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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A clerical error is being blamed for the University of Iowa's apparent effort to recruit more than a thousand elementary students.
Some confused parents have called the university over the past few days to ask why their preteen children had been sent recruitment packets, in which was a letter from admissions director Emil Rinderspacher that began, "I'm so glad you're considering the University of Iowa."
University spokesman Tom Moore told the Iowa City Press-Citizen (http://icp-c.com/1B6zgPq ) that the clerical error led to the packets being sent to nearly 1,050 participants in the university's Wildlife Camp, offered to first- through sixth-graders during summer, spring and winter breaks.
"We apologize for any inconvenience," Moore said. The mailing was intended for high school seniors in the university's prospect file.
The university had uploaded information about Wildlife Camp participants into the prospect file, Moore said. For about two-thirds of the camp participants, however, no age or graduation year was included.
The system added 2015 as the graduation year — leading it later to assume the young people were high school seniors.
"We are in process today of deleting these students from our prospect file," Moore said.
The university is trying to increase its number of undergraduate students since the Iowa Board of Regents decided over the summer that 60 percent of the three state universities' funding will be based on in-state enrollment.
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Information from: Iowa City Press-Citizen, http://www.press-citizen.com/
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