Yesterday, we welcomed 86 new physician assistant students and 15 new nurse anesthesia students to our Glendale Campus. The two-day orientation program was hosted by the Office of Student Services, and it gave our new students the opportunity to meet each other (most importantly) and learn more about the culture and policies of the University.

I have the pleasure of meeting the new students during the President's Welcome, which is typically the opening session on the first morning of orientation. Dr. G is introduced by the dean of students (in Glendale, that's Dr. Ross Kosinski AKA Dr. K). One of her traditions during her welcome is to have each class stand up and then each student indicates their hometown. She starts with those who hail from Glendale, and usually there are one or two. She then expands throughout the state, to find out those who are from the West Valley, from Phoenix, from Scottsdale, from Mesa/Tempe, and then those from Tucson, from Flagstaff, and from other more rural locations in Arizona. I would say about half of the students from this summer matriculating class were from somewhere in Arizona. Of the out-of-state students, Dr. G then invites them to name their hometown to find out how far people have come and who might be able to hitch a ride home with them for the holidays. It is always interesting to hear the truly national scope of our students. There were several from the western states of Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and one from New Mexico; quite a few from Idaho, five from Wyoming, many from the Pacific Northwest, and many from California. There are always a few from Chicago, presumably having grown tired of long winters. Ohio, Florida, New York, and even Alaska were represented. Of this group of 100 new students, there were two from Germany and one from the Netherlands.

So, what does this diversity of hometowns tell us? I do think my admissions staff are doing a wonderful job of promoting MWU at recruiting events around the country. We also try hard to reach out to prehealth advisors regionally and nationally. It also reflects the growing reputation of MWU as a well-known health professions university throughout the country. Probably most significantly, it represents the fact that our alumni are now practicing around the nation and referring prospective students to our campuses. We know that "word of mouth" recruiting is the primary way students become interested in MWU, whether it be from alumni, current students, or faculty and staff. While anyone can find us on the web, we know that most applicants and eventual matriculants are motivated to attend MWU because of positive feedback they have gotten from someone they know and trust.

The message is also that even if you are coming from the other side of the country, you can be comfortable in knowing that there is probably someone else from your home state or your undergraduate school who is already at MWU. If you have an Interact Now account on our web site, you can use the search function to find others from your state. You can even search by your undergrad school's name to see if there is someone else from your school considering MWU. We know many of you have MySpace or Facebook accounts, but we have tried to build some similar "community-building" features on our own web site, so you can also get to know other applicants and incoming students. For accepted students, the "Team Room" feature also allows you to find roommates, plan parties, and get to know your future classmates before you even set foot on campus.

So, welcome to the newest MWU students in Glendale. We're glad you are part of our academic family.