Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 22, 1995 TAG: 9508220100
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Savvy college recruiters know there's a growing audience of computer-literate teens surfing the Internet. Why not catch them in the Web as they scan their screens for college information?
A means of communicating via computers similar to the Internet, the Web has exploded in the past few years. Now, experts say, most universities and large businesses have Web home pages similar to often in-depth advertisements or computerized pamphlets.
``There's a lot of future on the Web, especially when it comes to attracting students,'' said Dave Blount, assistant director for marketing communications at Sweet Briar College, which has had a Web home page since May. ``You can get a pretty good idea of what a college is about by what their Web page looks like.''
About 55 public schools and 11 school systems across the state have Web pages on Virginia's Public Education Network.
Any public-school employee or private-school educator can get a computer account on the network, said Joe Auliono, director of management information systems for the Virginia Department of Education.
``I don't know of any educational facility that isn't encouraging use of the World Wide Web,'' Auliono said. ``It's like having access on your desk to every library in the world.''
There are several selling points for college recruitment via computer. The Web supports ``browsers,'' computer programs that allow graphics and data to be displayed. It's relatively cheap and easy to use. Simply key in the name or address of a home page and be greeted by a colorful screen blending pictures with text. Click the mouse on a link button, and it's off to another screen for more information or pictures.
And because technology is moving steadily forward, colleges can't afford to be left behind.
``It's at the point now that it's just snowballing,'' said Conny Roussos, director of computing services for Lynchburg College. ``These days, you have to have a decent Web page out there. If you're not out there, you're conspicuous by your absence.''
Limited only by the number of computers that allow connections and use browsers to decipher the Web language, the Web's graphic abilities and the ever-increasing speed of technology make up for the restriction.
The page ``will never be complete; it's a constantly changing, evolving thing,'' Liberty University's Will Sampson said, adding that in the month since he and his co-workers established the school's Web site, they have received 18 e-mails from prospective students.
Yolanda Reid, software-support specialist at Randolph-Macon Woman's College, said the school's Web page has been successful in international recruiting.
``We've gotten responses from Japan, China and from all over the United States,'' she said.
by CNB