ST. CLOUD— The sidewalks and streets surrounding St. Cloud State University are empty, but the college admissions office is still working to get a new class of students ready to fill those sidewalks for the 2020-21 school year.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, college admissions nationwide have quickly transitioned into an online presence, with virtual meetings andorientations to get students prepared for their first year in college.
"St. Cloud State University has been looking at really redefining itself under the new leadership of president Dr. (Robbyn) Wacker,"said Jason Woods, St. Cloud State's vice president for strategic enrollment management. "So we've been looking at a lot of different things prior to COVID-19 happening in regards to admissions and in regards to how we serve our students. What COVID-19 did was it really accelerated some of that work."
Hannah Mikels, St. Cloud State's associate director for recruitment and access, added the goal is tomake it as simple as possible for students. She wants students to be excited about the steps to becoming a college student —not worried nor stressed.
Big changes for admittance
COVID-19 is changing some admissions requirements. The biggest change is accepting applications without ACT/SAT scores because many students were scheduled to take their test at the end of this school year. Those tests have been cancelled.
The St. Cloud State admissions office is also accepting pass/fail grades from distance learning at high schools, and transcripts can be emailed instead of mailed in or handed to the admissions office.Finally, the Huskies are waiving the application fee for the university through June 30.
As the COVID-19 crisis grew, the SCSU admissions office transitioned from in-person meetings with incoming and prospective students to virtualmeetings. Now, students and families to schedule online meetings with an admissions counselor to find answers or to learn more.
"Our first priority and our first step was taking a look at the student experience," Mikels said. "What are some hurdles and some roadblocks that students were going to be experiencing and how can we alleviate those?"
The admissions office provides virtual tours of the campus. These videos have been around for a while becauseSt. Cloud State uses them for potential international students.
Mikels said St. Cloud State started providing Zoom meetings for groups of students and families to ask questions and have a better understanding before the 2020-21 school year begins.
Woods and Mikels said orientation will be done virtually over the next couple of months, and they're trying to make the experience fun and descriptiveso students understand every step in the process.
Whether that's housing, signing up for classes, picking a meal plan, clubs and organizations they can join or just campus life overall, the SCSU admissions office feels prepared for this online transition.
"What I think we're doing now is making decisions when decisions can be made," Woods said. "What we want to do is minimize uncertainty when we have that ability to do so."
Woods added that these concrete decisions are turning St. Cloud State into a new institution, which has been a continuous process and steady goal for the admissions office.
Enrollment numbers unclear
Along with the transitioning of online services, there's also questions about enrollment for colleges and universities nationwide.
For St. Cloud State, enrollment is broken down into two aspects: recruitment and retention. Recruitment is getting students interested in SCSU and what the university has to offer, while retention is focused on keeping students at St. Cloud State.
Mikels said there are many components when it comes to enrollment, so it's difficult to tell whether the numbers have increased, decreased or remained the same with the COVID-19 crisis.
She added that at this point in the year, St. Cloud State has about 90 percent of its applications and has admitted about 90 percent of the students for the incoming class. The numbers have looked healthy throughout the year, but that can't predict what's happening.
"There are so many factors when it comes to enrollment that it's hard to see the exact numbers for the incoming class," Mikels said. "We use yield indicators as a way to figure out numbers and trends."
For St. Cloud State, those yield indicators include seeing how many people have signed up for housing or classes. Mikels said some schools, mostly private colleges, have an enrollment deposit that's mandated for incoming students.
This means that students need to put down a specific deposit to claim their spot in the college or university. That deposit helps colleges understand where they're at for the incoming class.
St. Cloud State doesn't have an enrollment deposit, so the Huskies use different types of yield indicators to determine where they stand for the upcoming school year.
Nationally, Mikels said the enrollment deposit deadline has been pushed back from May 1 to June 1 for schools because it's been slower than usual at this point in the year. There's also been a slower amount of FAFSA submissions compared to other years. The FAFSA helps students determine potential federal aid for college.
"It's difficult to anticipate what's going to happen in the next few months," Mikels said. "But the St. Cloud State University staff will help in any way possible to answer questions and be there for the students."
Mikels said the admissions office isn't worried about working remotely during the summer because that's usually the case. If distance learning and online schooling continueinto the fall, Mikels expects some transitioning for St. Cloud State.
There won't be college fairs at high schools and students will continue to do virtual tours of college campuses instead of in-person meetings. The SCSU admissions office is taking it day-by-day and will make decisions in the fall if needed.
"At the end of the day, this is about the student experience," Mikels said. "We are student focused, students are the number one priority."
Admissions staff for the College of St. Benedict's and St. John's University were unavailable for interviews despite multiple requests the past week.
Brian Mozey is the high school sports reporter for the St. Cloud Times. Reach him at 320-255-8772or bmozey@stcloudtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianMozey.
A previous versionof this report misspelled the name of university President Robbyn Wacker.
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