Graduate fair helps students look toward future
Many students crossed the threshold into their futures at the graduate school fair Wednesday, Oct. 29. The fair, held in the TSC Ballroom, had displays from 96 different programs and served as a way for graduate school hopefuls to compare what these schools have to offer.
Seven years ago, USU opened its graduate fair and was the first in the state to do so, said Donna Crow, director of Career Services. Today, USU is part of a circuit, along with all of the major universities in Utah. Graduate schools that hope to recruit students from Utah pay one fee and are able to attend the five different fairs that occur throughout the state during the Graduate Fair Week, she said.
Since the economy is slower than usual, Career Services expects an increase in the amount of students that continue their education through graduate school, Crow said. And with more schools attending than in years past, Randy Jensen, assistant director of Career Services, said he hoped students would take advantage of the event.
“The main point is to provide options for students who are interested in grad school,” Jensen said. “An event of this size is a great opportunity.”
“These fairs are just the bargain of a century,” said Robert Schmidt, professor in the College of Natural Resources. “The amount of time that students save from not having to research these universities separately is incredible.”
Crow said it would be very difficult to research each of these universities on the Internet. She said many students get frustrated with the impersonality the Internet evokes. Crow said the Graduate Fair is advantageous to students because they have the opportunity to meet personally with recruitment officers and collegiate representatives.
“Having a name to follow-up with is critical,” Crow said. “There’s nothing better than having an individual that you know is working in your behalf.”
Many universities from the state of Utah were in attendance, along with many others from around the nation. The University of Utah was trying to recruit students into its many programs, offering students a slight change in environment compared to what they may have experienced at USU.
“We can offer students a lot of real world experience on campus and off since we are near the heart of downtown business centers,” said Sue Young, University of Utah adviser for professional masters of business and accounting. “Utah State and the University of Utah are both great schools and we see good students that come from USU and go onto our programs.”
USU had many displays showing different graduate programs offered locally, as well. One of these included USU’s graduate interior design program
“The skills required are different than any other program,” said interior design graduate instructor Steven Mansfield. “It is very competitive. We only have three or four accepted each year.”
Victor Harris, lecturer and coordinator of family life studies online at USU, said he felt recruiting at the graduate school fair was beneficial because most of their graduate students are USU almuni. The Family Life Studies graduate program at USU has their marketing tailored to current USU students because they are the most likely to apply to the program, he said.
“We are looking for those that are professionaly oriented,” Harris said. “We target students in our undergraduate programs who we think would be successful.”
Thunderbird, Rosalind Franklin, Creighton and Purdue University were among the many out-of-state universities that attended the fair.
Brandon Andrusic, graduate admissions counselor for the University of Southern Maine, said he traveled so far to recruit students because they have a consistent population of students from Utah in their graduate programs.
“We routinely get students from Utah into our programs and saw this as an opportunity. Why not recruit and expand on that?” Adrusic said.
Andrusic said students from Utah have certain skills, besides being high achieving, that help set them apart.
“Utah students are very community focused, which dovetail well with our university’s values,” he said.
This was the third year Jensen ran the event and he said he found it rewarding.
“I’ve enjoyed the turnout and response that we’ve gotten from people,” Jensen said. “This will affect their future and I hope students take away the value of this event.”
The Graduate Fair was the first of five fairs that will be running throughout the year. The other four are the MBA Fair and the Teacher Fair, which are both held in Salt Lake, the Tech Expo which will be held in the TSC Ballroom on Nov. 6 and the Premier Career Fair which will be celebrating its 20th anniversary of being the biggest career fair in the state this coming spring.
–beck.turner@aggiemail.usu.edu