Albany State aggressively recruiting Dougherty County students

ALBANY — The Albany State University Office of Admissions and Enrollment made the first of four planned stops at Dougherty County’s high schools on Tuesday, launching the series with a visit to Westover High School.

The tour was set to visit Dougherty High Wednesday, but with classes at ASU and Dougherty canceled because of approaching storms, that visit will be rescheduled.

The tour, barring unforeseen circumstances, will pick up Thursday at Albany High, with a visit to Monroe High on Tuesday. All the events are to begin at 9 a.m. and last for two hours.

The purpose of the visits is to provide information and guidance to high school students about opportunities to study undergraduate programs at Albany State.

“We are here to promote our University after we looked at recruiting statics and saw we draw just 5 percent of our enrollment from the four Dougherty County High schools,” ASU Provost and VP for Academic Affairs Tau Kadhi said. “So far we have been to six high schools in our 26-county region and have shared the educational opportunities available at Albany State.

“We also want to expose the students to this opportunities and we have to do a better job promoting our career associates degree programs.”

ASU Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Retention B. Donta Truss said so far the regional tours are bearing fruit.

“We’ve increased our Move On When Ready Program enrollment by 145 students or by 66 percent overall,” Truss said. “So we are seeing signs of success.”

Thomas Thompson, interim dean of the College of Education, noted the university is now putting emphasis on recruitment of potential students.

“We have decided to become more aggressive in our recruiting efforts,” Thompson said. “We want these students to know that Albany State University is a viable option right here in their city. And these viable programs in their city can help them be all they can be.”

Thomson added his people are making a push for male education majors because females currently make of 90 percent of the students in the major.

To help boost ASU’s flagging enrollment numbers, ASU President Art Dunning says he plans to visit high schools across the state and possibly offer $500 scholarships to top students who attend in the fall.