TULANE TALK

November 3, 2006

Good Morning:

It is still very early in the recruiting season, but there are several positive signs as we begin the first steps in assembling a new class for fall 2007.

Inquiries from prospective students are coming in at a higher rate than ever before and actual applications are coming in at a rate that is on pace with pre-Katrina years. Indeed, in last weekís Wall Street Journal the president of a company that assists students in getting into the nationís most selective universities said she is telling her clients that Tulane is a “good bet” for them.

We welcome such endorsements and on November 12 we are looking forward to welcoming approximately 300 prospective students and their parents from across the country to a special on-campus open house. The event will include campus tours, a question and answer session and an address by me and Reed Kroloff, dean of our School of Architecture. This is the last in a series of such events we have had this semester.

To bolster our recruiting efforts, our admissions office redesigned its web site and produced two new DVDs and a brochure targeted directly to parent’s reservations about sending their students to Tulane. You can view the video at http://www.tulane.edu/~admiss/parents/video.html

We’ve also begun a series of Internet live chats through which prospective students and parents can ask me and other administrators any questions they have regarding Tulane. Weíll host the first fall chat this Sunday, November 5 at 7 p.m. To submit your own question visit http://www.tulane.edu/~admiss/livechat.html

In addition to our web presence, our admission counselors are also crisscrossing the country to visit prospective students face-to- face in their hometowns. Plus we are flying in more than 100 guidance counselors from high schools around the country. These counselors spend two days on campus with faculty and students and also tour the Lower 9th Ward. These counselors, who are influential in guiding students in their college choices, then become ambassadors who can offer the truth about Tulane and New Orleans.

It won’t happen overnight but I have every confidence that these efforts, combined with Tulaneís stellar academic reputation and the enduring charm of our city, will enable us to regain the title given us by the Kaplan/Newsweek College Guide before Katrina: “one of the countryís hottest schools.”

Have a great weekend,