Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Nearly 15,000 high school students will be named National Merit Finalists before the end of February. It is Gail Sherron’s job to persuade them to come to the University of Kansas.
Sherron, associate director of the KU Office of Admissions and Scholarships, is in charge of high-ability recruitment, which includes bringing National Merit Scholars to the University. The OAS will continue to court students throughout the spring through weekly correspondence and campus visits.
“We’re keeping KU in the forefront of their minds,” Sherron said. “We are the premier institution for the state.”
The OAS’s hands-on approach to recruitment has accelerated in the past four years. The University’s merit scholar recruitment peaked five years ago, when 102 scholars joined the class of 2006. This year, there are 35 scholars. Sherron said a change in the scholarship prize was responsible for the decrease in recruitment.
Before 2003, scholars were awarded the equivalent of 30 credit hours and room and board in a scholarship hall. Now they are awarded a flat scholarship of $10,000 per year for four years.
Kelly Jenkins, Columbus, Ohio, junior and merit scholar, has had to find a campus job to supplement her scholarship prize. She said that this causes a strain on her grade point average, which must remain at 3.25 or higher to retain her scholarship.
“I think that scholarships should be raised equivalently to the amount that tuition is raised,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins received better scholarship offers at Michigan State University and Ohio State University, but declined because she wanted to go to school away from home and the University had her major of choice: architectural engineering.
Sherron said that budgetary concerns prevented the scholarship from increasing, and that OAS relied on the Kansas University Endowment Association for funds.
“They’re the parent, and they’re giving us an allowance,” Sherron said.
Sherron said that the University had more intangible benefits to students, other than money, although she said that funding was a legitimate concern.
“There’s a sense of tradition here, whether it’s sports or living in Corbin because your mother and grandmother lived there,” Sherron said.
Most students in consideration for the National Merit Scholarships won’t make formal decisions until April, Sherron said. Until then, OAS plans on contacting potential recruits once a week by sending them personalized letters and trinkets such as pens, highlighters and magnets.
A scholars’ weekend is planned for March. The OAS and Honors Program will offer backstage visits to the Spencer Museum of Art and the Lied Center to prospective recruits. Sherron said that even though the University maintained contact with students, there was no pressure to make a decision before April.
“We’re not going to push a student to make a decision,” Sherron said. “When students make college decisions, it’s for a variety of reasons.”
—Edited by Russell Davies
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