JAMES LILLIN
Staff Writer
The Fredonia website has gone through a major overhaul over the past two years, with a new logo, a cleaner blue-white color palette, and a shifting set of photos and videos being added to help the school stand out. The latest addition to Fredonia’s web presence is the virtual tour, a simulated tour through campus incorporating high definition videos, photography, and 360-degree panorama shots of spaces on campus.
“The virtual tour was something I proposed for Fredonia from the time I started my position this summer,” said Director of Marketing and Communications Jeffrey Woodard. “Our campus is tucked away is the southwest corner of New York, and with the changing demographics of high school students in Western New York, it is more important to show prospective students and parents who are not close enough to come to campus just how beautiful Fredonia is.”
The tour was created by a team from YouVisit, a New York City-based virtual reality company that has also constructed online tours with Yale and Columbia.
“Other schools have similar tours, so not having one for Fredonia put us at a disadvantage,” Woodard said. “We can now be more competitive by showing students exactly what Fredonia looks and feels like while they are making their college choice.”
One of Fredonia’s main assets as a school is the unique architecture, as well as the sprawling trees and greenery. Unfortunately, this is not always properly encapsulated by still photographs.
“For some students and parents who live several hours away from campus, or who don’t have the means to travel long distances, this tour allows us to put them at Fredonia virtually,” Woodard said. “The colorful walking tour gives you an accurate look at the grounds, the buildings, and the features that make Fredonia special. They can see and hear everything they would if they were to take a tour with the admissions team.”
The new tour is also using new technologies to deeply immerse prospective students, whether at home or visiting a local college recruitment fair.
“In addition to the virtual tour, the platform also comes with VR integration,” said Director of Admissions Cory Bezek, “so prospective students can utilize the VR headset, such as Samsung Gear, to experience Fredonia.”
Beyond initial discovery of the school, the virtual tour is shaping up to be a tool for getting more than just students invested in Fredonia.
“We are also seeing students who have visited us in person use the virtual tour to show their extended family who may of not been able to visit what we have to offer,” said Bezek.
Another benefit of the virtual tour is the elimination of travel distances, and the ability to show off every part of the college, including ones not on the main campus.
“It has been cool to meet with families in NYC and give them a headset and watch them look around in King, or see what it is like to stand in the middle of University Stadium,” said Bezek. “It is a much more immersive experience than in the past. We also have tour stops on the virtual tour that we are not able to show on the in-person tour, such as the SRT studios or the College Lodge.”
Although the virtual tour opens up many exciting new possibilities for recruitment, there is certainly no substitute for experiencing Fredonia in person, and Woodard hopes that it is used to supplement, rather than supplant tours of the campus.
“We hope students and parents are so inspired by what they see they will schedule a tour to see for themselves,” said Woodard. “That’s why one of the links at the top of the tour is ‘Schedule a Visit.’ This is a tool to entice prospective students and parents to find out more about Fredonia. We are confident that once we get their attention, we can convince them that Fredonia is the right choice for them.”