Will the Zinch Web Site Become a Tool for Admissions Officers Seeking Greater Racial Diversity?

A half-century ago many colleges and universities required a photograph on student application forms. This permitted them to weed out black applicants. Now almost all of our leading colleges and universities encourage black students to apply. But today at many schools, increasing the number of blacks who apply for admission is a major task.

A new Web site may become an important tool for admissions officers seeking to diversify the student body at their particular institution. The Zinch Web site allows high school students to post online resumes which can reveal more about an individual’s creativity, ingenuity, and personality than might come across in a traditional college application. Students can place their postings online for free, but admissions counselors must pay a fee to browse or search the database.

The Web site permits students to place photographs or a series of photographs on the site. This gives admissions officers the capability to browse through the listings to locate African-American students. These students can then be recruited, telephoned, or invited to campus. Depending on how many students take advantage of the free postings, the online database could become a potent resource for admissions officers looking to increase recruiting efforts directed at black students.

To learn more about the Zinch Web site, click here.

Copyright © 2007. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.