Last Saturday, the St. Bonaventure community welcomed over 100 prospective students and families to attend the third open house, hosted by the Bonaventure admissions staff, according to Christina Sutphen, associate director of admissions.
Admissions planned three larger open house events this fall, compared to the two last fall. For the last open house, admissions collaborated with club sports to highlight and introduce the school’s competitive club sports program, said Sutphen.
“In admissions we want to give students a comprehensive view of St. Bonaventure since, for many, this is their first visit to campus,” said Sutphen.
According to Sutphen, the admissions staff hoped to show prospective students what it means to be a Bonnie through the sessions of All About SBU, meeting with faculty, taking a campus tour and meeting with current students.
Julie Curran, a junior music and psychology major, gave tours during the past open house and said one of the biggest difficulties is getting people to campus.
“Once students are here, we do our best to give the elusive explanation as to why Bonas is so special and different,” said Curran. “Not many other schools offer the level of hands-on interaction with faculty and students [the way] that we do.”
Kyle Trietley, a junior journalism and mass communication major and student ambassador, said at the event families responded positively to him and other members of the Bonaventure community.
“Families liked the friendliness of everyone involved in the event,” said Trietley. “Families liked how knowledgeable everyone was in answering questions, and the willingness of the ambassadors to find answers to questions they didn’t know.”
This open house aimed to highlight the school’s new cybersecurity major, in addition to programs already in place, said Sutphen.
There is not any formal feedback on the event yet, and an online survey is sent out to participants of the open house. It is too early to have data at this point, according to Sutphen.
Among all three open houses, more than 230 prospective students and families attended.
fieldsbj14@bonaventure.edu
