Every year, admissions officers, deans and directors meet with high school guidance counselors for NEACRAO's annual Reverse College Day. In 2007, NEACRAO [New England ACRAO] received AACRAO's Ockerman Award for Reverse College Day. NEACRAO has been hosting the award-winning event for over twenty-five years, and provides guidance counselors the opportunity to build networking relationships with college admissions staff.
[RCD is] how I started getting involved in NEACRAO events. It's really quite rewarding and remarkable to see the relationships that are built between the high school counselors and the folks in admissions,┬" said Marcia Rosbury-Henne, Dean of Enrollment Management and College Access Programs at Holyoke Community College and the President-Elect of NEACRAO. She looks forward to NEACRAO's RCD every year. "Oftentimes, the college representatives are moving in and out of high schools talking with students and don't have the time to meet with guidance counselors.┬"
RCD usually begins in the morning with a keynote speaker. Past keynote speakers featured university presidents and motivatonal speakers. This year, the keynote speaker at RCD is Dr. Matthew Reed, blog writer for Inside Higher Ed's Confessions of a Community College Dean.┬"
After the keynote speaker, the main event of RCD takes place. The room set-up is similar to that of a college fair, and guidance counselors are able to talk to admissions officers, deans and directors. Guidance counselors are encouraged to bring transcripts for their students looking for constructive advice from admissions officers and directors that will help the student get accepted to the college or university of their choice. RCD has hosted up to 115 colleges and universities in the New England area, with an attendance of 150 to 250 guidance counselors.
A networking luncheon follows, with a raffle that sends every guidance counselor home with college swag for their students or office. As a part of the event, NEACRAO also awards students scholarships from an NEACRAO institutiton. The scholarship recipients from the past year are acknowledged at the end of the luncheon.
After the luncheon, guidance counselors and admissions staff can attend a set of professional development sessions. Sessions from past RCDs covered financial aid, student athletes, ROTC, students with disabilities, and access. At the end of the day, participating counselors are awarded CEUs and admissions staff rest up for NEACRAO Annual Conference, which starts the following day.
This year, RCD will take place November 6th at the Newport Marriott in Newport, RI. To learn more about RCD and NEACRAO's Annual Meeting, visit NEACRAO's website.