The Lion’s Roar / Alex Brainard
Covington High School students (top)  toured Southeastern’s campus on Friday,  Mar. 4. The tour was given by 2016 Orientation Leaders Chadrick Jackson (above) and Daryl Julien. The Office of Admissions works closely with Orientation Leaders and recruitment counselors to increase the success and population of campus. Currently, Southeastern is ranked as the third largest public university in the state.

Southeastern is the third largest public university in Louisiana.  To reach this size, each year new high school students are introduced to the opportunities the university provides for their education.

One of the ways the university  accomplishes this goal is to conduct a year-long process to recruit high school students. Doing so is one of the best ways the university can continue to grow in size and academic success. The Office of Admissions works with student Orientation Leaders to hold tours throughout the year and present the campus to high school students who have an interest in applying to the university.

“It’s important for us to recruit high school students while they’re still in high school because it makes them become more focused on high school, it makes them have a goal to set,” said Chadrick Jackson, a 2016 orientation leader and freshman communication major. “They come here and go on a campus tour and figure ‘Okay, I want to go to college.’ They come looking at Southeastern and you make them feel comfortable. That way when they go back to school it gives a goal in mind, ‘Okay, I’m going to do good in high school and do good on tests.’ It makes them a focused student.”

Jackson feels it’s important to find common interests with the incoming students. It helps them ease into the college atmosphere.

“I’m only a second semester freshman so I’m not that too far out of high school myself,” said Jackson. “What I do is I try to keep it in a way they can relate to me. I tell them, ‘Yeah I was in your shoes just a year ago.’ I try to find something we have in common to make them comfortable.”

Tours and orientations make up a large part in what the Office of Admissions and orientation leaders go through in order to make sure the university successfully recruits new students to the university. A part of what makes these events so important is the information they provide for the newly incoming freshman. 

“We tell them what the school is about,” said 2016 orientation leader and freshman communication major Daryl Julien. “We tell them what we offer, what the criteria that’s offered is, the fun facts about the school, the good things about the school and the textbooks. That’s a big thing that persuades students, the fact that they don’t have to pay for the textbooks.”

Director of Admissions Mike Rivault makes sure students from all around the state have a chance to apply and learn about the university.

“There’s a variety of things that we do and it goes on all year,” said Rivault. “In the fall we’re heavily involved with going to college fairs which are where most universities set up a display and high school students come in. We go directly to high schools, and we have our recruiter counselors that are assigned high schools and regions. They visit with the high school guidance counselors and answer any questions they have and then meet with the students themselves.”

The process of orientation is annual. Every single new student, whether they are a freshman or a transfer student, has to go through orientation.