WPI viewbook... story telling and web links
From time to time here, I'll write about especially interesting aspects of the viewbooks arriving in my mail as the result of competitive web reviews. Those reviews always include completing the website inquiry form and that soon bring along the print response. The proverbial "full flavor" of these isn't possible without actually having a copy. I'm recommending you add a copy of
Flying down to San Antonio for the CASE Publications Professionals meeting on Monday was a good chance to read the 52-page Worcester Polytechnic Institute viewbook that arrived in the mail a few days earlier. And to find several features worth noting that set it apart from many of the "usual" items like this.
Student stories and profiles... 34 percent of the page space
The most unique content? Three "Transformation" reports from students reporting how they changed during the WPI years from freshmen to senior. Brief, easy to read copy under three transformation headings: Global, Social Transformation, and Academic. Just a few lines for each year but the 2-page spreads make this a can't miss feature that is an unusual way to demonstrate on aspect of the "outcomes" of a WPI education. Well written. Nicely presented.
The book also includes four 2-page student profiles with large, up close portraits of each student and a modest amount of copy. Those are supplemented with three other single page profiles.
Subtracting for the front and rear covers, that's letting students tell stories in 34 percent of the book.
Direct content links from print to web
The viewbook also makes good use of direct links from key content to more of the same on the website. Did you like what you read about the Humanities and Arts project in the freshman and sophomore years? You can read about more projects at http://www.admissions.wpi.edu/Academics/projects.html
Easy to find alumni outcomes information
And most readers won't miss the four pages on "Alumni Outcomes" near the rear of the book. An unusual touch? WPI average starting salaries in six areas from Biomedical Engineering to Management Information Systems that are all above the national average for college graduates.
Quite a stack of viewbooks to read in the next 10 days. More here soon. Meantime, add WPI to your viewbook collection.