Michelle L. Cloutier, Vice President for Enrollment Management, shares how she and her team are connecting with prospective students and their families.
Meaningful contact with prospective students is a hallmark of the Admission process at Bryant. Why is that important?
“I believe meaningful contact allows each student to ask questions and seek answers about the most important aspect of this experience – making sure Bryant has the resources, the organization, the support, and the mentors to create an environment that will allow the student to thrive and to be challenged, while also making the student feel comfortable and safe.”
With COVID-19 precautions in place, how have you and your team pivoted to ensure that meaningful contact with prospective students and their families continues virtually?
“As soon as we realized that our flagship event, Admitted Student Open House, and other programs such as Bryant 360 and Bryant 101 were going to have to be postponed, if not cancelled, we knew it would be important to provide students with accessibility to members of the Admission team and to members of our community as a whole to answer their questions and to help them feel as connected to Bryant as possible.”
How can prospective students experience the Bryant community?
“We have identified the most important pieces of information families typically seek during this time in their college selection process – when they would come to ‘do it, see it, feel it in person on campus’ – and are replicating that experience online.
We are holding a series of virtual events that allow prospective students and their families to talk with Bryant's provost, faculty, student affairs leadership, current students, and alumni. Recordings of those events will be made available online for viewing at whatever time is convenient for students and their parents.”
What’s available and what’s coming up soon?
“Last week, Provost Glenn Sulmasy, who is also a Bryant parent, held a virtual Parent Chat," Cloutier notes. On Wednesday, April 8, Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Inge-Lise Ameer is holding a chat focusing on residence life, health services, campus ministry, and student clubs and organizations. She will engage with parents about our nurturing environment and student activities, which help students grow, thrive, and experience new things as well as the support systems available when they may need some extra help.
We also are offering a number of academic sessions with department and program chairs to provide a deeper dive into various majors and programs. There also is a session that provides a multicultural perspective of the Bryant experience. To learn more about Bryant University's virtual Admission offerings and to register, go to explore.bryant.edu/register.
The popular Day with Class program, which allowed prospective students to shadow a current student in class, is also available online. A number of faculty members have opened their virtual classrooms, allowing prospective students to get an idea of the classroom engagement they will experience at Bryant and the kinds of projects they will be working on with faculty.
If students – or parents – are not able to join the virtual events live, they can view them later at any time that works for them.
Should they have any questions or concerns, the Admission team is available to help them get the answers they need. Please reach out, we're here to make those connections.
