The Students of Today at Penn State’s School of Forest Resources
Location
Peavy/Richardson Halls
Event Website
http://uenr.forestry.oregonstate.edu/
Start Date
3-15-2008 11:00 AM
End Date
3-15-2008 11:30 AM
Description
Today’s “typical” School of Forest Resources’ (SFR) student is more difficult to describe than he or she may have been 20 years ago. The reason being, we face a much more assorted student population than we have in the past. Our three majors and 8 options are a testament to this dynamic group of young people. A recent study by the university describes today’s “millennial students” as: “racially and ethnically diverse, extremely independent, optimistic, and heavily influenced by peers and parents.” Millennial students are further portrayed as “adaptable, efficient, tolerant, confident, impatient, skeptical, blunt, and image-driven.” Do these descriptors apply to our SFR students? Yes, some of them, but all told, a forest resources student is a “horse of a different color.” It is clear that recruitment efforts targeting both new and traditional undergraduate populations must continue to evolve. Our School has managed to increase its enrollments while we continue to hear of the continued struggle that many programs face in maintaining undergraduate numbers. The success our program can be accredited to several factors. We are part of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State, which allows us to collaborate with several departments and pull together greater recruitment ideas and resources. Our department actively recruits from the Division of Undergraduate Studies at Penn State and maintains strong ties with Associate programs in Forest Technology and Wildlife Technology. Our main recruitment materials include web sites, fliers, and brochures. We make personal contacts throughout the recruitment process. We continue to focus efforts towards advising and retention all the way through the undergraduate experience. We pride on excellent job placement and a quality curriculum and we perform exit interviews to evaluate our progress in these areas, making improvements wherever necessary.
The Students of Today at Penn State’s School of Forest Resources
Peavy/Richardson Halls
Today’s “typical” School of Forest Resources’ (SFR) student is more difficult to describe than he or she may have been 20 years ago. The reason being, we face a much more assorted student population than we have in the past. Our three majors and 8 options are a testament to this dynamic group of young people. A recent study by the university describes today’s “millennial students” as: “racially and ethnically diverse, extremely independent, optimistic, and heavily influenced by peers and parents.” Millennial students are further portrayed as “adaptable, efficient, tolerant, confident, impatient, skeptical, blunt, and image-driven.” Do these descriptors apply to our SFR students? Yes, some of them, but all told, a forest resources student is a “horse of a different color.” It is clear that recruitment efforts targeting both new and traditional undergraduate populations must continue to evolve. Our School has managed to increase its enrollments while we continue to hear of the continued struggle that many programs face in maintaining undergraduate numbers. The success our program can be accredited to several factors. We are part of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State, which allows us to collaborate with several departments and pull together greater recruitment ideas and resources. Our department actively recruits from the Division of Undergraduate Studies at Penn State and maintains strong ties with Associate programs in Forest Technology and Wildlife Technology. Our main recruitment materials include web sites, fliers, and brochures. We make personal contacts throughout the recruitment process. We continue to focus efforts towards advising and retention all the way through the undergraduate experience. We pride on excellent job placement and a quality curriculum and we perform exit interviews to evaluate our progress in these areas, making improvements wherever necessary.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cuenr/7thBiennial/Sessions/30
Comments
Session #8: Making Learning Count: Outcomes and Assessment. Presentation for 7th Biennial Conference on University Education in Natural Resources, March 13-15, 2008, Corvallis, Oregon. Featured in the ScholarsArchive@OSU in Oregon State University. Suggested Citation: Murphy, Jamie. 2008. The students of today at Penn State’s School of Forest Resources. UENR 7th Biennial Conference, ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University. http://hdl.handle.net/1957/8332