Virtual Admissions Event Resource Portal

Time of year

Considerations: What else will be going on that may preclude prospects from participating in the event? Will any other major academic or social events be taking place?

Time of day

Considerations: Do prospects prefer a certain time of day to participate in admissions activities? Will the time be inclusive of students with jobs or other commitments?  How will the time work with expanded class schedules in the virtual environment? Consider how different time zones may impact their ability to attend at the chosen time.

Length of event

Considerations: How should we factor in availability and virtual interaction fatigue to determine the event length?

Technology platform

Considerations: What platform will we use? Are prospective students familiar with this platform?  Have we trained admissions personnel on the technology?

Event format

Considerations: How interactive will the event be? How can the format help guard against fatigue and disengagement on virtual platforms?

Outcomes

Considerations: What are the desired learning outcomes for this event? How will we determine if we’ve met those outcomes?

Partnerships

Considerations: Is there an opportunity to partner with other offices within our institution? Is there an opportunity to partner with other institutions or organizations?

Attendance

Considerations: What is the minimum number of prospects we need to attend for the event to be a success? Should the registration be capped at a certain number to maintain an intimate atmosphere?

Registration 

Considerations: Should prospects sign up ahead of time? If so, how will they register? What type of information do prospects need to provide when they register?

Marketing

Considerations: How will we market this event? Will we advertise the event on social media and the admissions website? Will we work with high schools, community colleges, or other marketing channels to advertise the event? How far in advance do we need to market the event for it to be a success?

Budget

Considerations: Are there any special considerations we need to budget for, such as closed captioning, to make the event accessible to prospects with accommodations needs? Do we need to buy more licenses to include all who wish to participate?

Sponsorship opportunities

Considerations: Is there an opportunity for university employer partners to sponsor this event? Can they still sponsor the event virtually?

Accessibility concerns

Considerations: Will any attendees need accessibility accommodations (e.g., closed captioning)? How will we know if attendees need accessibility accommodations? Can attendees easily request accommodations (e.g., on the registration page)?

Staffing support

Considerations: How many staff do we need to support the event? Do we need a host and/or moderator for the event?

Technology support

Considerations: How many staff members will we need to support the technology needs of our event? Are supporting staff familiar enough with the platform to provide support? How can prospects get technology support during the event? Are staff available to do trainings before the event?

Technology functionality

Considerations: Do we need to pre-set any technology functions before the event (e.g., automatically mute all attendees, create a virtual poll)? What type of technology functions will we use during the event (e.g., chat, Q&A, polls) and do staff know how to use these functions while running the event?

Audience engagement

Considerations: How will presenters keep the audience engaged throughout the presentation? Will presenters use a virtual chat function, distribute virtual polls, take live questions, or use another method of virtual engagement? How frequently will presenters change their engagement method?

Attendee follow-up

Considerations: Are we marking or tracking attendees so we have an attendee list for follow up? Are we going to email attendees the event recording and slide deck as a follow up, whether they attended or not?

Event assessment

Considerations: Will prospects and/or campus organizations be invited to participate in a survey to rate their experience? What specifically do we want to assess in follow-up? Are we prepared to use the findings to enhance future events?