. “Among ourbiggest efforts are the ‘Come See For Yourself ’ events,” says Buzz Burnam, direc-tor of Recruitment, Diversity Initiatives in the Office of Undergraduate Admis-sion & Registrar. “They are opportunities for diverse students to find out forthemselves, rather than through hearsay, what UK has to offer and what it takesto be considered for admission.” Burnam says the six-week Freshman SummerProgram for diverse students also helps students get a head start on college inthe fall. “A higher percentage of the students enrolled in the Freshman SummerProgram are more likely to graduate in four years,” he says. Several scholarshipsalso exist, such as the William C. Parker Scholarship, a renewable scholarship toassist diverse students with the cost of attending the university.

Alumni are also helping through letter writing campaigns directed at African-American students and African-American Admitted Student Receptions heldeach spring to encourage students to go through with enrollment. The extra ef-forts seem to be paying off. “Over the past few years, the University of Kentuckyhas experienced record-setting enrollments, including significant increases in ourdiversity enrollment and overall academic quality of our freshman cohorts,” saysBrian Troyer, associate director of Undergraduate Admission at UK.

Current students lead prospective students on a tour of campus, an important factor in manyprospective students’ decisions to attend UK.

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