Please note: Conference sessions are subject to change.

Session Block 5

Session Location: Hancock Center 1021

Session Title: Community College: First Step on the Post-Secondary Path?

Session Description:

This session will help high school counselors determine when it is best to advise their students to start at a community college and will help college admission personnel better serve transfer students. The Round Table format will allow representatives from both groups to ask questions, share ideas, and best practices.

Conference Track: Access and Opportunity

Audience: High School, College, and Community Based Organization Professionals

Presenter 1: Rhea Modeste, College and Career Advisor, City-As-School HS

Presenter 2: R. Ummi Modeste-Rogerson, College and Career Advisor, City-As-School HS

 

Session Location: Student Center, Cabaret

Session Title: Degrees of Difficulty: A Study on Student Success in NYC

Session Description:

The Center for an Urban Future examined New York City's high school to college transitions and identified key factors that aggravate and reduce dropout risk. The lead author of "Degrees of Difficulty" will present the study's findings, focusing on the vital role of personalized advising at the high school and college levels.

Conference Track: Retention, Completion, and Success

Audience: College Admission Professionals High School, College, and Community Based Organization Professionals

Presenter 1: Thomas Hilliard, Senior Fellow for Economic Opportunity, Center for an Urban Future

 

Session Location: Music Building 3201

Session Title: Diversifying our View of Multicultural Students: Embracing Intersectionality in Counseling

Session Description:

Students of color, regardless of their cultural, socioeconomic, educational, and geographical background, are assumed to have identical life experiences. This assumption neglects to embrace the diversity of our students. The session will explore how to embrace the diversity of experiences to better counsel students of color through the college process

Conference Track: Access and Opportunity

Audience: High School, College, and Community Based Organization Professionals

Presenter 1: Czarina Hutchins, Admission Counselor, Providence College

Presenter 2: Quontay Turner, Senior Assistant Director of Multicultural Recruitment, Emerson College

Presenter 3: Amy Chung, Assistant Dean of Admission, Coordinator of Multicultural Recruitment, Stonehill College

 

 

Session Location: Student Center, Nelly Goletti Theatre

Session Title: Earth's Mightiest Counselors: Build A Superhero Team Across the Desk

Session Description:

Developing and maintaining your connections "across the desk" with your counterparts in college admissions and school counseling is essential. From counselor fly-in programs to school visits to counselor calls, we'll discuss opportunities that work (and some that don't). Join our conversation as we share ideas about building stronger partnerships.

Conference Track: Secondary Counseling Best Practices  

Audience: College Admission Professionals High School, College, and Community Based Organization Professionals

Presenter 1: Bob Herr, Dean of Enrollment, Wagner College

Presenter 2: Amy Selinger, Director of College Counseling, Buckingham Browne & Nichols School

Presenter 3: Dan Monahan, Director of College Counseling, Cheshire Academy

Presenter 4: Stephanie Espina, Director of Freshman Admission, Adelphi University

 

 

Session Location: Hancock Center 2023

Session Title: Free Tuition: One Year In

Session Description:

The New York State Excelsior Scholarship and the Rhode Island Promise programs garnered national attention in 2017. Now, as we approach the one-year mark, how have these programs impacted the institutions in SUNY, CUNY, and CCRI and their students? Did the concerns hold water? Did the benefits carry weight?

Conference Track: The State of Higher Education

Audience: College Admission Professionals High School, College, and Community Based Organization Professionals

Presenter 1: Mark Ciolli, University Director of Recruitment, CUNY

Presenter 2: Dzelika Daniel, Associate Director of Financial Aid, CUNY

Presenter 3: Gregory LaPointe, Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives, Community College of Rhode Island

Presenter 4: Daniel Tramuta, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Services, SUNY Fredonia

Moderator: Cheryl Perrillo, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Services, SUNY System Administration

 

 

Session Location: Student Center 3104-3105

Session Title: Generation FIRST: The Faces Behind the Application

Session Description:

Did you know that 11 percent of first-generation students graduate college? Join the conversation with three admission counselors who are first-generation graduates. Hear their stories, learn about access issues regarding first-generation students, and how they are using their platform in their offices to build relationships with CBOs.

