Campus tours, application reading, and high school visits look very different during a COVID-19 admissions cycle.
Words by Lisa Ellrich
Two Admissions Ambassadors offer a prospective student and their family a tour of campus. Tours are limited to one family at a time because of health and safety regulations. The small size allows for a very personalized tour, even if the students aren’t allowed into buildings.
How has the admissions landscape changed across the country and specifically here at UMF?
The national landscape — especially in New England — does not paint a pretty picture for higher education right now. People are struggling to see the value of a college education. Many are holding back to see where COVID-19 takes us. And we are constantly having to prove that a college degree is worth the investment of money and time and leads to successful outcomes. Anti-higher ed rhetoric isn’t something new, but it continues to be a barrier we need to push through.
New England is currently in the middle of the largest demographic decline in college-going age students graduating from high school. That combined with students simply not applying or delaying applications makes for a tough environment. Application submissions in New England are down between 15-20%. This can be attributed to several factors, including less opportunity for connections with school counselors, hesitancy due to the pandemic, and the increase in being online for remote school models.
So, the landscape is changing. We have now all entered into a form of online learning. Some will find a home there and others have learned quickly that an in-person experience is more appropriate for them.
Have there been changes to the admissions and financial aid processes
Other than not getting the opportunity to start to build a relationship with prospective students and their families in person, the actual process for applying for admission and financial aid has remained much the same. We were fortunate that as a long-standing test-optional school — over 25 years now! — we didn’t have to reimagine our entire review process around not having standardized test scores. Other schools had to rethink their entire way of approaching cutoff for competitive programs and awarding of scholarships. We were able to continue with our current review process nearly intact. Concerning the financial aid process, Farmington relies on the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) in awarding need-based aid. The financial aid office is experiencing additional financial aid appeals as families struggle with financial setbacks due to the pandemic and other job loss situations. But, overall, the process for us has been fairly consistent. In that way we were fortunate.
Changes to processes in the office extended to a few physical alterations to space. Kim Hilton, the front desk receptionist, now sits behind a plexiglass wall while answering phones and interacting with guests.
You’re not traveling to get the good word out this fall, and likely not this spring either. How is your office going about recruiting the class of 2025?
A typical fall would include nearly 800 high school visits and college fairs throughout Maine, New England, and some additional outreach to the mid-Atlantic. This year, rather than driving in a car or boarding a plane, we are meeting prospective students, families, and school counselors through a variety of virtual platforms. While we don’t have the same number of visits scheduled due to limitations in some school districts, we will still have participated in nearly 400 virtual events. We’ve participated in everything from small groups at individual high schools to large national fairs, all in addition to our own in-house daily virtual visits, virtual panel discussions, open houses, and now some application decision days at individual schools.
There are certain benefits and certain downsides to traveling virtually. On the plus side, we are not limited by the constraints of our typical travel territories and the time it takes to travel. We’ve been able to attend virtual events across the country in areas where we typically would not be able to afford to travel and we have taken advantage of this opportunity. On the downside, a virtual visit can make it difficult to truly connect in the same way with students, families, and counselors.
The tricky part now is to build a relationship from the ground up with students completely virtually for the entering classes in Fall 2021 and even Fall 2022.
Last spring when COVID-19 first hit, we had already established relationships with many of the applicants for Fall 2020 through our work with them over the previous months.
In a typical year, Director of Admissions Lisa Ellrich would be traveling all around New England recruiting the next class of UMF Beavers. This year she finds herself traveling virtually from one Zoom room to the next.
You mentioned there are limited on-campus visits allowed at the moment. What do those look like? How do they differ from in-person visits from the past?
We have been fortunate to be able to offer in-person campus visits for the majority of the fall and plan to continue — as long as state guidance allows — after the Thanksgiving break when students will be moving to remote learning. We have a handful of admissions ambassadors who will be staying on campus or in the area during that period and into the semester break so we’re able to continue to offer tours throughout the semester break as schedules allow.
We’ve had to make some adjustments to our campus tours, the biggest change being that we are not able to bring visitors into any buildings. Guests must follow Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and University of Maine System guidance. Face coverings and social distancing are mandatory and we have limited the number of guests per tour. This means all tours are one-on-one with the prospective student and their family/mentors at a time with no more than three total. With the good weather we’ve had this fall, we were able to utilize a tent to meet with families after the tour. As the weather cools off, we’re moving indoors and following strict safety guidelines.
One aspect of our campus visit that we’ve been lucky enough to continue providing prospective students is interaction with admissions ambassadors. Our ambassadors have stepped up to the plate to welcome our guests with the same warm UMF community feeling. Another is our prospective student-athlete experience. The coaches have done an outstanding job of working closely with them to provide a connection to the UMF athletics department and current athletes during their visit.
Mostly, we are all just excited to do something that perhaps feels a little normal. We have all learned to “smile with our eyes” as our marketing department often reminds us and prospective students and groups are still able to connect, and we know that is so important here at UMF.
Are there any upsides to the major change in operations for the office?
Necessity is the mother of invention! One of the biggest benefits we’ve seen in admissions was that it forced us to make changes to our processes that we all knew we wanted to make but could never find the perfect time to execute. It turns out that there is no time like the present and we’re still adapting as the recruitment season goes on.
Because of COVID-19, our application review process went completely virtual. Except for sending physical acceptance packages in the mail, everything we’re doing can be done virtually now. The changes also forced us to completely rethink how to connect an entire community of newcomers to the UMF students, faculty, and staff. We’ve been connecting prospective students with faculty, staff, and students through Zoom, email, text, and even over the phone. We realize that it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation so we did our best to offer as many options as possible.
Admissions Counselor Shawn Russell hosts a virtual info session via Zoom.
How can alumni and friends of Farmington help recruit the next class?
Wear your UMF gear. Better yet, wear a UMF face covering! Spread the word to all your friends and their children or grandchildren about the outstanding value of a Farmington degree and the boundless opportunities we can afford them. This can be as simple as sharing a post on social media or chatting up a young-adult on the brink of making college decisions.
Last week, I was handing out business cards to the clerks at Old Navy after overhearing one of them speaking about her volunteer work at the nursery school at her high school. (I know…probably over the top!) The other opportunity is to become part of an alumni volunteer group that would assist Admissions with some outreach to admitted students — either in your area or in a particular degree field. Sharing the Beaver Pride you have can be infectious.
Lastly, join a growing list of potential panelists for admissions events we’re hosting virtually in the coming months. With time and distance no longer a barrier, participating in a virtual panel to share some of your experiences as an alumnus has never been easier and your stories are so valuable in the recruitment process.
If you are interested in helping us connect with prospective students and their families, please feel free to reach out to me at ellrich@maine.edu or Katie O’Donnell at katie.odonnell@maine.edu.
Lisa Ellrich has 23 years of experience in the UMF Admissions Office. As the Director, she oversees a team of 13 professionals and support staff, and recruits prospective students throughout Maine’s Kennebec and Piscataquis counties, as well as eastern Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.