Image via Newcastle University
Open days are important events on a university’s annual calendar. It is an opportunity to attract students to your university’s courses while showcasing the best of your campus and what is has to offer. On open days, most universities show students (and their parents) what courses are on offer, details of course fees, the facilities and amenities at their disposal, student finance options, accommodation, placement opportunities and other aspects of student life. Lectures, presentations by faculty, panel discussions, faculty-meetups, campus tours are all deployed for presenting vital and valid information to students to help them explore and choose courses.
While open days should be focused on providing information to students, adding fun and interactive elements to the event will make it more attractive and memorable to students. Presenting 7 fun ideas to make your open day stand out:
1.University Mascot:
Take a leaf out of National University of Singapore’s book. NUS Computing has 2 cool mascots- LiNUS the lion and SocCat- the computing mascot. Make sure your mascots are relatable, adorable, friendly and huggable.
NUS mascot Linus and NUS Computing mascot SocCat say hello!
Image via Facebook
Cappie the Giraffe and Brumby Jack prepare breakfast for University of Canberra's free big breakfast to kick off its Open Day
Image via Canberra Edu
2. Breathe in, Breathe out events:
Students have to make a lot of choices: which course to study, what career should to pursue, whom to date, how to tell parents to back off. Phew. That’s a lot of stress!
Organize stress-busting events at your Open Day. You can get your student volunteers to set up 20-minute Yoga classes, mini-spas, automatic foot massagers both for parents and students.
3. Speed Mentoring Sessions:
Invite your alumni to interact with prospective students and offer short mentoring sessions. A diverse alumni is the most important brand ambassador for a university. Apart from the ones who have been successful in traditional jobs, bring in the ex-students who have done unusual things with their college degrees: the musicians, artists, start-up founders, entrepreneurs, environmental and social activists.
Speed Mentoring Session at the Auburn University, Samuel Ginn College of Engineering
Image via Auburn University
4. Social Cause Volunteering Opportunities:
Reach out and tie-up with NGOs to provide opportunities for students to volunteer for social causes. Giving back to the society events can be organized within a few days of your Open day. For example, students can volunteer for ‘clean the beach day’ or ‘blood-donation drive’ or teaching underprivileged children for a day.
Image via Balance Small Business
5. Temporary Tattoo Booths:
Everyone loves temporary tattoos. Get custom made temporary tattoos of your university’s or college’s logo, mascot or with inspirational quotes. Set up a temp tattoo booth with water, cleaning tissues, a disposal bin and friendly volunteers. Spread happy smiles and your logo everywhere!
Chief Tattoo Officers at Gumtoo Tattoo Booth
6. Custom Stickers as Cool Swag:
Give out cost-effective, but cool swags to visiting students. Apart from T-shirts and novelty pens, die-cut laptop stickers of your university/college logo or mascot are a great idea. Students love decorating their laptops with stickers, they let their stickers speak about what music they love, which brands they like, who inspires them. Stickers are like their Social Media profiles, they do all the talking about what kind of person they are.
Image via Wisc.edu
7. Flash Mob:
Arrange for a surprise flash mob to dance on popular trending numbers or to raise awareness on a social issue.
Did you like our 7 creative ideas to organize an open day at your university? Do let us know in the comments section below!
