EDUCATIONAL SESSION TRACKS

Beyond the Employer/Student Worker Relationship

Kailen Richmond, Assistant Director, Lehigh University

This session will discuss the benefits and importance of developing stronger, more in depth relationships with student workers, despite fast-paced and demanding admissions cycles Lehigh University is a private research institution with over 5,600 undergraduate students Our Office of Admissions consists of 22 professional staff members and 100 student workers. With the goal to increase applications and overall school size, our small professional staff relies on student workers to help execute important events used to garner interest and yield students For this reason, it is important that we not only show respect and appreciation for our students, but also prioritize building relationships with them and commit to seeing them as more than just employees. In order to do this, professional staff have to engage with students on a personal level and show interest in who they are, and what they are engaging in both academically and socially.

Ambassador 101

Catherine Jahns, Admissions Visits and Communication Manager, Maryville College

Beginning in Spring 2023, our ambassador program shifted from an unstructured, go-atyour-own-pace training experience for new hires to an 8-week credit-bearing class prior to even being hired to work as admissions ambassadors. I will expand on the hiring process, the structure of the course, and the assignments that students were expected to complete The session will examine the successes and the areas for improvement following the completion of the first cohort utilizing this new training model.

Be Curious in Your Conversations - Student Development IS Our Job!

Katie Holdgreve-Resendez, Associate Director of Admissions, University of Colorado Boulder

Student development is part of our daily jobs, from working with our student employees and ambassadors to communicating with prospective students. Sometimes the most unintentional interactions, those that we haven't planned, are the conversations that have the most impact on helping our students learn, develop, and grow This overview and interactive session on Perry's Theory of Intellectual Development will help us all remember that we don't have to stage interactions, but instead be curious in our conversations! Come for a mini-refresher or learn about Perry for the first time and how you can make time for daily interactions and learn with students.