College Recruiting Specialist: Emily Casner
Today I have one of my amazing long time friends, Emily Casner. Now I have known Emily (Shorty is what I call her) since oh goodness, 1st grade I believe. So basically, forever. She recently moved out of state :( and started working for a college as a recruiting specialist! It got me thinking that I have no idea about higher education or how it works really. I thought she would be a great person to start off my category of higher education and give us all the low down on what it looks like getting high schoolers to college.
Here is Emily’s Interview:
1. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Growing up I wanted to be a teacher. I have several family members in education and I enjoyed watching their classrooms evolve. When I entered college, I went a public relations route instead.
2. Is there a moment you remember from school with a teacher you had growing up?
I can't pick one off the top of my head, but any positive or negative student teacher experience I can think of I tie back to how much the teacher cared about the subject matter and their profession.
3. What do you do at the college you work at?
I am a Recruiting Specialist for a 2-year institution in North Dakota. I organize on and off campus school visits, college fairs, and process lots and lots of admission paperwork.
4. What has been the biggest obstacle you have had working with high school students/new college kids?
I would say concise communication is something I am working on getting better at. I tend to get long-winded in my explanations, and I've learned that it doesn't work with this age group. When I meet with a student, I want them to know all of their options, both the good & bad. After our conversation, I want them to have a clearer vision of their future goals. College is an investment, and I feel it's important to make sure students know the positive outcomes that they can gain after completing a degree with us but that they also understand the costs.
For example, on occasion, I have students come in that assume after they finish our two-year business program, they will be able to go straight to serving as an executive accountant. It is my responsibility to explain that to have that career takes a lot more preparation. My campus would be a great place to start because it will save them money in the long run, but they need to understand to reach their career goals would require more education. Sometimes explaining this to teenagers is difficult because I have to be the one to provide some reality.
5. Is there anything you do to get the students' attention so they want to come to your school?
A few important traits that draw students to our camps include scholarships, proximity to home, and campus size. My institution has a wonderful foundation scholarship for local students that allows many of them to receive a scholarship to attend two years tuition free. If they are awarded that scholarship, then the next major cost would be housing. Which we have dormitories and apartments available at below-market rates. I reside in a rural area, so for many of our high school students they attend very small schools. Moving away to attend a large institution could be a considerable change. Instead, my institution provides a great alternative as we still have all the engaging activities of a large campus but can provide resources on a more personal level.
6. Any advice for someone who wants to work at a college?
Be flexible. Things are continually changing both on campus and in the community, which can impact a student and their goals.
7. How are you doing working from home, how are you connecting with possible future students?
It is different; I definitely miss interacting with people! We have implemented Virtual Registration Days to help students register for classes. During our Virtual Registration Day, students sign on to meet with an academic advisor to search for classes, meet with enrollment to register and set up their student accounts. We also incorporated our financial aid, housing, and accessibility departments to answer questions.
Many of the students that have participated are high school seniors that we would have registered at their high school during a visit in March. With schools closed, this was our next best idea. Many of our local schools canceled almost all of the Class of 2020 end of the year activities. This end to the school year left a lot of students upset and disappointed. Signing up for college is part of wrapping up the senior year for many students, and we didn't want to take that away too.
It truly has been a great experience; our students are excited to get everything in order for the Fall and parents are able to join to make sure all of their questions are answered too!
8. A lot of people are saying nothing has changed much in education but do you think anything will change in the college realm of education due to this Pandemic?
Well, I think higher education has an advantage in this complicated situation over the K-12 system. Students have more options at the college level, and the system is more flexible to meet their needs. If a student is concerned about the Pandemic and its implications they can take a year off, enroll in only distance education online, move to campus to limit the chance of putting someone at home at risk. Also, I have heard that some instructors will have a bit more flexibility in the option to teach online or hybrid courses. I understand there are so many other things that impact a student's decision and that the choices I listed above aren't ideal for everyone, but the point is the future of Higher Ed least has alternative options. The K-12 system doesn't have that flexibility; if they say school is open, they expect kids & teachers in the classroom. I am interested to see how that pans out state by state.
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
I am not really sure. I did finally apply to grad school, which is something I have talked about for two years now. So we'll see where that leads me.
Thanks for the interview Emily!
Happy Teaching Everyone :)