Desperate Times, Unorthodox Measures

Mirta Martin spent the past two sweltering Saturdays knocking on doors in the greater Roanoke, Va., area, leaving pamphlets on porches and hoping to catch some residents at home for a chat. Two weeks ago she visited 35 homes in one afternoon. She wasn’t canvassing for a political candidate or selling Bibles; she was recruiting students for Ferrum College, the tiny institution nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains where Martin is the president. This high-contact recruitment campaign is one of many unorthodox tactics Ferrum is adopting as it struggles to fill seats for the fall after the disastrous rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid devastated its enrollment outlook.