Positive experiences turn campers into students at WVU

Stories | WVU Today | West Virginia University

Not only are West Virginia
University’s Engineering
Challenge Camps a great way to introduce students to the possibilities in
STEM-related fields, they also serve as a great recruiting tool for the Statler College.

“The camps act as a recruitment tool because campers have
the opportunity to spend a week on campus learning about all the exciting things
happening at WVU engineering,” said Cate
Schlobohm, Statler College outreach program coordinator. “For many campers,
this is their first time on a college campus, so the camps help take away some
of the mystery of what it’s like to go away to college.”

Before attending the College’s Growing Roots in STEM Camp in
2014, and the Engineering in Action Camp in 2015, neither Heather Joyce of
Wadestown, or Abigail Osborne of Hurricane, had ever stepped foot on the WVU campus.


“I’ve always been interested in the University and even
though I lived close to Morgantown I hadn’t really toured the campus or any of the
buildings,” Joyce said. “Attending the camp really allowed me to see that the
people that go to school here and work for the University are all extremely encouraging
and it gave me a feel for what WVU was all about.”

The campers spent a week on campus being immersed in
engineering activities. They constructed planes, created cardboard canoes and learned
about the variety of jobs that engineers do. The experience inspired both women
to pursue engineering degrees at WVU.

“My camping experience definitely influenced my college
decision,” Osborne said. “At first I thought I really did not want to attend
WVU but after such a positive camp experience and an inviting campus tour WVU
seemed like the place for me.”

After enrolling in the fall of 2016, the campers were connected
through a roommate matching portal that the University offers to incoming freshmen.
They discovered that ...

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