Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 13, 1995 TAG: 9504130055
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
Wednesday, though, Radford University flip-flopped the tactic, taking its recruiting efforts to the cafeteria inside Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corp.'s plant in search of employees who might want to further their education.
Wednesday's "College Day" recruitment efforts were Radford University's first foray onto the site of an industry. According to the woman in charge of the effort, it was time well spent.
By one estimate, at least 200 people had talked to school representatives by lunchtime, said Adlyn Hicks, coordinator of adult learning services in the office of continuing education at Radford. "We've had tremendous interest."
Hicks came up with the idea this past winter as a way to reach older, career-involved people who might not take the time to come to Radford to seek information on academic programs. She spoke of the university's "adult degree program," aimed at older potential students who might want to finish an education they began earlier in life, or who might want to pursue a first-time degree or individual courses.
"There is a market out there for nontraditional students," Hicks said, as Volvo GM employees munched on burgers, salads and other cafeteria fare a few feet away. It may prove difficult to quantify the success of the recruitment effort, she said. Interested people might not actually come to the school for a year or two.
But with a full-time jobs, families to raise and other responsibilities of the adult world, these potential students have more difficulty fulfilling an education - even to the point of finding out their opportunities in the first place.
"People will approach education when they're ready," she said. "The point is to get them to the table."
That point was being made from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
John Costain, a sales engineer with Volvo GM, picked up a book on graduate programs. "I've been thinking about getting my master's [in business administration] for a while. I was just seeing if I could fit it into my schedule."
Volvo GM agreed to the program because it's a way of offering more educational opportunities to employees, said Glen King, who helps train employees in the company's "total quality management" approach and coordinates the company's tuition reimbursement program.
Though the company will reimburse employees 80 percent of the cost of taking college courses, few workers have taken advantage of the opportunity, she said.
"We're trying to change the culture of our organization to a learning culture instead of a working culture," King said.
by CNB