Now you can return to Wittenberg to take a stroll on campus anytime, from anywhere. Alumni can walk take a leisurely walk past Reci and on to their favorite spots courtesy of the new campus tour on the university web site.

The tour combines more than 1,000 images which allow visitors to move almost anywhere around campus just by clicking a mouse in the direction they wish to go.

The Wittenberg tour has been named the Campus Tours.Com 4-Star Virtual College Tour for October. CampusTours.com is a popular web site explore colleges they might attend. The award means Wittenberg's campus is the only college being featured on CampusTours home page throughout October.

The tour took 2,500 hours to complete over two months this summer under the leadership of the university's webmaster, Markus Kruse, '89. Putting virtual Wittenberg on the World Wide Web was also a world-wide collaboration. Five students assisted Kruse by taking photos which let virtual alums wander through campus and various buildings – virtually anywhere. Those students represent three continents – Brian Feller (New Philadelphia, Ohio), Doug Heyob (Harrison, Ohio), Christian Heraty (Switzerland), Jan Pieter Oosterom (The Netherlands) and Luciana Goncalves (Brazil).

Kruse, himself a native of Berlin, Germany, recently earned his Ph.D. from Ohio State University, while serving as Wittenberg's first full-time webmaster.

College admissions professionals generally find campus tours to be the most powerful tool they have to attract new students. Web tours and clearing houses like CampusTours.com are introducing college-bound students to attractive options they have never heard of. That site was recently selected one of the "Top 10 Internet College Resources" in a student survey conducted by Time magazine and The Princeton Review. It has already offered to visitors 2.5 million times.

The judges praised Wittenberg's "well-crafted campus excursion" that gives visitors a choice between the elaborate step-by-step walk aro tour, and a standard photo tour would be easier to view on older a puters. "Wittenberg's virtual walkaround tour is filled with color campus footage and the tour navig tion is straightforward," the judg noted. "Wittenberg's presentation shov cases an emerging trend in online co. lege tours: providing a range of tou options for users with different level, of computer capabilities. It's important for colleges to recognize that many students visit from locations with older equipment." Wittenberg's tour gives visitors a choice between a complete virtual walkaround tour and a standard virtual tour consisting of pictures and descriptions of campus scenes and buildings. The university also provides a map based interface to navigate the campus, and a picture gallery. "While there is no substitute for a personal campus visit, the virtual tour is a wonderful opportunity for prospective students to see the beauty of our campus as well as the exceptional academic, residential, athletic and recreational facilities we offer," said Ken Benne, dean of admission. "I am not aware of any of our peer institutions which offer such a complete preview of their campus." The Wittenberg web site now averages more than 1,000 visitors each day. It offers detailed information on al I of Wittenberg's academic departments, news, events, as well as alumni and athletic information. Kruse said he is already planning future enhancements to the tour which will include the capability to "meet" key university personnel. You can visit Wittenberg on the web at http//www.wittenberg.edu. The 4-Star Award review can be found at http//www.CampusTours.com.