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Lights, Camera, Promotion
This past spring, 15 students got together to produce a CD promoting LAS's freshmen-only Learning Communities program because, they say, the program gave them an edge in college.
Surviving the first year of college is usually enough of a challenge for freshmen. But this past year, 15 freshmen in LAS decided they were already sufficiently grounded at the Big U to pass along some survival tactics to even newer students. Members of the college's two-year-old Learning Communities program teamed up for 12 weeks to write, edit, and produce a promotional CD to be shipped to 3,000 incoming freshmen, extolling the merits of the program they credit with getting them off to a strong start in college.
"Learning Communities was an all-around great experience," says Pooja Goyal, explaining why her community took on the project. "Being freshmen we remembered what we cared about as high school students and figured we'd know what to say to incoming students and how to say it."
Learning Communities is a first-semester program for freshmen designed to make them feel at home on campus. Enrollment is voluntary, and students who sign up for it are instantly part of a "community" of 18 freshmen who attend two classes together as well as a weekly group meeting. The meetings are informal yet effective in building a common bond among the students, who frequently turn to their communities for support. A junior or senior honors student acts as the group's mentor. Aziz Patel served this role for the Learning Communities that produced the CD. And it was during one of their weekly meetings that the CD idea was hatched.
"We thought it'd be a cool thing to do and we were the right ones to do it," says Patel. The project was unique because the students weren't acting at the bequest of LAS. The idea, as well as the responsibility for its execution, was entirely theirs.
In previous years, LAS had mailed brochures about the program to incoming freshmen. To convince the college to gamble on a new strategy with untried talent, the students did some legwork. Patel researched the cost of CDs and persuaded the software company Macromedia to donate editing software. Patel's father loaned the group a digital video camera, and Mike Braden, the group's quick-study videographer, persuaded the popular band 311 to allow the use of one of their songs on the CD.
Then, in a 24-hour burst of creativity the group prepared a "proof-of-concept" demo, complete with music, graphics, and text that quickly won over college administrators.
"I thought it was extraordinary," says Charles Stewart, an executive associate dean in LAS who approved the project. "The energy that came through in the demo made me think that this just may work."
Harnessing that creative energy was the next challenge. Timelines were established, assignments distributed. To simplify the project, the students narrowed their focus to producing only the splashy video introduction, using a movie preview format as their inspiration for form and content. The detailed program information on the CD was adapted from existing information on the college's website.
The group wasn't completely on their own. College administrators stepped in a few times. Once they nixed a pill-popping metaphor the group had borrowed from the movie Matrix. Another time they vetoed cutting the CD in the shape of a Block I. "That was an economic decision," says Stewart. "It would have thrown the project way over budget." Alumni from a marketing firm offered feedback, and LAS hired a graphic artist to design the CD case and a videographer to help with the video editing when the deadline ran into trouble.
Exceeding all expectations was the level of camaraderie the project reached. Patel says the experience taught him about leadership, which will serve him well in the workplace. "You have to be dedicated, and when you keep on asking for more, people keep on giving." Tim Wei exemplifies those students who kept on giving. Wei designed the video's graphics and programmed them, giving up his spring break to learn a complicated editing software. After three nail-biting months, the CD went off to production.
The results? Figures show that enrollment in Learning Communities will surpass 700 students, which is higher than last year. Informal surveys conducted during orientation indicate that students were impressed by what they saw. "Definitely cool" was a typical response, especially in regard to the graphics and music. The high school students also liked the testimonials by Learning Community members. Said one respondent: "Their comments made the program sound like fun, like something I'd want to be involved with."
This year all Learning Communities will be asked to take on group projects, although these will be related to their course work and probably far simpler than a CD.
By Holly Korab
Summer 2001