Undergraduate admissions changes currently underway

By Tatyanna Hunter

Positive changes and improvements to Admissions, Financial Aid, and Enrollment Management, are taking place due to the advice of Vice President for Enrollment Management Terry Whittum.

Whittum, the new Vice President for Enrollment Management as of October 2013, is enjoying his new position.

Whittum said that“there are challenges, but the students, faculty, and staff have been great and very supportive.”

A major change in the admission process is the schedule of the admission process. Traditional acceptance dates have been changed to rolling admission.

Changing to rolling admission “allows us more time to build relationships with admitted students,” Whittum said.

With the heavy snowfall, one admission event had to be postponed, but Whittum feels that the postponement is not an issue because it seems that having one or two large events works out better than many smaller events.

In fall of 2012, 406 new students, freshmen and transfers, entered Hood. In 2013 400 new students were admitted and enrolled at Hood.

Cindy Emory, Director of Institutional Research and Assessment, said that the current number of incoming students is very close to the average number of students enrolled at this time.

Whittum wants to have more incoming and prospective students see and talk to people who will have a positive influence on them, such as teachers and counselors.

Ted Luck, Director for Student Success and Outreach and a member of the interview team that hired Whittum, is excited about Whittum’s new plans for Hood.

With the new admissions plans on the way, Whittum hopes to “expand the region from which Hood attracts students.”

Some students eventually transfer out of Hood, but Admissions is working hard to attract students to the school. Emory says that the reasons some students leave are very different such as health related issues and just general transfers.

Luck believes that the weight of the enrollment and retention process should not only fall on Whittum, but the entire campus.

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