Global Campus honored its recruitment team with an innovation award for an enrollment initiative that promotes online degree programs through a series of live and recorded informational webinars.

So far, recruiters — working with faculty — have scheduled and recorded almost a dozen recruitment webinars, beginning in April. The Global Campus used those recordings to promote online degree programs through YouTube, social media, email marketing and the U of A ONLINE website landing pages.

"Hundreds of prospective students either attended or watched the recordings of these sessions, and several people have used contact information within the webinar to follow up or have applied to the programs," said Will Hobbs, a recruiter at the Global Campus.

Global Campus presented the Lightbulb Award for innovation during the July staff meeting.

"This initiative brings a personal touch to recruitment efforts, connecting faculty with prospective students," said Patty Milner, who supervises the recruitment team. "Prospective students learn details from the faculty who are most familiar with those online programs and hear faculty answer their questions. It's personal, and it's authentic."

The webinars also explain how prospective students can reach out for help during the application process, said Milner, assistant vice provost for innovation and the online student experience.

"Receiving this award is a total TEAM effort," said Jeff Brazil, recruitment manager. "We have a great team and get a lot of help from other departments in the building. Global Campus supports the ability to be innovative."

Brazil also praised the faculty.

"We are also very thankful for all the program coordinators and professors who attended the webinars," Brazil said.

MEET THE RECRUITERS

The primary responsibility of Global Campus recruiters is to drive enrollments in online degree programs by participating in events where prospective students gather. In the last academic year, they traveled more than 31,800 miles, collectively.

Brazil joined Global Campus in September of 2024 as the recruitment manager. Prior to that, he worked with the U of A Women's Basketball program for 16 years.

Hobbs joined the team two months later.

"When I'm not on the road, I focus on projects that connect with prospective students in other ways, like the webinar series our whole recruitment team contributed to," Hobbs said. "I also pitch in on initiatives led by other teams, such as the Razorbug Diploma Tour, whenever I can."

Brett Reinert, the undergraduate admissions counselor for online students, also travels across Arkansas, dividing his time between recruitment events for online and on-campus programs.

ABOUT THE AWARD

Global Campus instituted the Lightbulb Award to honor staff members for outstanding innovation that goes above and beyond their routine job responsibilities. This award is open to appointed and hourly staff who work for Global Campus. Other recent winners of this award include the Hospitality Event Management Sim Team, the Pedagogy Toolkit Podcast Team and the Slate Team. 

The Global Campus supports the U of A academic colleges and schools in the development and delivery of online degree programs and courses, and workforce development programs. This unit provides instructional design services, learning technology support, media production services and assistance with financial administration, recruitment and marketing. 

The Global Campus also supports the W.E. Manning Memorial Scholarship, which is open to undergraduate and graduate students studying in online degree programs.