UNC recruitment on track despite budget cuts

The admissions office has made minor spending changes in a tight budget year, but administrators said recruitment is staying on track in part through other UNC organizations’ help.

Stephen Farmer, associate director of undergraduate admissions, said the admissions office has seen smaller cuts — about 10 percent — than other areas of UNC .

“We feel we’ve been treated pretty well by the University,” Farmer said. “On the whole, we’ve come out pretty good.”

The state budget, which was handed down at the beginning of August, cuts about $37.5 million from UNC. The cuts hit almost every department.

Farmer said the cut to the admissions office was not as substantial as other departments.

The office also took precautions before the cuts and have continued to practice those measures.

“We’re going to have to work harder than we have before and we’re going to have to be smarter than we’ve been before,” Farmer said.

The office has begun using more e-mail and fewer staff members for recruiting events to cut spending.

They also reduced travel funds, which could hurt the UNC’s ability to recruit out-of-state students, about 20 percent of students.

“We are going to continue what’s been a trend of trying to get students to come to campus rather than go to them,” Farmer said.

Recruiting for free

Farmer added that many organizations both on and off campus have been helpful in reducing official recruitment costs.

Farmer said the General Alumni Association has aided in the recruiting process, dispatching volunteer out-of-state alumni to college fairs and talking with admitted students to ensure they choose UNC instead of other schools.

Doug Dibbert, association president, said members have been working with the admissions office in a variety of ways.

“One of those is admitted student receptions across the state,” Dibbert said. “We bring students with us and usually have a faculty speaker and a student speaker. The thrust of it is to address questions they may have to encourage them to come to Carolina.”

Other organizations helping the admissions office include the Board of Visitors, the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs and the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid. The admissions office has also used hundreds of student volunteers to recruit over the phone.

The Board of Visitors, a group of unpaid ambassadors to the University from around the country, began a committee for student recruitment last year.

The board worked with the admissions office to help recruit about 150 admitted students. Michael Kennedy, the board’s chairman, said the members are able to pay their own travel expenses.

“The budget cuts are not going to affect out-of-state admissions much for what the Board of Visitors is doing,” Kennedy said. “We’re contacting kids on our own time.”


Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.