MHCC President Robert Silverman is seeking help from students to come up with a new way of branding MHCC.

The college has been trying to stand out in the community and against other colleges to encourage greater funding and enrollment, but old methods are proving ineffective. So Silverman plans to rebuild the web site with the help of a federal grant and give students a new look at the college. He is very open to suggestions right now because he wants to brand the college based on what students want.

What kind of college should we be? Do we want to be an inexpensive college where anyone can afford higher education? Should we be a friendly place where people feel comfortable learning and expressing themselves? Should we emphasize aesthetics to attract new students?

But there lies the problem: how do you find out what new students want in a college when they are not attending? How can we make a focus group of people who aren’t here? We need to talk to high school students, family and friends and encourage them to go to Mt. Hood because higher enrollment means more state funding and higher tuition revenue.

A sign on a bus and radio spots help get the word out, but no advertising is more powerful than word of mouth.