Quiet

Campus is eerily quiet today.  Staff is back and ready to tackle the New Year, but our students won’t return for another few weeks.

This makes for exceptional parking, peaceful days to get through all of the mail and e-mail we’ve received over the holiday, but it also means that it feels a bit like a ghost town if you walk around our halls or paths.  Students bring a certain depth and energy to campus that you just can’t replicate in their absence.  And while I’ll relish being able to park close to my building in the 20 degree morning temperatures, I’m looking forward to hearing their banter as you walk across our quad, or listening to them bustle into our office with their stories and such.

Happy 2011, Everyone–looking forward to seeing what it has in store for us here at the Briar, and how you’ll be a part of it!

With Honors

I had tweeted a few Fridays back about changes to our Honors program, and on of my very faithful Bleaders, SM (BM’s mom who couldn’t be here for BM’s visit back in February) in typical form was on the horn about the changes within the hour. I am still wrapping my brain around how we’re moving our Honor’s Program, so I really appreciate SM’s patience as I’ve said, “hold on! I got your e-mail, I’m trying to sort out all the info! I promise I haven’t forgotten you!”.

Can I just pause for a moment and share how much I enjoy working with families like the M’s? They ask such great and poignant questions that really challenge me, and I so appreciate that! But I digress….

With Honors.

For some, this is not only just a huge deal on Graduation Day, but as a part of an enriched educational experience. The changes that are being laid out in this strategic plan, I believe, will only enhance this process. Here are the five initiatives the Honors Committee is working on (and I will cite here, much of the language is taken from Jill Granger’s report to the faculty):

• Creating a more defined First Year Experience for students invited into the Honors Program through specific cohort‐building HNRS courses for first‐year students
• Honors Program Student Council, which will serve as a mechanism for community‐building and getting student perspectives into the Honors Program decision‐making process
• Creating a New Level of Honors Recognition of Honors Students who complete a course of study, but do not complete an Honors Thesis
• Honors Seminar Re‐visioning. Moving away from “one‐off” honors seminars to a more intentional, rationally designed HNRS curriculum; capitalize on developing faculty expertise in the program; allow students more opportunity for planning
• Honors Faculty Fellowship. Re‐visioning of the Postdoctoral Honors Fellow position

Much of this is part of a strategic plan, aka this is going to take some time to develop and develop them so it makes sense for our students, the college, and our faculty. The basic timeline is as follows:

2009-2010

HPSC initiated (initiative #2)

FYE Courses planned (initiative #1)

Aspects of Seminar Restructuring begin (initiative #3)

New Level of Honors Recognition Plans made/proposed (initiative #4)

2010‐2011

HPSC Implemented

FYE Courses Taught

Continue with Seminar Restructuring and Alignment

New Level of Honors Recognition finalized (initiative #4)

Discussions andPlanning on Initiative #5

2011‐2012

Full Implementation of Initiatives #1‐4

Faculty Honors Fellowship is launched

2012‐13; 2013‐14; 2014‐15

Full implementation Assessment

2015‐2016

10‐year External Review

If you’re a current High School Senior, some of this “stuff” will be implemented during your time here, which I always think is cool because you get to try new things out and have major impact on what happens next based on your feedback. Feel powerful, Class of 2014! If you are a High School Junior or younger, these things will just be a part of your process, and should be seamless, meaning it will be as if this was always the way it was done.

The coolest thing, I would think, for you all is the implementation of the Honors Committee including a cohort for students to have a huge say in what goes on with the Honors Program. It’s an incredible leadership opportunity for our students, and I think shows our focus on helping our girls be meaningful leaders within their various communities (including this one).

Anyway you spin it, this is really quite cool, and I’m so thrilled to see how you all take it and run with it!

