The Internet generation expects to find information online, andThe University of Memphis is in step with them by giving sixstudents a forum and a camera to chronicle their freshman year.
The students were hand-picked to represent a wide range of U ofM students, said Alison Masilak, electronic communicationcoordinator and creator of the Freshman Diaries project.
The popularity of reality television has organizations like theU.S. Army using reality Web sites to recruit, and universities arefollowing suite.
Universities are looking for new ways to provide and deliverinformation in ways computer-savvy students expect, and theInternet has become a definite venue for this.
The Freshmen Diaries project aims to capture the feel of areality TV program as well as a year in the life of a freshman,said Masilak, who said she hopes the project will act as arecruitment tool.
Prospective students can log onto The University's Web site toview the diaries, giving them an idea of what U of M life is allabout.
"It really helps prospective students know more about studentlife at The U of M," said Bill Akey, assistant provost forenrollment services. "And current students can get more involved byseeing the diaries."
Every year, more and more students go online to make enrolmentdecisions, so universities must deliver that information in arelevant manner, Akey said.
Students who do not live in Memphis can get a glimpse of thestudents and events at The U of M, Akey said.
It would be foolish, Akey added, for The U of M to ignore theInternet as a recruitment tool, given the growth of online classesand class resources. The U of M will also take a more active rolein Web growth by hosting the Tennessee Board of Regents OnlineDegree Program beginning at the end of the year, essentiallybecoming the information hub for all TBR schools.
Anna-Marie Tinsley, a freshman education major and one of thesix freshmen in the program, used the Internet to researchdifferent universities.
Tinsley, from Humboldt, Tenn., is an example of how the freshmendiaries can be of help to students who do not live in Memphis.
"I would use them to see how different campuses were like" andto get a feel for the campus life, Tinsley said.
She has written about her new college experience, balancing timeand missing class. Other students in the program write aboutfinding new friends and participating in Frosh Camp, a camp forincoming freshman.
Once online, the diaries will be updated with weekly highlightssubmitted by the six freshmen.
