TABS: For Schools - Admission Academy

Monday, July 21

9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Registration

12:00-1:30 p.m.

Lunch

1:30-2:00 p.m.

Opening Welcome Session

2:00-3:00 p.m.

Interactive Introductions - Carol Hotchkiss Eliot

3:00-4:15 p.m.

Advisee Group Meetings

Michael Gary
Kim Loughlin
Cindy McWilliams
Tom Sheppard

4:14-5:15 p.m.

Large Group Session

Knowing Your School, Knowing Your Competition

Presenter: Tom Sheppard
Admission work shares some commonalities with teaching. You wouldn’t stand before a Latin or calculus class without knowing your discipline. As an admission officer, you must also master a discipline. Your subject is your school. Your subject is also your competition. What knowledge is indispensable? What knowledge is ancillary? If you are new to your institution, or new to boarding schools, how do you cultivate a rich understanding of your school and your competition? And how do you use this understanding most effectively in your work with prospective students, prospective parents, and others?

5:30-7:00 p.m.

Reception & Dinner

Tuesday, July 22

7:45-8:45 a.m.

Breakfast

9:00-9:45 a.m.

Large Group Session

Got Milk?

Presenter: Tom Sheppard
How do you set your school apart when you have only a few moments capture someone’s attention and interest about your school without the extensive and expensive advertising campaigns such as “Got Milk”? As admissions professionals, our ability to convey our school’s message through personality is much more essential and appropriate. We don’t all have features as unique as a zoo, a horse program, or a sailing boat named the Geronimo. However, our schools each have distinct characters and cultures that you must be able to articulate in a concise, compelling and alluring way to families, consultants, placement officers, or whomever you might meet in an elevator! You will have the opportunity to take a ride and see how you do! Elevator included.

9:45-10:30 a.m.

Advisee Group Meetings

10:30-10:45 a.m.

Coffee Break

Large Group Sessions

10:45-11:15 a.m.

Admission Funnel Michael Gary
This is not your fraternity or sorority’s funnel. The admission funnel will serve as a reference point during the Academy. Consider this session the primer. The process of admission, at its most basic, is guiding a relatively large group of prospective candidates through a series of steps and filters, which ultimately yields a relatively small group of enrolled students. These steps, along with a useful glossary of admission, financial aid, and enrollment terms, will be outlined and defined.

11:15-12:00 p.m.

Inquiries and Office Procedures: Maximizing the Potential of Your Inquiry Pool Tom Sheppard
Inquiries are the lifeblood of the admission process, and all admission offices depend upon them for the success of our marketing efforts. Ensuring that your office attracts and manages inquiries efficiently and effectively is an essential step in the admission process. This session discusses a variety of techniques and procedures that all admission offices should consider to ensure that each inquiry maximizes its potential.

12:15-1:15 p.m.

Lunch

1:15-2:30 p.m.

Large Group Sessions

Effective Admission Travel: The Chase is On Cindy McWilliams
It’s September, and the traditional admission travel season has begun. Optimizing your chances for success this year begins with a thorough plan laid out far in advance. This session will provide important information about admission travel with emphasis on “rookie” travel assignments such as representing your school at a boarding school fair, in addition to visiting a feeder school or educational consultant.

2:30-3:30 p.m.

Fostering Productive Relationships with Educational Consultants John Gray
Wonder why some schools enroll up to half of their students through consultant referrals; why some seem to have close, positive relationships that result in ideal applicants; and why your school has neither? Explore the most effective ways of collaborating with educational consultants and educational planners to help you reach admission goals. Before joining Schoolsearch last year, John Gray worked at Fessenden School for 23 years serving as Dean of Enrollment, Director of Secondary School Placement, and Director of Admission and Financial aid. John will also share with us some expectations and suggestions for working effectively with placement directors and feeder schools.

3:30-3:45 p.m.

Coffee Break

3:45-4:30 p.m.

Advisee Group Sessions

4:30-5:00 p.m.

Large Group Session

Homework and File Reading Guidelines Kim Loughlin
Hear some basic guidelines; then, for homework, try your hand at evaluating several real admission files (applicant names have been censored to protect the innocent). Thursday morning, you’ll report to your advisee group prepared to share your observations—and to learn some of the finer points of candidate assessment.

5:30-7:00 p.m.

Reception & Dinner

Wednesday, July 23

7:45-8:45 a.m.

Breakfast

9:00-9:30 a.m.

Large Group Session

Marketing 101 Michael Gary
This session will cover Marketing at its most basic level. Learn the terms associated with Marketing, with the goal of learning how to put together a Marketing Plan.

9:30-10:30 a.m.

