Higher Education Leaders Institute Reveals Real-World Admissions Challenges
March 18, 2019, @ 11:51 AM
Mary Alice Ozechoski, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs at Cedar Crest College, addresses participants of the LVAIC Higher Education Leaders Institute regarding enrollment and admissions process.
In light of the LVAIC initiatives to expand the skills and capabilities of member faculty and staff, LVAIC is in the second year of facilitating the Higher Education Leaders Institute.
This program hosts 24 mid-career faculty and mid-level administrators who have interest and potential for advanced administrative leadership in higher education. This is a 10 month program that allows participants to explore multiple aspects of leadership in higher education while building their personal and organizational capacity for leadership. The topics explored through this program include:
- The future of Higher Education
- Academic Affairs
- Student Affairs
- Finances
- Human Resources
- Enrollment Management
- Assessment and Accreditation
- Role of President and External Relationships
In-room sessions, remote learning, self reflection and mentor conversation are all utilized to provide participants with an opportunity to network and grow their understanding of higher education leadership.
As part of this series, LVAIC focused its March session on Enrollment and Admissions. This program was facilitated by Mary Alice Ozechoski, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs at Cedar Crest College. Ozechoski offered an overview of the daily life of an Admissions Counselor: facing long hours traveling, recruiting students, early morning meetings with guidance counselors with late nights at college fairs, reviewing applications, and making nearly impossible decisions on which students to admit, wait list, or decline based on varying areas of applications and institutional goals. Although typically some of the most junior staff of a college or university, Admissions Counselors are generally responsible for creating the revenue that accounts for 75%-80% of an institution’s annual budget.
After sharing these challenges, Ozechoski offered all participants a stack of applications and a hypothetical college for which they acted as Admissions Counselors. Participants were tasked with reviewing applications and making final decisions to admit only 40% of the applicants received. This included such decisions as balancing GPA, SAT scores, extracurricular involvement, and personal statement submissions against the college’s goals for gaining a diverse freshman class that remains academically strong while bringing in a great deal of community engagement through volunteer experience. This experience allowed participants to really experience the challenge of balancing this work that impacts the entire college for four years.
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