Leveraging website as a recruiting tool.

"Leveraging Facebook's social media network was key to the success of this recruitment initiative," says Paula Garrott, chair of CCCLW, interim director of the Natural Science Division and Chair, and associate professor emerita of the Clinical Laboratory Science Department at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

The Labs Are Vital Facebook page continues to connect interested, career-minded high-school and college students with clinical laboratory science students and recent graduates to learn about the benefits and challenges of the profession from their peers. To keep potential future lab leaders engaged, Labs Are Vital continues to explore ways to leverage social media networks as well as to develop new initiatives such as the Advocacy Program. The Labs Are Vital Advocacy Program provides training and opportunities for those interested in speaking publicly about the importance of the lab. Speakers could be utilized by high schools to help increase students' awareness of the profession in order to strengthen recruitment.

To view Labs Are Vital Facebook Scholarship Contest winning entries, visit www.LabScienceCareers.com and click on the Scholarship Contest. To learn more about the Advocacy Program, visit www. LabsAreVital.com.