“Virtual meetings allow our student’s applications to truly come to life!”
~Owen Logue, Director of Enrollment Management
As just about everyone has had to make changes to their daily routine in the crazy past month and a half we have all been living in, our Cardinal O’Hara admissions office has also had to make changes. With no access to the physical building that we are trying to bring prospective students into, one would think that it is impossible to get families excited about Cardinal O’Hara in this time. You would be sorely mistaken, thanks to the amazing opportunities that we have taken to begin to interact with families virtually.
We are now offering virtual meeting appointments with our enrollment team for our incoming families! Now again, one might think, …it is hard enough to get anyone to answer the phone or an email now, why would anyone sign up to meet face-to-face over a computer? And you may be right. It may seem awkward or uncomfortable to have a conversation about the school, or the application process, or financial aid, that can very well happen over the phone without having to see what style of the inside of each other’s homes are. What I came to realize shortly after my hosting my first virtual meeting, was the opportunities offered in a virtual meeting opened up new doors that I had not originally anticipated:
Human Interaction
Although most of us would prefer to converse and ask questions over a text, email, or phone, there is something different about sitting down with someone and having a conversation face-to-face, especially when it comes to choosing your child’s next academic adventure. Offering this type of meeting platform gives families the semblance that they are walking right into O’Hara and sitting down with me personally, talking about their questions or issues, which they have not been able to do for some time.
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
One key aspect to the virtual meeting that I have found extremely beneficial so far, especially while using Zoom Meeting as an option, is the functionality of sharing my screen. When having a conversation about steps to complete the application for admission or what is needed to fill out the financial aid application, I can not only tell families the steps to take, but I can show them! Through using screen sharing, families follow along with me in completing the necessary steps, or finding specific items on our website, which has been extremely helpful to both myself and the families that I have worked with.
Getting to Know Our Families
Virtual meetings allow our student’s applications to truly come to life! Being able to see my students and their families virtually allows me to not only be able to put a face to a student’s application file, but also interact with them as who they really are; active, real life individuals that are eager to enter the Cardinal O’Hara community!
Of course, at the end of this all I, and the rest of our Cardinal O’Hara enrollment team, cannot wait to get back into our building and once again interact with all of our amazing students and families in person. In the meantime, I will continue to use this opportunity as an option to more effectively serve our incoming student population, and preach the good news that Cardinal O’Hara has to offer to so many students around the greater Philadelphia area! If this has piqued your interest in setting up a virtual meeting with me, feel free to click here! I’ll see you on Zoom!
by Owen Logue, Director of Enrollment Management
oharaliontales.com 