Not even one of the biggest hurricanes in the country's history could stop the Tulane University admissions staff from continuing its job in recruiting prospective students for the class of 2010.
The undergraduate admissions staff took only four days off before resuming the search for a new group of freshmen, but it is unclear whether the effort will turn out a class on par with those of years past.
"Under the circumstances, we have done reasonably well," Tulane Vice President for Enrollment Management Richard Whiteside said. "We were the first piece of the University that was up and running" after Hurricane Katrina.
The school's admissions office has been relocated to an office building in Richmond, Va., and restarted normal business operations Sept. 6.
The school, which hopes to reopen this spring, is planning on a full class of 1,600 incoming freshmen for next fall.
"The rest of the university recovery is taking place in Houston, so one of the advantages of being here is that we can focus totally on undergraduate admissions," Whiteside said, noting that most other administrators are in Texas for the time being.
The admissions staff has been living in an extended-stay hotel in Richmond, and staff members have been working between 12 and 15 hours a day to maintain their business.
"It's like Camp Admissions. We're all in the same hotel, we all eat breakfast together. Coordinating is very easy," Whiteside said.
But they cannot give campus tours. And that's a major disadvantage in the recruiting game.
They also lack supplemental materials that can help sell the school to prospective students.
These materials were lost in a warehouse that was located in New Orleans, but Whiteside said that much work has been done to restore this aspect of the process.
"Many of those [brochures and pamphlets] will be out in around two weeks," he said.
In terms of face-to-face recruiting, it will be business as usual for the admissions staff members. They will be traveling and hosting 73 regional visits as well as attending various college fairs.
Despite the admissions office's best efforts, some college counselors believe that the drastic effects of the hurricane will have an impact on recruiting success.
"Some prospective students will cross Tulane off their college lists, not merely because they can't tour the campus, sit in on classes or stay overnight in a dorm this fall, but also due to safety concerns," college counselor and contributing editor at collegeconfidential.com Sally Rubenstone said.
Rubenstone added that crime, as well as future natural disaster threats, may also deter prospective students.
Whiteside said that the school has already received over 2,000 applications -- most of which arrived during the past few weeks, after Katrina struck. He said that the school will be "employing the same admissions standard" in reviewing all applicants.
"I think that students understand that even though there has been a terrible tragedy, it still will be a great learning experience here," Whiteside said. "Where else can you see a city being rebuilt in the course of several years?"
Rubenstone also feels that the school will still be able to attract a good number of students.
"As tragic as it was, Katrina put the university on a lot of high schoolers' TV screens, and thus on their 'radar screens,' too," Rubenstone said. "Tulane is sure to get applications from those who wouldn't have considered it, or who hadn't even heard of it, six months ago," she said, adding that the school might attract some students who want to take part in the rebuilding process, both on campus and in the city of New Orleans.
