'Silver Cloud' train tour steams across state

With the gleaming silver train for a backdrop, University of Montana administrators, professors and recruiters welcomed prospective students to train depots in three cities on the Silver Cloud Whistle-Stop Tour.

The tour, which began Sept. 12, brought a taste of UM to Helena, Livingston and Billings to recruit local high school students and publicize the new MPACT (Montana Partnering for Affordable College Tuition) program.

“I think it was a neat thing to do,” said UM Executive Vice President Jim Foley. “It got the focus on UM in a city-to-city campaign that was different.”

By day, UM professors and administrators went to seven local high schools to teach classes and talk with teachers over lunch. And in the evening a reception was held at the train station, where prospective students could meet and chat face to face with everyone from UM President George Dennison to chemistry Professor Garon Smith, better known as “G-Wiz.”

Dennison and other administrators spoke to groups of high school students and their parents about the world-class faculty at UM as well as the constant upgrading of facilities.

“We try to make sure at least one quarter of campus is torn up all the time,” Dennison quipped.

“A unique part of the outreach we do is that the president goes with us and the deans go with us,” Foley said. “So if you’re interested in the Honors College or the business school, you and your parents can have a conversation with the dean.”

Foley attributed the impressive showing of UM deans and administrators to the unusually large amount of space afforded by the “Silver Cloud,” a luxurious, renovated train owned by Montana Rail Link.

On hand to represent the more than 13,000 students that attend UM were Associated Students of UM president and vice president Andrea Helling and Cedric Jacobson.

“We’ve had a tremendous time,” Helling said along the way. “We didn’t really know what to expect,” she said. “But it’s been fun to interact with faculty and high school students.”

Jacobson noted that UM has a 90 percent retention rate of students from Helena High School and that outreach programs where students can meet with University officials face to face are usually very successful.

Helena Capital High senior Kaila Matteson attended the reception after she received an invitation in the mail.
Matteson was already pretty committed to becoming a Grizzly, she said, but was even more confident in her decision to pursue marketing at UM after the tour stop.

“It was cool talking to people,” she said. “I got an opportunity to meet the dean of the business school.”

Diana Stonehouse, also a senior at Capital, said she had decided to come to UM before the reception but was impressed with the chance to mingle with so many higher-ups.

Foley said the group spoke with more than 600 students and parents over a three-day span.

“Our new TV spots and the train all happened at the same time,” Foley said. “People, the governor, the Board of Regents, took notice of us being aggressive with outreach.”

The tour received coverage in the New York Times.