By Daniel Johnson, Sports Editor

Despite criticism that the university’s plan to provide incoming freshmen with an Apple iPhone or iPod touch was put in place to fight low enrollment numbers, university officials say the initiative is meant to enhance the learning environment of the campus, and not just a gimmick to increase the amount of incoming students.

Since the announcement of the initiative to provide an Apple iPhone or iPod touch to all incoming freshmen on Feb. 25, Kevin Campbell, strategic analyst in the office of Phil Schubert, executive vice president, said prospective students have received the plan with open arms and are excited about being part of the initiative; the only criticism has come from students already attending the university.

“We don’t need to use a gimmick to attract students, and a gimmick could have a negative reaction” Campbell said.

Although Campbell works in the executive vice president’s office, he said his job as interim director of enrollment marketing involves dealing directly with the admissions office on the new iPhone initiative.

“Most students wouldn’t make a decision to attend a university solely based on receiving a phone,” Campbell said.

Instead, Campbell said the iPhone initiative may encourage students already set on attending ACU or may help convince students who know of the university or who are considering attending but have not made a decision yet.

Since the announcement, the university has been mentioned on several technology blogs, Web sites and received coverage from Dallas to Sydney, Australia.

“It definitely has enhanced the reputation of ACU in ways that we use technology on campus,” Campbell said. “I would definitely say the iPhone has increased the reputation, or the brand of ACU, and people who haven’t heard of ACU now know about ACU.”

For some incoming freshmen, the initiative was just another reason to attend ACU.

“I guess it’s a bonus,” said Mitchell McLean, senior at Wylie High School in Abilene. “I was already pretty much planning on going, but it is something that adds to going.”

McLean said that although he already had his mind made up to attend ACU, he had several friends who were on “the bubble” that chose to attend the university after the initiative was announced.

Campbell conceded that the iPhone would have beneficial social uses, but he said the initiative is much more than giving students a common venue to text message and surf the Web- it is an attempt to create a mobile learning environment where students and professors can use the technology for educational purposes. Campbell said the task of informing prospective students of this distinction lay in the hands of the Admissions office.

“At the end of the day, it would be a negative situation if some prospective students thought this was just about giving out iPhones,” Campbell said.

Kenli Viertel, senior at Clyde high school in Clyde, said it was a campus visit, not the iPhone initiative that helped her decide ACU was the school for her. But nevertheless, she is excited to
be part of the pioneering plan.

“I’m really impressed by all its capabilities, and I’m really excited to see how it’s going to work in a 5,000-person community,” Viertel said.