Admit It, An AACRAO Podcast Dr. Stephanie Krusemark, & James Miller

Improving a student’s sense of belonging and connectedness is a powerful force for good—and measurably improves enrollment, inclusion, and retention. A higher sense of belonging improves students’ excitement, confidence, and commitment related to college. 
The first year experience begins with the admissions and application process, before the first year even truly begins. Many of us will soon be facing early and priority admissions deadlines for next fall. Now is the perfect time to take a strategic approach to student success through creating a space for building intentional connections. This episode explores the creative ways CSUN is working towards increasing student yield and ultimately student success through community building. Listen to a case-study of how to build a student-driven sense of belonging using the Near Peer peer-to-peer engagement platform. Near Pear is a virtual peer network that reinforces a sense of belonging and community throughout the student lifecycle, resulting in increased yield, reduced melt, and improved persistence.
Host: 
Stephanie Krusemark, Vice President of Enrollment Management 
Illif School of Theology 

Guests: 
Dustin Manocha, Founder and CEO 
Near Peer 

Aaron Lindberg, Director of Admissions
California State University-Northridge

This is the second episode of a two part series on Legacy Admissions. Host, Dr. Stephanie Krusemark sits down with Janelle Holmboe, Executive Vice President of Constituent Engagement at McDaniel College and talk about the unique way that they are building legacy through scholarships. 

McDaniel has several legacy scholarship programs, the most recent of which is the Alumni Legacy Scholarship. These scholarship programs have created a clear pipeline of students - 20% of McDaniel students move through one of these scholarship programs. And the yield is 10-15% higher than other admitted students. In addition to the pragmatic enrollment successes of these programs, they allow McDaniel an opportunity to align funds with institutional history and mission.

Listen now to learn more about this engaging and informative continuation of the conversation on Legacy Admissions. 

Host
Dr. Stephanie Krusemark, Vice President of Enrollment Management
Illif School of Theology 

Guest: 
Janelle Holmboe, Executive Vice President of Constituent Engagement
McDaniel College 

On February 7, 2022, a new bill, the Fair College Admissions for Students Act, was introduced in the U. S. Senate and the House of Representatives. The bill would ban any college that participates in federal student aid programs from offering admissions preferences to children of alumni or donors. While there is still no update on the approval of this bill, to add some perspective, I sit down with Barb Roberts, Assistant Vice President of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Services, for the University of Nevada - Las Vegas. According to the U. S. News and World Report rankings, the University of Nevada - Las Vegas is noted as one of the most diverse institutions in the country and does not offer legacy admissions to increase access, equity, and diversity within its student body. In this episode, I ask Barb to discuss her perspectives on this new potential legislation and its impact on the future of college admissions and enrollment.

Host 
Stephanie Krusemark, Vice President of Enrollment Management 
Iliff School of Theology

Guest 
Barb Roberts, Assistant Vice President of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Services 
University of Nevada - Las Vegas 

Admit It sits down with Jackson Boyar, Co-Founder and CEO of Mentor Collective and Stephen Ostendorff, Dean of Admissions of Molloy University and new Mentor Collective partner, to discuss how peer mentorship programs can increase admitted student yield and overall student success.

Resources:
Programs and/or Mentors for Newly Admitted Students: January 2022 | 60-Second Survey

On this Juneteenth Weekend, Dr. Stephanie Krusemark, co-host of the AdmitIt podcast, sits down with Dr. Marybeth Gasman to discuss the history of race and culture embedded within the minority serving institutions in the United States. We discuss the positive impact these institutions have on student success, the realistic challenges of their survival and ability to thrive, and why it’s important to advocate for their sustainability within the larger higher education ecosystem of colleges and universities in the United States and globally.

Dr. Marybeth Gasman is the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education, the Executive Director of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity & Justice, and the Executive Director of the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions at Rutgers University.

RESOURCES
Publications by Dr. Gasman
Doing the Right Thing: How Colleges and Universities Can Undo Systemic Racism in Faculty Hiring (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2022).

Educating a Diverse Nation: Lessons from Minority Serving Institutions. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015). 


Relevant Context Material
Consider a College With a Focus on Minority Students, U. S. News and World Report 
Minority Serving Institutions, American Council on Education 

Education Dept. Delivers $1.4 Billion in Stimulus Funds to Minority-Serving Institutions, AACRAO
Biden Unveils FY 2023 Budget Blueprint, AACRAO

Admit It explores the early career paths of admissions and enrollment professionals with four guests:
Krystin Woodell (UNC Pembroke - Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions),Anthony Olaiya Wright (NC State University - Assistant Director of the Goodnight Scholars Program),Jacqueline López (NC State University - Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions), and David Stevenson (Appalachian State University - Assistant Director of Admissions for International Admissions). Each guests elaborates on their experiences navigating the early admissions and enrollment professional career path and provides insights for listeners on how to develop themselves to get to that next level in their career.