‘Crash Day’ shows students what YSU offers

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Whether it’s for the affordable cost, the programs, the town or the proximity, high-school students visited Youngstown State University to answer the question: “Why YSU?”

Hazel Marie, chairwoman of the university’s mechanical and industrial engineering department, said YSU’s class size plays an important factor, which allows for a closer, hands-on experience for both teachers and students.

“I know every one of my students in my program after I have them in class. I know their strengths, I know their weaknesses, I know how to help them go where I know they’ll succeed,” she said earlier this week. “They find it on their own, but I help mold them because I know them, so that personal interaction, that personal dedication to the students is also something you don’t see at other universities.”

Briana Davis, a senior from Columbiana High School, plans to attend YSU this fall majoring in mechanical engineering. Davis said she chose YSU because of that kind of student-teacher experience. At first, she wanted to attend Ohio State University, but after seeing what YSU could offer, she made the switch.

“Hearing from people at OSU, they just tell me about how big the classes are and they have a lot of great experiences,” Davis said. “But from my understanding, they don’t get to have the opportunities that you do here where the undergrads get to work with the machinery.”

“We have stepped up the regions that we’ve recruited,” YSU President Jim Tressel said. “We’ve expanded our regions, and people are doing a little research about the university, and they’re seeing that there’s great programs and there’s a tremendous price point.”

To him, he said, that is the key to YSU’s success.

As part of Crash Day, the university’s open-house event, YSU welcomed students this week from as far as Connecticut to “crash” the campus to talk to professors and students and learn more about the university and its potential benefits to them.

About 202 students visited campus at the 2015 Crash Day. The event’s attendance increased to about 250 students this year.

YSU’s academic programs also attract students such as Anna Rodgers, a junior at Solon High School. Rodgers said she decided to visit the campus after a representative came to her high school and invited her to attend the event.

“They have a really excellent nursing program, and nursing is what I want to go into,” Rodgers said.

Many believe Tressel’s guidance has brought more students, with YSU’s first enrollment increase in five years.

“I know President Tressel has made trips to several high schools across our region, and so I think we’re just doing a better job of recruitment and a better job of letting people know who we are, letting people know what we offer here,” said Joseph Mosca, dean of the Bitonte College of Health and Human Services.