Bob Burk

Open house attracts
record crowd of students

by Joe King

NIU open house programs continued their record-setting ways Monday, Feb. 16, bringing 1,845 students and parents to the Presidents’ Day event.

“Every open house we have held this year has set a new record,” said Director of Admissions Bob Burk, noting that attendance has been growing steadily for several years.

The Presidents’ Day event, historically the smallest open house of the year, is now attracting crowds to rival the largest number drawn to any open house just a few years ago.

“The 1,845 we drew this month was bigger than any of the groups that attended the Columbus Day or Veterans Day open houses as recently as 2001-02,” Burk said.

The size of the crowd did not catch organizers by surprise.

Based on the huge turnout at events earlier in the year, the committee made adjustments such as adding shuttle buses to and from the Convocation Center (where visitors parked) and creating handouts to give attendees a better idea of the opportunities available to them on campus that day.

“The committee that puts these events together does an outstanding job,” Burk said. “The folks who do all the work – Richard Tom, Crystal Worrell, Cindy Carls, Chris Porterfield, Tim Trottier, Mike Stang and Bill Finucane – are always looking for ways to improve the process and keep things moving smoothly.”

While the Feb. 16 event went smoothly, Burk said he worries that available resources might become overtaxed if the crowds get much larger.

“The one we had in October was almost too big. We made some adjustments and could handle it, but we were almost overwhelmed. We’re not quite there yet, but we may have to start limiting attendance at these events if we keep seeing this kind of growth,” he said.

The reasons behind the increased attendance seem to come down largely to an improving perception of NIU throughout the primary service region, said Crystal Worrell, senior assistant director of admissions.

“For the last several years we have seen applications increase due largely to the improving reputation of our academic programs across the board,” Worrell said. “Because of that growth, graduating seniors know a lot of people here, and they are hearing good things. Add to that the recent success of the football team, and NIU is the place to be right now.”

Indeed, Admissions had to start a waiting list for applicants in early January, but that has done little to slow the incoming tide.

Applications remain up 25 percent (3,500) compared to last year, which was a record year in its own right. Making this growth all the more remarkable is that the number of high school seniors in the state remained almost unchanged from last year, so the increase cannot be attributed to changing demographics.

The trend toward more applications apparently will continue into next year.

Many of those attending the Feb. 16 open house were high school juniors getting a jump on their college search and, if historical trends hold, 75 percent of those who visited campus will apply.

“It’s been a great year,” Burk said. “The level of interest has created its own series of challenges, but they are good problems to have.”

2-23-04