Tower-Fall-2020

FALL 2020 | TOWER 17 When the university moved to online instruction in March, student services and administrative offices moved online, too. That includes the Office of Admissions, which is responsible for the countless outreach activities that encourage new students to join the Golden Bear family. One of the biggest challenges was how to replicate the interactive experience of an on-campus tour from a closed campus. But with the help of Instagram Live, the tour guides were able to deliver an authentic experience with all the enthusiasm of an in-person tour. “Our tour guides acknowledged at the beginning of the tour that this was not the ideal experience,” said Krista Evans, director of undergraduate admissions. “That honesty and genuine approach really made a difference in letting high school students know we’re empathetic and we understand what they’re going through.” Tour guides, all of whom were graduating seniors who lived near the Kutztown campus, answered viewers’ questions in real-time while walking around KU and describing campus life. About 200 people joined the tours, which were held daily starting April 7. They moved to three times a week after the spring semester ended in May, and continued through the summer. “By giving prospective students the ability to ask questions and interact with a tour guide, they are able to paint a picture of what their college experience might look like,” said Brett Santos ’20, a tour guide and graduate student at KU. “Having the virtual option also gave more of a voice to students who might be shy or less willing to ask questions while in person. I think a lot of people were really appreciative that we offered something that allowed them to make a connection directly to Kutztown.” COVID-19 affected more than on- campus activities – many internships were canceled when off-campus sites closed, or their employees were asked to work from home. The internships in the Sport Management and Leadership Studies department were no exception. Students who had planned to intern with major league sports teams, fitness and recreation centers, or other venues all found themselves without the internship they needed to graduate. Three KU faculty members —Professor Yongjae Kim, Professor Soojin Kim and Assistant Professor Michelle Vaughn — took on the challenge of redesigning the course to accommodate students’ needs, creating a virtual internship experience. “We wanted to make sure students got the most out of the class. Keeping in mind the set learning objectives of the internship course, we focused on creating five major themes to resemble an actual internship experience: career preparation, professional networking, sales training, sponsorship development and research methods,” Soojin Kim said. Twice per week, students had the opportunity to interact with professionals in the field via Zoom. “Our goal was to help students make connections and expose them to as many professionals as possible. Thanks to having the privilege of more than 15 guest speakers working in different sectors, FACULT Y DES I GN A VIRTUAL INTERNSHIP experience Admissions Shifts Campus Tours Online while their internships would have been very specialized, they were exposed to aspects of the industry that they hadn’t even thought of,” Vaughn said. The students had several experiential learning opportunities, as well. Not only did they participate in a virtual career fair hosted by Teamwork Online, but they also competed in the first-ever KU Sports Sales competition. “To make the class practical, rooted in real-world learning, we incorporated the sales competition. Fortunately, with our established connections, we were able to get the support we needed. We were grateful to have practitioners in the field to serve as judges, andwhat made it more exciting is that judges included our sport management alumni,” Yongjae Kim said. Thanks to the opportunities to network and showcase their skills with professionals in the field, several students have already gotten interview requests. admissions_ku was live • 1h ago