York Admissions is hosting an e-recruitment first. They have invited more than 15,000 newly admitted students to the University’s first-ever E-Party, to be held Saturday, April 24, 2-5pm; Monday, April 26, 7-9:30pm; and Wednesday, April 28, 7-9:30pm.
According to a current Pew Internet Report, young people between 16 and 22 years of age spend an average of 16.7 hours a week online. They turn to the Internet for entertainment, information and a sense of community. As well as being online, 70 per cent of them are busy “hypertasking”, according to a BIGResearch report. They listen to radio, surf online, read newspapers or magazines and watch TV – all at the same time. How to reach them? By getting on the same bandwidth.
In partnership with York’s nine undergraduate faculties and campus service departments (Housing, Financial Services, Career Centre and Alumni Services), Admissions is planning three days of fun multimodal events: online chats, a call-in radio show with York radio CHRY (students can listen online too), an interactive game, a selection of multimedia lectures, student diaries and photo galleries and more.
By offering such an array of events, Admissions hopes to capture the attention of the hypertaskers and to encourage them to confirm their interest in York as their preferred university choice. The E-Party events offer students an interactive York experience – everything from academics to student life. This is a perfect opportunity to help them connect to the University and to hear that representatives of the York community are here to help them get involved, get comfortable and succeed.
Exclusive E-Party events include:
- Seventeen online chats with Admission professionals, professors, current York students and staff from student service areas such as Housing, Financial Services and the Career Centre;
- Lecture Lounge – Taped mini-lectures by York professors to give students a glimpse of how a university class really runs;
- Call-in show with CHRY, featuring professors and current students answering questions about life at York;
- Freeze Frame – Real student photo diaries created by a group of current York students;
- Wide World of York – Photo galleries of York students who have been on international exchanges;
- Online freebies – One York screensaver and four e-cards to choose from;
- York Trivia Game
Admissions has been hosting online chats for several years now. The recent participation rate in Admissions’ online chats have been exceptional. In January, more than 300 prospective students logged on for a two-hour chat with Admissions representatives. The quality of exchanges between chatters was excellent and the goodwill generated toward York priceless. On April 16, International Recruitment hosted a three-hour chat attended by more than 100 students from 25 countries around the world. For an international audience, chats are a perfect way to connect with York from the comfort of home – whether home is a maison in Marseille, a bungalow in Birmingham or a casa in Cordoba.
The York community is invited to bookmark the events Web site and join the E-Party on any or all of the three days.