As more prospective students take an interest in NIU, orientation officials are dealing with record crowds unseen in recent years.

Last month’s Presidents Day open house attracted 1,845 students and parents. Traditionally, the Presidents Day open house attracts the smallest amount of people, said Crystal Worrell, senior assistant director of admissions at NIU. NIU normally gets about 1,400 visitors, she said.

This year was no different, as both fall open houses easily drew crowds that surpassed the Presidents Day crowd. But not many open houses in past years can boast attracting more than 1,800 participants, Worrell said.

The larger crowds this year have forced open house coordinators to make a few changes in the way they operate.

For starters, Worrell said, additional buses have been added to shuttle people from the Convocation Center parking lots to the Holmes Student Center.

Also, the admissions office had to make more NIU promotional materials available to prospective students. More staff also has been added to show students around.

When students are touring the residence halls, they need someone to lead them around, said Tim Trottier, coordinator of summer operations for Student Housing and Dining Services.

Recruiting additional students to lead the extra groups has been hard, but they have managed, Trottier said.

Everyone has been managing well, even with the larger-than-normal crowds, Worrell said.

“There have been no complaints,” Worrell said. “We work hard to make it so students and their family can design their day.”