Daisy’s Docents

Last week we had our first Tour Guide training of the new semester and with the new group as a whole.  These girls are ready to roll, and I’m soooo excited to be working with them!  The first agenda item after introductions and general housekeeping was to rename the group.  We’ve been using Tour Guide for years, and we thought it was about time that the group was allowed to choose what they should be called.  After a brainstorming session over pizza, three choices were brought to the table.  We held an e-mail vote later in the week, and on Friday after the last votes came in we had a clear winner.

I’m proud to announce that our Tour Guide Program for next year will now be called Daisy’s Docents.  I think it’s a great choice by our new Docents, and I’m incredibly proud to be the Docent Advisor

Holla, Holla, Daisy’s Docents!!

And we’re back!

Dearest Bleaders, I am so sorry for the long hiatus between posts!  We have been in the midst of Tour Guide interviews and just plain CRAZINESS here in admissions!  However, I’d love to update you on the two newest happenings in the life of GAL.

1.  WE HAVE TOUR GUIDES!

What I thought would be a relatively…well, I’m not really sure what I thought tour guide hiring process was going to be like.  In the end, it was incredibly time-consuming conducting all the interviews and such, but incredibly rewarding!  We are changing up the program this year and as such added a second part to our interviewing strategy.  All the applicants were asked to take us to their favorite places on campus, and tell us why.  I hiked my sorry booty up, down, and over this campus and I am so grateful for everyone’s time, energy, and creativity in showcasing why they love this place so much.  I fell in love with Sweet Briar again and again and again over the past three weeks, and I thank you all for the beautiful reminder (and we’re hoping in the future to share some of those places with you…stay tuned!!).

In the end, we had some really hard choices to make.  If I could have taken them all, I would have!  However, we could only take a handful, but I am so excited to see what they do and how we move this program forward in the coming year.  I hope you’re able to get on campus to see how fabulous they are!!

2.  ACCEPTED APPLICANT MEET AND GREETS

This past Saturday my colleague, LR, and I meandered down to Roanoke to meet up with some pretty fab students and talk about Sweet Briar.  I had such a great time talking with K and L, and they have the chance to add so much to this place!  We had a great meal, awesome conversation, and more than a few laughs along they way.  As LR put so eloquently (and I’m paraphrasing here), We are so fortunate and grateful to have the chance to be a part of this journey, and we sincerely enjoy working with you.  It was so nice to have a chance to celebrate that, and their acceptances this weekend.  Thanks for the great time, K and L!!

Blessed

I try hard not to throw this word around lightly because in my household it hold a lot of clout. We count our blessings daily, and try out best to pass them along to those around us.

With all the snow and ice and fun that comes along with it, I have to admit it’s been a little bit harder to sit in my own space and be thankful, grateful and happy. Yes, perky admissions counselors get down sometimes too, and as much as I hate to admit it (because I do love winter so dearly, and I know it’s going to make for a spectacular spring show!) I have a case of the blahs.

I tell you this not to have a self pity party here on the blog, but because a) an emotional counselor, I wear my heart/mind on my sleeve, and I try to be as transparent as I can be, and b) it makes this next part so much more amazing!

I often tell people that I’m so lucky because when I start feeling Blah about anything, my students have a way of either lightening my heart, or showing me why I fell in love with this place, these people, and this job all over again. So two stories for you all today!

