Changes planned for next Oberlin Viewbook

Input from first-years and prospective students

Administration and admissions, with the help of the Office of Communications, are planning to change the viewbook for 1997-98.

The viewbooks are evaluated and changed on a regular basis. The recruitment materials currently in use were last modified five years ago. These current materials will be used in 1996 and 1997 with only changes in tuition, student population and other varying figures.

The process of changing the viewbook is still in its initial stages of planning. The present viewbook is currently under analysis.

Some of Director of Communications Al Moran's assessment of the viewbook, he said, is done while traveling to high schools on recruitment trips.

In the casual atmosphere provided by these trips, Moran gives 30 different viewbooks to high school juniors and seniors. While eating pizza and drinking soda with these high-schoolers, Moran is able to determine which characteristics appeal to students and which are turn-offs.

The College is also seeking input from the student body and campus community. "We need perspective," Moran said.

According to Moran, the viewbook and other related materials are an important part of the recruitment process. One part of the recruitment materials is the search piece, which is the card prospective students fill out and return requesting more information and an application.

Oberlin's response rate to the search piece is 20 percent. Other American colleges and universities have an average response rate of 11 percent.

Approximately 78 percent of incoming first-years surveyed at the beginning of the year considered the viewbook an important factor when making their decision to attend Oberlin.

Student and faculty committees will be formed to express their opinions regarding the change. The Office of Communications will create the viewbook from the synthesis of the different inputs.

"I'm not going to push the buttons, I'm going to be one of the buttons being pushed," Moran said.

The process of changing the viewbook will be expensive, according to Moran.