Open Workgroups choose one

Financial Aid 101 Cindy McWilliams
Financial aid is often perceived as one of the most nebulous issues in independent schools. Just how much financial aid does your school have to award? Who gets it and why? Are awards need-based or merit-based? How does the process work? This can be a very sensitive issue for parents seeking to provide an education for their children that can be very difficult for them to afford. So, you should simply hand such tricky issues over to your director, right? Wrong. There are a few key essentials that all admission officers should understand about the financial aid process. In addition to learning the fundamentals of the process, we will also discuss the importance of the approach admission officers should take when discussing this issue with prospective families.

International Student Assessment Tom Sheppard
Accurate assessment of international applicants can be challenging for even the most seasoned admission officer. School year calendars, transcripts, test scores and recommendations vary widely from country to country. As a result, admission officers often wonder if they have made appropriate admission decisions for these applicants. This session discusses techniques for reviewing files of international applicants and making informed and fair admission decisions.

Marketing 202 Michael Gary
This session will be a continuation of Marketing 101 but delve deeper into the tools, ideas and resources available to help refine your marketing plan like geodemographics, competitive intelligence, and Stats Online.

10:30-10:45 a.m.

Coffee Break

10:45-12:00 p.m.

Workgroup Sessions choose one

Korean-Specific Culture in Boarding Schools
Christine Oh Chapman, Educational Consultant
Korean families are very interested in the Canadian and US boarding school experience, and, as a result, a large number of students from that nation are enrolled in our schools. How do we best serve these Korean students, and what issues do boarding schools face once these students are admitted? Come join a lively discussion about issues pertaining to Korean students. Please come prepared with questions – and don’t be shy! We can talk about anything, from food and visas, to hygiene and hierarchical issues. We can also explore issues of the dual identity crises many of these students face and try to find ways to make them feel more comfortable in our schools.

How Admissions & ResLife Can Work Together
Kim Loughlin & Cindy McWilliams
How could they admit that kid? Why hasn’t the advisor called the parent back yet? Why am I being asked to do this, Admissions is their job. Why can’t the dorm parent see they can be influential in this student’s decision to return next year? In the heat of the moment of our jobs, we sometimes forget the importance of working together internally. We’ll discuss some ideas you can take back to your School to suggest how the two areas of School need to be invested in one another’s success which will ultimately make each other’s jobs a bit easier, strengthen retention, and provide a healthy model for good school keeping.

Serving Our Families Through the Web
Tom Sheppard
The Internet continues to dramatically change the ways in which schools market to prospective applicants. As websites become primary sources of information for students, families and referral sources, it is important that schools develop effective and creative ways to use their websites to reach this audience. This session reviews a variety of school web sites and highlights new and interesting techniques to connect with prospective applicants.

International Multicultural Experience: Orientation and Programming Ginger Love Garcia
Making the most of the international multicultural experience on our campuses requires thoughtful design and programming. This workgroup builds on the ideas presented in the last large group session, presenting specific orientation plans to prepare international students for the linguistic and cultural challenges of transitioning to life in our schools. We will also share best practices ideas for activities designed to promote cultural exchange on our campuses.

The Outsiders (Doug Dickson & Carol Hotchkiss)
Boarding schools have become an attractive choice for many families who have not traditionally considered this option. The economic, cultural, geographical, gender and family backgrounds, as well as learning styles, of our students are more diverse than ever. Nontraditional students and their families face many adjustments that may go unnoticed in the busy life of a school. Sensitivity to these modifications can improve retention and avoid accumulated pressures that may arise.

Attracting & Supporting Students of Color (Michael Gary)
What is it like to be a student of color in today’s boarding schools? Using a series of case studies based on real-student experiences, this session will explore and discuss the challenges, benefits, disappointments and rewards of students of color. Come prepared to share your perspectives of the readiness of your school to expand its diversity, i.e. what support systems are in place for international and domestic students? Who are the adult advocates for diversity, and what is their support system like in your school?

Supporting Gay and Lesbian Students and Faculty in Our Schools Julie Johnstone
Teenagers at boarding schools are in a constant process of learning about who they are as young people, especially as they negotiate the difficulties of integrating their sexual orientation into the whole of their lives. It can be especially hard for gay and lesbian students to learn to love themselves, find their place in the school community and feel affirmed by friends, faculty and family. How do we support our gay and lesbian students and faculty? Does your school have a policy that supports an open and affirming environment for this segment of your population? What type of organizations have schools established to support these members of your community?

12:15-1:15 p.m.

Lunch

1:15-2:45 p.m.

