Students, Alumni Take Admissions 101
By Kim-Jenna Jurriaans
There were no board games or TV in the C-shop on Monday night. Instead there were Powerpoint slides and scribbling pens, as the newly formed student recruitment group met for a second time, this time to familiarize themselves with the ins and outs of the admissions funnel.
“We want to send out a message that Antioch is still alive and they should check it out,” says Marysia Walcerz, one of the students behind the project to get the community directly involved in the admissions project. “Since we can’t as a college officially recruit yet, we try to bring students and alumni into the process of attracting new students.”
Antioch is currently accepting transfer application, but is not allowed to recruit or admit a first year class until the University Board of Trustees or future board for the college is willing to guarantee financial stability for the coming four years. “We can’t tell people they should apply, but there is nothing against letting people know that we’re still in business,” said Robin Heise, Director of Financial Aid-made-admissions-officer, who led the group of 10 students and two alumni through the official Admissions 101 in order teach the future ambassadors the roles and responsibilities of the counseling profession.
“We can’t tell people they should apply, but there is nothing against letting people know that we’re still in business”
A group of 20 students first got together the week before the Thanksgiving break to work on creative ways to circumvent the current legal boundaries to official recruitment and bring in an incoming class for the fall of 2008 and beyond. After coming up with materials to distribute at coffee shops, high schools and community colleges and creating a full working website after the last meeting, Monday night fully focused on training those that will hit the road in their hometown and surrounding area to draw attention to Antioch College over the holidays. For the future, the group is planning on broadening the effort by connecting with alumni chapters around the country.