1. We are in the midst of tour guide hiring, and as I’ve shared we’re revamping the program. Part of that change is taking a group that was upwards of forty girls, and only hiring 12. It’s going to be hard, but I didn’t fully fathom HOW hard until we started face-to-face interviews yesterday. These girls are so amazing, and they had such poignant answers for why they were here, what their hopes and dreams were, and how much they loved Sweet Briar. There were moments yesterday, and I’m sure they’ll be more of them, when I was so caught up in their stories it was if I was back here with almost fresh eyes, seeing the bio lab for the first time, or hearing about an amazing experience that could only happen here, or how diverse our student body truly is. It’s exciting to be a Sweet Briar student right now, and I appreciate the loud and clear reminder.
2. TL is a first year student who enrolled this semester, and while I feel like I know her through our correspondence and her application, if she walked right past me right now I would never know it. We haven’t had a chance to meet face -to-face yet, and from all the pipelines I have it sounded like she was doing well and having a great time. This morning I was getting everything started here in the office when CK (one of our fabulous Support Staff members) brought me this carnation with a note attached–one of our groups on campus is doing a carnation sale, and TL was thoughtful and kind enough to send me one. On the note she thanked me for my help during this process, and PSed it with “I love SB and REALLY love the campus life! Feb 14 is our Chinese Lunar New Year, and I will celebrate it with the 5 other Chinese students on campus ” TL is obviously doing so well here, and has made some meaningful and precious connections. Her note literally brought me to tears (the kind where you can’t breathe and you feel kind of like a 3 year old who lost her words in the heat of the moment)–the very awkward but good kind I so appreciate the reminder that what we do here matters, and more importantly students are finding their paths and doing great things once they come here.

I think because we do work with young adults that feeling of constant tumultuous times can sometimes rub off on us–it can make the highs so much higher and the lows so much lower. But even in the midst of my blahs, it is glaringly apparent today how incredibly blessed I am to be in the space with these girls. I am so grateful that they are so willing to let us be a part of their lives, that they can show us how exciting this process is and should be and how much a simple loving gesture can make a huge difference in someone’s day.

Part of the package of having blessings is to pass them along–so today as we mark our 100th post here on Admissions 101, and as we move into the weekend I hope to find ways to pay this forward…and I hope you do, too.

…and people actually read my blog, Mom!

I’ve had the realization this week that I’m no longer blogging into a vacuum.

It’s a pretty incredible concept, actually, to think that people actually come back and read what someone has to say. I know I have a blog roll of sorts, and Google Reader is my BFF when it comes to keeping track of all these virtual friends and folks, but to think that someone other than my boss, my mother and my JGL actually read this is somewhat surprising.

Which I find exceptionally funny since the whole point of a blog is to have bleaders (which yes, I have affectionately borrowed from Julie/Julia!)

So as we approach the 100th post of Admissions 101, I’d love to hear feedback from you, Dear Bleader–what do you love, what do you hate, and what do you want to see more of? Because as cathartic as this is for me, the whole point is to help serve you–no matter how many of you are out there

(Special shout out to BM and her mom–your e-mail made my day, and I can’t wait to see you on campus next week, B!)

Baby, it’s COLD outside!

It’s beyond chilly outside! Most mornings this week as I’ve driven to work I hear most of my counties in Southwest VA rattled off by the newscaster on NPR for 1-2 hour delays for it being too cold outside. This is relatively out of the norm for this area this time of the year, but I consider it to be a welcomed addition to our January–it feels a lot more like home that way

One of the perks of being back in our office right after the holidays is that folks have fun goodies to share. The big share of the day was the soundtrack to Glee, and I’m pretty sure all of us counselors are jamming out to it simultaneously right now I came into the Glee fan club late this season, but I have to admit it’s pretty gosh darn phenomenal and smart. How does this have to do with weather and/or SWVA?

Jayma Mays, who plays Emma, is originally from Grundy, VA How cool is that for a slightly random connection today?

SWVA is on my mind today not just because of Glee and school cancellations, but because I get to venture down there later this month for a Why a Women’s College Panel at Virginia Tech. We get to speak to over 100 students from the SWVA area who are involved in Upward Bound about the benefits of attending a place like SB. I’m really excited to meet some new faces and share why I loved my educational experience here, but I’m also hoping that my students in SWVA will want to come out and meet me for a cup of coffee after the event to chat about SB, what they’re excited about, what they are most nervous about, and any questions they might have about SBC. My goal is to get letter out asap, and fingers crossed that all you Southwest Virginians out there want to come see me in droves!

For the time being, though, I’m going to scootch my space heater a little closer, tug my scarf a little tighter, and enjoy the sweet sounds of Glee while I work Happy Thursday!