Conference Track: Access and Opportunity

Audience: College Admission Professionals High School, College, and Community Based Organization Professionals

Presenter 1: Cortney Lima, Assistant Director of Admissions, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)

Presenter 2: Jose Garcia, Assistant Director of Admissions & Multicultural Recruitment, Bryant University

Presenter 3: Darwin Almonte, Senior Admissions Counselor & Coordinator of Multicultural Recruitment, Salve Regina University        

 

Session Location: Student Center, 3101 (#31)

Session Title: Over rivers & through woods, to rural communities we go!

Session Description:

This session will discuss an often-overlooked student population: rural students. This presentation will clarify myths about rural students, provide best practices for effectively engaging and recruiting them, and empower attendees with knowledge on how they can impact rural students while understanding their concerns/anxieties about the admissions process.

Conference Track: Access and Opportunity

Audience: College Admission Professionals

Presenter 1: Karen Archibee, Senior Admissions Counselor, SUNY Oswego

Presenter 2: Aaron Ray, Coordinator of Admissions and Summer Academic Institute, Skidmore College

 

 

Session Location: Music Building 3203

Session Title: Partnering for Success: The Role of Afterschool in College Persistence

Session Description:

Drawing from PASE’s report, Partnering for Success: The Role of Afterschool in College Persistence, and recent work with college access and success providers, this session highlights the role afterschool programs play in preparing low-income, underrepresented or first-generation youth for college. The session explores high-quality practices that support student success.

Conference Track: Secondary Counseling Best Practices

Audience: High School, College, and Community Based Organization Professionals

Presenter 1: Tania Ortiz-Ashby, Senior Program Director, Partnership for After School Education (PASE)

 

 

Session Location: Music Building 3202

Session Title: Show me the money: Demystifying Grant Writing

Session Description:

New program ideas or professional development opportunities can’t take off due to funding? The NEACAC’s Make A Difference Fund Committee is here to help! Attend this session to learn how to write a grant as well as get a behind the scenes look at how grants are reviewed.

Conference Track: Access and Opportunity

Audience: College Admission Professionals High School, College, and Community Based Organization Professionals

Presenter 1: Erin Earle, Director, Campus Visit Experience, The University of Rhode Island

Presenter 2: Jobita Rodriguez Rios, Admissions Counselor, Salem State University

Presenter 3: Dustin Hunter, Assistant Director of Regional Recruitment, Ithaca College

 

Session Location: Lowell Thomas Communications Center 133

Session Title: Social and Emotional Wellness: Rounding out the Complete Student...Beyond Academics.

Session Description:

According to the Gates Millennium Scholars, only 1 in 10 students transfers or drop-out of college because of academics. The other reasons? Social and Emotional Wellness and Character Development. This session explores strategies to better equip and prepare K-12 students for success in college. Learn how to engage students in topics around mental health, grit, problem-solving, ethical/social responsibility, and more. Using the web and mobile tools to deliver this critical success and wellness content to students improves their college and career preparedness. They become better students, better citizens, and better people.

Conference Track: Access and Opportunity

Audience: High School, College, and Community Based Organization Professionals

Presenter 1: Peter Kraft, Co-Founder, Evolution Labs

Presenter 2: Tracy Howe, Co-Founder, Evolution Labs

 

Session Location: Lowell Thomas Communications Center 027

Session Title: Solving the Rubric Cube

Session Description:

When was the last time you considered how and why you're making your admissions decisions? Are your application review policies, procedures, and decisions rooted in what has always been done, or are they reflective of institutional goals/mission? Panelists share experiences developing new rubrics to respond to their institutions’ needs.

Conference Track: College Admission Policy and Procedures

Audience: College Admission Counselors

Presenter 1: James Fowler, Vice President for Enrollment Management, Salve Regina University

Presenter 2: Lisa Ellrich, Interim Director of Admissions, University of Maine at Farmington

 

Session Location: Lowell Thomas Communications Center 129

Session Title: Supporting Queer and Trans Youth in the College Application Process

Session Description:

We are queer and trans-identified educators wanting to facilitate a discussion about supporting queer and transgender youth in the college application process. This discussion will focus on examining how cis-heteronormativity impacts us all. If you feel you do not know much about this, please come! This is for you.

