By Audrey Werth/tr news editor

TR hosts event to match up students with universities

Although the event didn’t go as planned, TR’s University Speed Dating April 1-2 was successful, those involved declared.

Twelve universities attended, including the University of Texas at Arlington, Texas Woman’s University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech and Texas A&M, and students visited with the ones that interested them.

“We planned on having a big group, but it didn’t turn out that way,” said Veronica Suarez, a member of the TR Executive Class that organized the event. “It’s really been students trickling in one by one.”

Executive Class members said the little things that didn’t go as planned gave them a better idea of what to improve upon.

“Organizing the event was really fun,” class member Ingrid Guerrero said. “I learned a lot from the process, and Stevie [Blakely] and Laura [Escamilla] were really helpful.”

Blakely, leadership development center coordinator, worked with the students in the Executive Class leadership program to figure out what they needed to do to make the event happen.

They made materials for students to take as they signed in, including a list of possible questions, 10 transfer tips and a survey to find out how students responded to the event.

“We thought it was a good idea to give them [students] a list of questions because, for instance, students may just go to class every day without knowing if all of their classes will transfer,” Suarez said.

University representatives were happy to be involved with the event, saying it was an effective way to reach out to students.

“I got 10 cards yesterday, and for a typical table event, that’s pretty good,” Texas Wesleyan transfer counselor Amy Orcutt said.

Texas Tech regional recruitment officer Rex Oliver attended both days and said the event was successful.

“I got some great questions from TCC students and a lot of interest,” he said. “I would say our two most popular questions are ‘What scholarships are available?’ and ‘How will my credits transfer?’”

Melody Pitts, Western Governors University field representative, said it is important to attend these kinds of events to let students know about the school.

“Even if they don’t come ask for more information, they will see our name,” she said.

TR student Aimee Hernandez was glad she could meet with representatives from local universities, but her interest was not swayed from her top school.

“They were all really helpful,” she said. “They had answers to all of my questions — all of the answers I wanted, you could say. I’m still really interested in UTA, though.”

Student Rachel Delvalle was not as impressed by the event.

“It’s good, I guess,” she said. “I’d prefer more options because I’ve seen most of these [schools] before.”

Many of the representatives make a point to be on campus monthly or even more frequently but thought that a scheduled event was more effective than a typical table visit.

“This was actually a pleasant surprise for me,” Concordia admissions counselor Bruce Williams said. “I’m only here once a month, so I think this is a great event. It’s a good chance for students to shop around.”