UND Today

University of North Dakota’s Official News Source

UND Admissions Office meets high-school seniors’ new needs

From virtual campus tours to delayed starts, Admissions helps students come to UND

A trio of juvenile Cooper’s hawks rest on the UND campus, evoking a comparison to the high school seniors who come to the University as fledgling Fighting Hawks ready to pursue their dreams. Photo by Richard Larson.

For high-school seniors, trips to the campuses of their target universities offer a glimpse of what their college lives – from academics to social engagements – might look like. But as the coronavirus began spreading across the nation earlier this spring, campuses shuttered, throwing a wrench in high schoolers’ plans to tour colleges and apply.

“I think campuses across the nation are struggling because we want to provide that human connection to students,” said Janelle Kilgore, University of North Dakota’s vice provost of strategic enrollment management. “We know students who visit our campus feel at home. That’s how they know UND is the right fit for them.”

Unable to  nourish that in-person experience this spring, UND’s Admissions Office, in collaboration with the Division of Marketing & Communications, has created a video tour that lets students “teleport” themselves to campus, where they virtually follow a guide as he shows and talks about marquee buildings, events and organizations.

“We want to create that feeling of being at home through our virtual tours,” Kilgore said.

Janelle Kilgore

Still, a campus tour is only one part of an application process that confronts high-school seniors with tough decisions such as disciplines to pursue and financial aid to secure. While transitioning to remote work in accordance to state directives, the staff of the Admissions Office – as well as several other key departments that facilitate admittance – has maintained a schedule that has prevented any gaps in assisting and communicating with students.

“I am extremely proud of our team, the University’s Admissions Office, the One Stop team, the Student Finance team – they all were able to make the adjustment to working remotely very quickly,” said Kilgore. “Students shouldn’t see any disruptions in the connections that they had previously had.

“We are very much a technology-focused area, and I am so grateful for all the pieces that we have put in place over the years to allow us to have the virtual processes happening now.”

Admissions representatives continue to call, email and text students, who can, furthermore, request one-on-one or group sessions – via Zoom, for instance – to explore their options for enrollment, financial aid and study. Meanwhile, the Admissions Office is working with the Colleges to host virtual academic events for incoming students that were originally scheduled to unfold over three Saturdays this semester.

Waived testing requirements

“We have a majority of our new freshmen applications for a fall start in right now, so we feel pretty confident there,” said Kilgore. “However, we’re still continuing to make sure we create those connections with students who are interested.”

For those high school seniors who might be now finalizing their applications, UND is waiving the requirement of standardized test scores for summer and fall admission. Approved by the State Board of Higher Education, that decision caters to students who are unable to take the ACT or the SAT, which are widely used for university admissions, because testing centers have closed due to COVID-19.

“For those students who haven’t had the opportunity to take these exams yet, we can still get them admitted based on their high school performance,” said Jennifer Aamodt, director of admissions.

Delayed start for those who need it

The Admissions Office is now in the midst of peak processing time for graduate-school applications, Kilgore said.

Jennifer Aamodt

Undergraduates, graduate students and transfer students who intend to begin their UND journey this summer can do so remotely, as the University has shifted to that mode of instruction for the upcoming summer term, too. Many foundational courses in a variety of disciplines have been available online for years, a configuration that lessens the effects of the coronavirus for some summer freshmen.

“We’re very grateful for our campus partners, who have a depth of experience of being leaders in online education,” said Aamodt. “We hope that our old normal returns sooner rather than later, but we have those remote opportunities. We have a lot of essential study courses that are online, even if the actual program is not deemed an online program.”

The Admissions Office, meanwhile, is working with those students who wish for an on-campus first semester – or need to postpone going to college to make up for lost income during the current economic slowdown – to delay their start date. It is also helping international freshmen and graduate students adjust their academic schedules in the event they cannot secure visas on time for the fall term due to the current closure of many U.S. embassies, Aamodt said.

“The biggest thing is that we have continued to stay student focused,” she added.