Admission Format Shifts, but the Interest in St. Kate’s Has Not Spring and summer are typically when St. Catherine University is bustling with prospective and future Katies on campus tours, overnight visits, and face-to-face meetings with admission counselors. This year, however, all this activity has moved online. St. Kate’s admission team has taken their signature personalized focus on each interaction with a prospective student to an online environment, whether it be a video chat, text, phone call, or virtual event. While the College for Adults and Graduate College already utilized some virtual options to connect for specific programs, they’ve now shifted entirely to that model. The College for Women utilized more in-person interactions, but is pivoting well. Admission event specialist Cynthia Yang (left) coordinates the major admission events on campus and says there were several factors the team had to consider for each event. “Technology is our strongest tool and greatest barrier,” Yang says. “And the main challenge comes from the plain and simple fact that we cannot control the individual experience during a session because of access to the internet.” To include students without internet access, admission counselors fill in the gaps with email, texting, or phone calls. Event strategy is not as simple as shifting every single event to a virtual version of its original self. Overnights and all-day sessions have been 10
AT ST. CATHERINE • SPECIAL PRINT EDITION 2020
condensed into more digestible, shorter virtual sessions, where prospective and future students still have access to admission counselors and current Katies for support. There is also a great deal of consideration for virtual fatigue that many people are experiencing. Understanding how each prospect or admitted student wants to connect is a vital piece of the puzzle. “Our work is all about relationship building and showcasing what is unique about St. Kate’s. While it’s most effective to do this in on-campus programming, we are still able to build relationships in a virtual environment, and that is where we have shifted our efforts,” says President ReBecca Koenig Roloff ’76. “The admission team has been hard at work to support a return to campus. There is a place for prospective students here at St. Kate’s. We will continue to do all we can to support our students, and help them reach their educational goals.” Prospective students and parents are reacting well to the virtual approach. According to Yang, conversations often begin with questions about what the fall semester will look like with COVID -19, but then shift to questions about life at St. Kate’s and academic programs. Prospective and admitted students are engaging with admission counselors and current Katies, who are an especially important support group for students who will spend their first year at St. Catherine University in the fall of 2020. With the number of registrants and attendees nearly identical to 2019 events, it is clear that although the format has shifted, the interest in St. Kate’s has not.
