NU plans to recruit student in DOD overseas program

By Michael McIntyre
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Recruiting at Norwich University has become a global affair with the recent induction of the Department of Defense (DOD) program.

Although Norwich has always been a place which welcomes students from around the world, school officials are now making a point to use Europe as a major source of recruitment.

The DOD program, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, provides education to children of both military and civilian personnel. The students are primarily comprised of families that live on military bases.

"Our goal is to get 20 to 25 DOD students each year," said Karen McGrath, head of the Norwich financial aid.

The DOD educational system is the same as in United States. However, one opportunity that the DOD students miss out on is that of meeting with representatives from American colleges and visiting various university campuses to decide which institution to attend. This is something McGrath hopes Norwich will use to its advantage.

"I personally believe that the students attending DOD schools are a good fit for Norwich. They are used to small classes, self-contained environments, and military lifestyles," McGrath said.

The idea for recruiting DOD students originally came from an organization Bob Friske, head coach of Norwich's men's soccer team, took part in. Friske also runs the Olympic Development Program (ODP) in Vermont.

The ODP, a worldwide program, has teams made of players from DOD schools.

Because of his involvement in the ODP, Friske has managed to stay in touch with several student-athletes from DOD high schools.

"The type of setting in Europe is very similar to what Norwich is in the United States," Friske said.

In 1999 Karen McGrath, along with Norwich Head Football Coach Mike Yesalonia, went to Europe in hopes of recruiting DOD students.

"Out of seven of the students we met with, five ended up coming to Norwich," Yesalonia said.

In the spring of 2000, McGrath and Yesalonia once again traveled to Europe.

"We visited 15 different schools in both Italy and Germany from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1," McGrath said.

McGrath and Yesalonia were able to meet with students and their families in both group and one-on-one sessions.

"It worked out well; we were able to do a great presentation with all of the areas of what Norwich has to offer," Yesalonia said.

Between the two of them, they were able to represent all aspects of the University.

McGrath answered questions about academics, admissions, extracurricular activities, and financial aid.

Yesalonia, a former student and Norwich Corps of Cadets member, answered questions dealing with athletics, the corps, and the Alumni Association.

"By going over there and putting a face with the University, it really does a lot for the students," Yesalonia said.

Less than a month after the trip, applications from DOD students had already begun to arrive at Norwich.

According to Lathan Sutton, 20, a junior computer information systems major from Italy, recruiting from DOD schools is a good idea because "there are a lot of good players who go unnoticed due to their location."

Sutton, a former DOD high school student, stated that the student-athletes of DOD schools are all American kids, who only play sports against other Americans. So they are fully aware of how sports are organized and played in the states.

Sutton is currently on Norwich's football team, and is trying to assist Yesalonia in recruiting players from Italy.

The DOD program is comprised of 116 schools, organized into eight districts. There are approximately 48,000 students in 10 countries, including Bahrain, Belgium, England, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey.

"My goal is to cultivate the DOD schools as a new market for the University," McGrath said.

Back to Guidon index