Keeping Campus Visits Attuned to Change: The Experience at a Large Public University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Spring 2010
Abstract
Many factors affect an institution's ability to provide campus visitors a high-quality experience: traffic, parking deterrents, street people, navigation mazes, concrete facades, and political agendas, among others. These challenges can be particularly significant for large public, metro, or suburban institutions. Changes as simple as the relocation of campus offices can raise significant challenges. Similar factors have had an impact on KSU, Georgia's third largest university. These dynamics reconfigured the "One-Stop Shop" Enrollment Services model previously in place and have particularly strained the Office of Admissions in its efforts to provide prospective students and the general public with meaningful campus visits. This article is a case study about how Kennesaw State University (KSU) met the challenges of institutional change in managing its campus visitation program. Relocation of an office of admissions off the main campus created a need to reevaluate and reconfigure the campus visitation program. This case study provides useful generalizations and suggestions for other universities.