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Around 8 or 9 p.m., a light burns in a third-floor corner office of the Thornton Administration Center. The light is not for an evening cleaning crew, but for the upbeat dean of Seaver College, David Baird, who is still working away at his administrative tasks.
“I talk with people most of the day, in the course of that, a long to-do list emerges,” Baird said about his more than 12-hour workday.
The two main goals on Baird’s to-do list for this academic year: national scholar development and improving Seaver College’s presence on the Internet.
The national scholar goal is to identify and assist students for successful scholarship and fellowship applications. Baird described the process as “scholar development.”
“The point is to better develop our students for competition,” he said.
Scholarships and fellowships provide financial assistance to students who pursue graduate and undergraduate studies, internships, or programs within the government. Each program has its own criteria for what it will support.
For example, the Rhodes scholarship provides selected students with funding for two years of study at Oxford University. Each of the more than 20 students receiving scholarships and fellowships will work with Seaver College faculty member liaisons.
The Rhodes scholarship, the oldest international fellowship, selects 32 students from the United States each year. During the course of two days, applicants must complete an extensive interview process. The interviews begin with an evening cocktail party where interviewers get their first impressions of applicants.
Former SGA president Ben Elliott placed as a state finalist for the Rhodes scholarship. The focus is not solely on intellectual ability but on an applicant’s social graces. Elliott was strongly encouraged to buy a new suit.
In order to find applicants who are competitive for the scholarships, the faculty has to actively recruit eligible students.
“Mentoring is the word here,” Baird said about the process.
The application process becomes an exercise in grooming. A component of the focus is to cultivate students for success within the highly competitive national scholarship arena.
In addition, Baird aims to improve communication among faculty about these scholarships.
“The goal is to provide opportunities for students to realize some of the honors available to them,” Baird said.
The dean’s second goal is to focus on Seaver College presence on the Web.
”From a business standpoint,” Baird said. “The Internet presence is the single most important marketing tool that the University has.”
The online focus is an effort to improve the cosmetics and content of the Seaver College Web site. The first phase of this development went online within the first few weeks of the summer break.
During the spring a template was designed under Baird’s guidance. The template is a universal design that acts as a frame to hold content. This gives each page on the Web site a consistent and professional look. Unlike the college departments, students and faculty do not have to use this template for their own Web pages.
The template is already being used. The “overall rational of the template is an integrated whole, continuity and thought behind the Web site,” Baird said.
The new template and Web initiative can be seen on the recently updated version of PepXpress, which has, at times, been inaccessible to students and faculty.
Baird is hopeful the Web site can be used for recruiting high school students as future Pepperdine students.
Pepperdine’s Scholarships and Fellowships information page(Liaisons listed as well) can be found at http://seaver.pepperdine.edu/financialassistance/assistance/grants/.
Submitted September 25, 2003
MALIBU, CA
