Plattsburgh State will be holding its second virtual open house tomorrow. Open house is one of the largest events held on campus, however, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Admissions Office decided to hold it in a virtual format using Zoom.
Tomorrow’s event will consist of currently enrolled student-led virtual tours, academic breakout sessions and live Q&A sessions with faculty as well as current students. There will also be a live presentation session with a student panel to discuss admission procedures, academics and campus living. The panel will consist of one student adviser and three current students and will be held in a webinar session.
“We had around 500 people already registered for our second open house, but the numbers are rising daily even now,” Allison Beebie, admissions adviser for PSU said. “Even though it is virtual, it still provides potential students and their families a chance to take a look at the campus and connect with faculty and staff.”
Beebie also mentioned that PSU had students attending from not just New York but also out of state students and international students during the first open house April 4.
“It was actually a lot more convenient for the out of state students to attend, as they did not have to travel long distances to get to campus,” Beebie said.
Beebie also spoke about the fact that during the first virtual open house, multiple academic breakout sessions and campus life sessions were held. Potential students and their families had a chance to connect with faculty members and learn more about student activities and academic support opportunities offered on campus. There was also a session held with Student Support Services and the Financial Aid Office, where students had the opportunity to discuss how to receive state and federal aid and how to be eligible for scholarships.
James D’Amato, a sophomore majoring in hospitality management, currently works for the Admissions Office as a student ambassador and was one of the students who led the virtual tours.
“It was obviously very different, a little more difficult than normal,” D’Amato said. “We shared our screens with the students so that they could observe what we were talking about, and there were even 360-degree images compiled by marketing.”
Students were allowed to use a dropbox to ask any questions they might have.
Because the open house was being conducted in such a different manner, the student ambassadors were required to undergo an additional one hour of training with Tonya Baker, the Admissions and Visitations coordinator. Because Baker is on maternity leave now, students will be trained by Beebie for tomorrow’s upcoming event.
Email Alaina Asim at cp@cardinalpointsonline.com