Large Group Session

Interviewing - Your Turn Behind the Desk
Kim Loughlin
Participants will have an opportunity (“pick me, pick me”) to be in the interviewer’s seat to test their interviewing techniques.

The Art of Interviewing
Facilitator: Kim Loughlin
As a follow up to the practice interviews, we will discuss the purpose of interviewing; who is – or should be – involved in interviewing candidates; some do’s and dont’s; active listening; what you may learn from what is not said; and what follow-up is needed after an interview. We will discuss some of the challenges of interviewing, including how to get an interview underway and what questions should (as well as what one can) be asked.

2:45-3:30 p.m.

Advisee Groups

3:30-3:45 p.m.

Coffee Break

3:45-4:30 p.m.

Large Group Session

Campus Visits
Kim Loughlin
For all our schools, the visit can and will make a difference. This may be the most important key to establishing a strong relationship with a student and his/her family. The presentation of one’s school can go a long way in meeting expectations of the family. We will cover the logistics of campus visits (including good communication prior to their walking through your front door); setting the tone of the visit; and what the faculty, maintenance department and students can do to help make the best impression.

Further discussion of tour guide programs and special events such as open houses, revisit days and overnights will be covered Thursday, July 24, from 1:15-2:30 p.m. during workgroup sessions entitled Tour Guide Programs and Special Events.

4:30 p.m.

Free time and evening off-campus

Thursday, July 24

7:45-8:45 a.m.

Breakfast

9:00-10:15 a.m.

Large Group Session

Testing and Assessment Tom Sheppard
For admission officers with little or no experience, one of the most daunting aspects of the admission process can be testing and assessment. Each school uses testing in its own way, but some common principles do exist. This session examines some of the most common admission tests such as the SSAT, SLEP, TOEFL, ISEE and WISC and gives participants the essential tools for understanding and interpreting test results.

10:15-10:30 a.m.

Coffee Break

10:30-12:00 p.m.

Advisee Groups -
File Reading - Overview discussion of three case studies

12:15-1:15 p.m.

Lunch

1:15-2:30 p.m.

Workgroup Sessions choose one

Financial Aid 202 Rick Mahoney
An ideal session for those with specific financial aid responsibility (or those who are incorrigibly curious), in this workgroup we’ll tackle the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS) methodology. We’ll outline the steps involved in assessing family need, noting standard practices as well as variations. Time permitting we will also have a brief discussion of financial aid in light of the industry’s principles of good practice; individual school policies; and competitive and demographic developments. The focus, however, will be on providing a practical introduction to needs analysis.

Effective Use of Technology in the Admission Process
Tom Sheppard
It cannot be avoided, no matter how hard one may try. The successful integration of multiple technologies is essential for a well run admission office in the 21st century. Schools that do not put technology at the forefront are in danger being left behind in the marketing race. At the same time, schools that employ a variety of technologies gain a competitive advantage and are better able to connect to today's students and parents. This session provides an overview of technologies that are essential for a robust admission office and looks at the pitfalls of failing to successfully manage these same technologies.

Tour Guide Programs and Special Events
Kim Loughlin and Cindy McWilliams
This workgroup will be of interest to those responsible for managing the Tour Guide Program and those with responsibility for planning special events. Whether you are looking to start a program from scratch or looking for new ideas to rejuvenate an existing program, we will be discussing using student and faculty volunteers; training tour guides; hosting open houses; revisiting days and overnights; and thanking your volunteers.

2:30-2:45 p.m.

Coffee Break

Large Groups

2:45-3:30 p.m.

Retention: A Bird in Hand is Better Than Two in the Bush
Cindy McWilliams
Of all the things we can do to improve our enrollment picture, one of the most effective is a coordinated plan for student retention. This session identifies ways that the admission office can play an active role in promoting and coordinating student retention with faculty and other administrative offices. In addition, the session will explore ways to uncover the real causes of attrition. Formulas for understanding retention will be introduced and discussed.

3:30-4:15 p.m.

Figures Don’t Lie but Liars Figure Michael Gary
If you want to be a credible admissions officer, measure everything; keeping weekly, monthly and annual stats give feedback about our admission activity. We must keep our finger on the pulse of how well we are doing in the midst of all the traveling, interviewing, and worrying!

4:15-5:00 p.m.

Keys for Survival and Success Admssion Faculty
TABS Admission Academy faculty has identified key behaviors evident in the most successful admission professionals. This final session brings together all the issues and strategies examined during the week and helps lead you to develop your strategy for success, including:

Going beyond what’s required
Personal balance/outlet
Mentorship
Networking
Developing a thick skin
Exercising a high degree of professionalism
Mission Driven - motivated on some level that you’re doing something good for kids
Success Driven - part of survival