The Admissions Events Committee has been selected for a 2021 Northern Michigan University Distinguished Team Award. The committee is comprised of chair Kate Hooper, Christina Carr, Allison Frorenza, Alyssa Lambert and Kimberly Randolph of Admissions; Jeffrey Koval of Broadcast & Audio-Visual Services; and William Richards of Business Intelligence & Information Services.
The committee was tasked with exploring how virtual events could provide the same feeling that in-person, on-campus recruitment events provided, leading to visitors' college decision outcomes. The team had to think differently about NMU's traditional events and repurpose them in a virtual platform.
Northern Nights and Transfer Week consisted of a series of virtual student panels and videos that were put together to showcase NMU students, faculty and staff. These provided desired information and helped prospective students “meet” NMU people.
The team's project with the largest and most challenging scope was creating a virtual Presidential Scholars Competition. This required intense planning, attention to detail, project management and clear communication with the campus community. Zoom links needed to be organized for small groups, moderators and faculty and staff interviews. Rubrics were created to reflect a different type of competition, activities were adjusted to fit a virtual format, and webinar technology was investigated and refined to bring together a panel of experts. The team even enlisted the expertise of the Faculty Learning Committee to create a completely new set of interview questions, shaped around NMU Core Values, along with an appropriate scoring rubric.
“The team made connections across campus to bring this event together and it was well received by all of our prospective students who participated,” stated the team's award description.
NMU honored several individuals and teams during its virtual 2021 Faculty and Staff Recognition Celebration. Employees were also honored for years-of-service milestones and retirement during the event. See all of those highlighted, along with the award winners, here.