Given trends in the economy, many people are going the route of furthering their education while they search for  a new job.  The troubles we are having within the college community is that of budget cuts, at least here in Powell, Wyoming.  Unfortunately, Outdoor Education here is one of the smaller programs, though it has been around for over 30 years.

My question for everyone is this:

I have been working with our recruitment staff to look at ways in which we can recruit more students into the outdoor program.  The issues we have are that unlike many traditional programs,  we cannot seem to find high school conferences or programs where we can actively recruit. 

Because we are a smaller program, and because many of the courses require a smaller student to instructor ration and FTE numbers, we are in the grouping of programs that are closer to the top of the chopping block in order to make up the budget shortfalls we are having.  In order keep the program running and off the block, we need to have adequate majors and graduation numbers and produce the FTE required to kepe the program. 

I am curious if anyone has ideas on ways you recruite students that you can share.  Are there any recruitment strategies that work especially well?  Given our location, we are able to offer an outdoor experience unlike most of the country.  We have access to all kinda of oppertunities and rarely ever see other visitors when we are out. 

I am searching to find if there are other programs that have the same issues, and if there are ways in which you recruit that we might be able to use here.

 

Keith McC