Posted 8:38 p.m. Thursday, July 14, 2011
The percentage of UW-L students of color has increased steadily over the last 10 years. That’s in part due to some long-range planning by UW-L Admissions.
[caption id="attachment_4304" align="alignright" width="400" caption="Mary Leonard, UW-L associate professor in the Department of Theatre Arts, talks to students about acting."]
[/caption]The percentage of UW-La Crosse students of color has increased steadily over the last 10 years. That’s in part due to some long-range planning by UW-L Admissions.
Admissions staff start talking to prospective students about college as early as middle school. They’ve reached out to an ethnically diverse and academically strong middle school in Milwaukee, Rufus King Middle School, in recent years.
A group of 50 students from the middle school visited campus on July 11-12.
“Basically we are trying to plant the seed early,” says Kathy Kiefer, UW-L director of Admissions.
Recruiting multicultural students has been a long-term goal at UW-L. In fall 2001, 4.8 percent of students were students of color. By fall 2010, that number was 7.4 percent, according to UW System data.
[caption id="attachment_4307" align="alignright" width="400" caption="On July 11-12 middle school students visited UW-L from Rufus King Middle School in Milwaukee. The school is both ethnically diverse and academically strong. "]
[/caption]Kiefer hopes getting middle school students from ethnically diverse areas acquainted with UW-L will help those numbers continue to rise.
“We want to start talking to kids about college,” says Kiefer. “We wanted to talk to them about the importance good grades and behavior in middle school, and introduce them to college life.”
While on campus, the middle school students acted in a theatre class, learned about insects in biology, slept in a residence hall room, played at the Recreational Eagle Center and toured the campus while on a scavenger hunt, among other activities.
Rufus King Middle School opened in fall 2010. UW-L was interested in the middle school because it is a feeder school to Rufus King High School, an ethnically diverse school and “shining star” in the Milwaukee Public School District, explains Kiefer.
“The school has an excellent college prep curriculum for its students, and because of this we know students from there have a good likelihood of success on our campus,” she said.
UW-L has had a partnership with Rufus King High School for years. Faculty guests lecture at the school and students and staff from the high school visit UW-L. Now the campus hopes to strengthen the partnership with the middle school, getting more UW-L faculty and staff to visit there, and to offer continued visits to campus for students, said Kiefer.
Find more Rufus King Middle School visit photos on PIcasa.
[/caption]The percentage of UW-La Crosse students of color has increased steadily over the last 10 years. That’s in part due to some long-range planning by UW-L Admissions.
Admissions staff start talking to prospective students about college as early as middle school. They’ve reached out to an ethnically diverse and academically strong middle school in Milwaukee, Rufus King Middle School, in recent years.
A group of 50 students from the middle school visited campus on July 11-12.
“Basically we are trying to plant the seed early,” says Kathy Kiefer, UW-L director of Admissions.
Recruiting multicultural students has been a long-term goal at UW-L. In fall 2001, 4.8 percent of students were students of color. By fall 2010, that number was 7.4 percent, according to UW System data.
[caption id="attachment_4307" align="alignright" width="400" caption="On July 11-12 middle school students visited UW-L from Rufus King Middle School in Milwaukee. The school is both ethnically diverse and academically strong. "][/caption]Kiefer hopes getting middle school students from ethnically diverse areas acquainted with UW-L will help those numbers continue to rise.
“We want to start talking to kids about college,” says Kiefer. “We wanted to talk to them about the importance good grades and behavior in middle school, and introduce them to college life.”
While on campus, the middle school students acted in a theatre class, learned about insects in biology, slept in a residence hall room, played at the Recreational Eagle Center and toured the campus while on a scavenger hunt, among other activities.
Rufus King Middle School opened in fall 2010. UW-L was interested in the middle school because it is a feeder school to Rufus King High School, an ethnically diverse school and “shining star” in the Milwaukee Public School District, explains Kiefer.
“The school has an excellent college prep curriculum for its students, and because of this we know students from there have a good likelihood of success on our campus,” she said.
UW-L has had a partnership with Rufus King High School for years. Faculty guests lecture at the school and students and staff from the high school visit UW-L. Now the campus hopes to strengthen the partnership with the middle school, getting more UW-L faculty and staff to visit there, and to offer continued visits to campus for students, said Kiefer.
Find more Rufus King Middle School visit photos on PIcasa.