Conference Track: Access and Opportunity           

Audience: High School, College, and Community Based Organization Professionals

Presenter 1: Lenni Yesner, Director, College Transfer Office, Bard High School Early College Queens

Presenter 2: Maria Monica Andia, Supervisor of College Services, The Door-A Center for Alternatives

 

Session Location: Hancock Center 2020

Session Title: Supporting Students to and through STEM Education

Session Description:

In this session, we will discuss best practices for preparing for success in STEM majors. Participants will leave with an understanding of STEM pathways for both first-year and transfer students, as well as key strategies for ensuring students’ persistence to a degree in these fields.

Conference Track: Secondary Counseling Best Practices

Audience: High School, College, and Community Based Organization Professionals

Presenter 1: Katie Phung, Assistant Director of Admissions, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Presenter 2: Jonathan Hoster, Undergraduate Recruitment Specialist, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Syracuse University

Presenter 3: Ulysses deArmas, Associate Director, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

 

 

Session Location: Student Center 3102-3103

Session Title: The ABC's of Group Travel

Session Description:

If you're looking to cast a wider net and get more bang for your buck on the road, group travel may be for you! Learn about the benefits of group travel, how to select partners, coordinate roles, and execute a recruitment initiative which will save money and attract audiences.

Conference Track: Marketing and Recruitment

Audience: College Admission Professionals

Presenter 1: Erik DeAngelis, Associate Director of Admission, Brown University

Presenter 2: Tara Bubble, Deputy Director of Admission, Cornell University

 

 

Session Location: Hancock Center 2017

Session Title: The Unavoidable "-isms": Helping Students Navigate Hatred on College Campuses

Session Description:

Racism, sexism, classism... Several colleges have made news headlines for social injustices that have occurred on their campuses; however, acts of hate can occur anywhere. What shifts are colleges making? How can admission officers thoughtfully relay information? What can college counselors do to better support students in their college search?

Conference Track: Marketing and Recruitment

Audience: College Admission Professionals High School, College, and Community Based Organization Professionals

Presenter 1: Sharonda Dailey, Associate Director of College Counseling, Choate Rosemary Hall

Presenter 2: Amber Jones, LCSW, Psychotherapist/Coordinator for Community Programs and Engagement, Wesleyan University

Presenter 3: Jessica Turgeon, Assistant Director of Admissions, American University

Presenter 4: Jesse Monroe, Assistant Director of Admissions, American University

 

 

Session Location: Hancock Center 2019

Session Title: Thinking Outside of the Proverbial Toolbox

Session Description:

This session will examine the current model for development and growth within the office structure. How can admission teams get creative within the constraints of budget limitations? How can staff member strengths be aligned with motivational factors while achieving important tasks, responsibilities, and expectations within the role they play on the team?

Conference Track: Post-Secondary Admission Challenges

Audience: College Admission Professionals

Presenter 1: Mario Silva-Rosa, Director of Undergraduate Admission, Bentley University

Presenter 2: Priscilla Alicea, VP of Enrollment Management, Earlham College

Presenter 3: Alick Letang, Former Assistant VP for Enrollment Management, IONA College

 

 

Session Location: Music Building 4001

Session Title: Transitioning to a new CRM System

Session Description:

This session will focus on the process of selecting and implementing a new CRM system. Two institutions will detail their transitions, and the Founder of SlideRoom will discuss their experience as a vendor supporting an institution transitioning to a new system.

Conference Track: Marketing and Recruitment

Audience: College Admission Professionals

Presenter 1: Ariel Leitao, Admissions Counselor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Presenter 2: Amy Tiberio, Associate Vice President, Enrollment Management and Marketing, Roger Williams University

Presenter 3: Chris Jagers, Founder, SlideRoom

 

Session Location: Hancock Center 2005

Session Title: Naviance Basics for the New Counselor

Session Description:

Managing the college process for the first time - or the 100th! - can be a daunting process.

This session will provide new counselors with the basic Naviance skills needed to help with scheduling, communication, and processing of college application materials.

Conference Track: Secondary Counseling Best Practices

Audience: High School, College, and Community Based Organization Professionals

Presenter 1: Raquel Maysonet-Sigler, College Office Coordinator, Brooklyn Technical High School