Jay Howen
Assistant Director of Admissions Payton Tanner and Springhillian Ambassador Elizabeth Wellendorf after a long day of working Welcome to the Hill.
The United States has been shaken up by the COVID-19 crisis and seniors all around have beenaffected by this pandemic.
High school students are one of the many groups who have been greatly affected by COVID-19. They have lost graduation, prom and memories they could be making in their last days assenior students. Even though COVD-19 has taken over their senior year, it hasn’t completelychanged their admission into college.
Spring Hill College admissions counselors have worked hard and dedicated a lot of time to tryand normalize this transition as much as possible. The admissions counselors have been doingvirtual tours and speaking directly to high school students and their parents. Assistant Directorof Undergraduate & International Admissions,Amanda Owens said “right now we are workingon a youtube video we were able to shoot before faculty and staff were dismissed from workingon campus. This video includes talks on the avenue of the oaks, the student center, St.Joseph’sChapel and student testimony from Burke Library on faculty.” The marketing staff at Spring HillCollege will be helping Admissions with this idea, and they hope that it will allow high schoolseniors to continue on tours from a distance and learn about campus life.
The main goal of admissions is to keep incoming or undecided high school students engagedduring the COVID-19 outbreak. The admissions counselors have taken to social media ,mainlyInstagram, to update high school seniors on what’s new and what ways they can be active beforethey have a face to face interaction with a faculty member. Spring Hill College’s CampusProgramming Board has invited high school seniors who are now incoming freshmen to a gameof virtual bingo held last Thursday. President of CPB, Jessica Gagliano stated “I felt like it wasour duty as CPB to give our incoming freshmen a chance to get a feel of how SHC mixers are,even if it was virtually. We had one incoming freshmen reach out and say thank you for lettinghim play bingo and winning.” This isn’t the only way students are staying engaged.
Faculty at Spring Hill have been communicating with high school seniors. They have decided togive admissions help when connecting with and engaging these seniors. The faculty are not justtalking to the seniors, they are also talking to the parents. Faculty like Dr. Dodsworth, Dr.Fox,and Dr.Silvernail, among others, have been making this calling transition as normal as possiblefor the high school seniors. Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy, Dr.Christopher Dodsworth said “even just over the phone, I have this indubitable sense that they’regoing to fit right in to the Spring Hill community. I can’t wait to meet them! In this difficult timewhen we’re all stuck at home, they have lifted me up and made me excited for next year!”While speaking to high school seniors, Admissions has had plenty of transfer students coming inas well. Transfer Admissions Counselor, Michelle Betts stated, “We are continuing to reach outto transfer students on a weekly basis to help them through the transition from another institution to Spring Hill College. We are providing quicker feedback on transfer credit evaluations and financial aid packages to help students make an informed decision to ultimately help them know that Spring Hill is their new home!” The number of transfer students has risen since last year and continue going up even though COVID-19 has caused the shutdown of Spring Hill College.
The important thing as of now to the Office of Admissions is to keep high school seniors andtransfer students updated on news and engage them in any possible way so SHC can be their newhome in Fall 2020.