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August 30, 2002
Going
West: Mount Holyoke Opens Satellite Admission Office in California
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Photo: Fred LeBlanc
Lauren
E. Cook '98, MHC's new director of West Coast operations,
chats with administrative assistant Mary Ann Kokoszyna via
an audio/video feed from her computer in California to computers
in the South Hadley office.
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Just about two hundred
years ago, the Lewis and Clark expedition began its historic journey
across western North America, then unknown territory for all but
Native Americans. Now it's Lauren E. Cook '98's turn to blaze
a new trail westward, this time for the benefit of Mount Holyoke's
admission effort. Cook's mission, the establishment and operation
of a West Coast branch of the College's admission office, shares
some objectives with that of her famous predecessors—to make
friends with the locals and establish new relationships in the
West. While many East Coast colleges have representatives who
travel extensively on the West Coast, very few, to College admission
officials' knowledge, have established regional offices, and none
operate them as virtual offices. Yet now, as in Thomas Jefferson's
day, there are good reasons to put down roots west of the Mississippi.
"Opening a West
Coast office was a research-based enrollment decision," says
Jane Brown, vice president for enrollment and College relations.
"While it is anticipated that the number of high school graduates
will increase through 2008, the growth will not be evenly distributed
across the United States."
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Photo: Paul Kandel
Cook
poses on the steps of her new home, a room of which serves
as MHC's satellite admission office.
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According to Brown,
the West, in particular California and some parts of the Southwest,
is expected to see the largest increases nationally in high school
graduates. Last year, California ranked third in terms of the
highest number of applications to the College received from individual
states, trailing only Massachusetts and New York.
"At present,"
says Brown, "just under 12 percent of the student body hails
from the West. These students are academically well prepared and
contribute to the diverse student body that we value. The enrollment
division decided to take a cutting-edge approach to heightening
the College's visibility on the West Coast to maximize our recruitment
potential from this region."
Wired for Admission
Not only is the approach
innovative, it's high-tech. In late June, Cook, who was promoted
to the newly created position of associate director of admission
and director of West Coast operations, moved from South Hadley
to Albany, California, just north of Berkeley. By August, with
the help of Paul Kandel, senior associate director for systems
and technology, she had a fully operational "virtual admission
office" in a room of her new home. Says Diane Anci, dean
of admission, "We want Lauren to be a fully integrated member
of the admission staff, and technology is helping to make this
possible." Cook will "attend" staff meetings and
consult with colleagues via an audio/video feed from her computer
in California to computers in the South Hadley office. She will
also have a virtual private network (VPN) that will allow her
computer to "act" as though she is on campus, meaning
Cook will have full access to on-campus-only services and databases.
Should any of these gadgets break down, she will receive technical
support through software that will enable College technical-support
specialists to take full control of her computer system to monitor
and fix most glitches.
While technological
bells and whistles will help Cook remain connected to campus,
it is old-fashioned face-to-face contact and the human touch that
the enrollment team expects will make all the difference when
it comes to recruitment. "Since she will be based in the
West, Lauren will be able to strengthen relationships with area
high schools, guidance counselors, and alumnae and establish long-term
connections," says Anci. "She will be accessible, which
is so important."
Cook's duties include
interviewing prospective students, visiting high schools, representing
Mount Holyoke at college fairs, reading applications, and training
West Coast alumnae volunteers. She also continues to oversee the
College's Alumnae Admission Program and program for outreach to
"legacy" students (prospective students who have close
relatives who are alumnae of the College) and the new arts recruitment
outreach program she helped to develop and launch last year. "There
will be greater opportunities for Web-based chats and interviews
in students' own time zones than there are now," Cook says.
Her "territory" will include not only California, but
also Washington, Hawaii, and Oregon. "Lauren will also be
available to conduct interviews with students from the Pacific
rim," Anci says. In addition, she will help out with development
and alumnae club events and may even get tips from Patricia Ascher,
an individual gifts officer for the College who is based in California.
To keep fresh in her
mind such fixtures as the look of the campus aglow in fall colors
and the silhouette of College buildings against a bright blue
winter sky—and to allow her to interact in person with her
colleagues—Cook will return to home base about four times
a year. She will participate in everything from staff training
to reunions.
Cook began her admission
career as a tour guide during her junior year at the College and
began working full time in the office right after graduation.
The American studies major who "loves to talk about Mount
Holyoke because [she] had such a great experience at the College"
earns high praise from Anci. "When I was researching the
idea of establishing a West Coast office, it became clear that
having the right person run it would be the most important factor
in its success. I have no doubt that Lauren is the right person,"
Anci says. "She is the most organized person I have ever
met, and everything she has undertaken for us has been extremely
successful—the Alumnae Admission Program has thrived under
her leadership, as has the new arts recruitment program. And she
did a magnificent job recruiting for the College in the Midwest
in 2001–2002. I have every confidence that she will do a
terrific job running the West Coast office."
Cook's right-hand
woman, and her "eyes and ears" in the South Hadley branch
of the admission office, is administrative assistant Mary Ann
Kokoszyna. Kokoszyna has already visited the West Coast office
to get
the lay of the land and to meet area alumnae.
Although Cook has
enjoyed living in South Hadley for the past eight years, she says,
she is now "ready for a new adventure." Her journey
certainly will have major advantages over Lewis and Clark's; raging
rivers and grizzly bears will not be part of the mix.
Call 510-524-6279
to reach the West Coast office, or contact Cook by email at lecook@mtholyoke.edu.
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