By GREGORY ZELLER //
Riding a 9.7 percent spike in annual applications – pushing its total number of applicants past 13,000 for the first time – Adelphi University and its innovative enrollment protocols have once again attracted the attention of academic observers.
The Garden City-based university has earned a prestigious 2019 American Association of University Administrators Exemplary Models Award for its Personalizing the Enrollment Process campaign, which in 2018, its first year, collected 13,006 applications from potential members of the Class of 2022.
From that candidate pool, 1,245 students were accepted into the first-year class that started at the university in the Fall 2018 semester – Adelphi’s largest-ever incoming class and its all-time most diverse, with 46.3 percent of those students identifying as “nonwhite,” according to the university.
The solid numbers are a strong endorsement of the Personalizing the Enrollment Process initiative, which was crafted specifically to address changing demographics, declining numbers of high school graduates and “increased competition across the higher-education enrollment landscape,” the university said.
And the AAUA Exemplary Models Award is further confirmation that Adelphi is on the right path with its “Personalizing” campaign, according to Director of Freshman Admissions Stephanie Espina.
Stephanie Espina: Takes it personally.
“Winning this award is a testament to the university-wide efforts and commitment to truly personalizing the student journey,” Espina noted.
The initiative emphasizes what Adelphi calls a “person-to-person approach to education,” offering prospective students benefits ranging from small class sizes (21 students or fewer) to that strong commitment to diversity, with the university working to make first-generation collegians, veterans, LGBTQ+ students and students on the Autism spectrum feel understood and welcomed.
Such efforts are right in the wheelhouse of the AAUA Exemplary Models Awards, bestowed to recognize outstanding examples of college/university leadership demonstrating creative solutions to common higher-education problems.
Adelphi – which has taken several steps over the past year to modernize its facilities and educational offerings, including the creation of a new innovation hub, a new name (and new mission) for its College of Education and Health Sciences and even a new corporate manager for its campus bookstore – is slated to formally receive its award at the 2019 AAUA Leadership Seminar, scheduled for June in Detroit.
That won’t mark the first time Personalizing the Enrollment Process has snagged an impressive accolade. The inclusive effort earned an Eduventures 2018 Innovation Award from the National Research Center for College and University Admissions, a national honor intended to recognize organizations that share NRCCUA’s innovative vision for institutional programming.
“We know firsthand that our students receive personalized care and attention throughout their entire Adelphi experience,” Espina said. “We’re so grateful for everyone in the university community, including current students and faculty, who have contributed to and supported this initiative.”
