terrapinsanity.com

The Admissions juggernaut staggers forward, unphased by the state’s dismal economic climate.

Tonight’s debacle seems to be representative. A large group of guidance counselors was meeting in Baltimore and (correctly) someone thought to arrange a visit to College Park. Key people who are involved with students at their key decision points? Sure – they should know about UM.

Unfortunately, it was a typical Admissions level of organization. Mixed messages and conflicting directions were sent to locals, pressing them to come and schmooze visitors at the Riggs Alumni center. That’s standard. But the problem is that whoever in Admissions was responsible for confirming reservations for the 150 to 200 important visitors clearly didn’t get the message right.

The bus service hired by campus to shuttle visitors from Baltimore only ended up bringing 15 visitors. What had started as a gala planned by Director of Recruiting Barbara Gill became an awkward affair, made up 3-to-1 of campus locals – deans, prominent professors and all the colleges’ recruiting officers in an all-hands drill – just standing around trying to make the best of it.

And who did the campus attract? About half of the visitors were local teachers with whom our staff deal every day. No big recruiting advance there. The rest were international – like we are really going to draw a lot of students from Thailand.

So someone mentioned cost? Never mind the bus. Never mind the mountain of catered food (shrimp, fancy desserts, etc) But an open bar? Beer, wine, cocktails, and capping all, a new drink unveiled they call the “Terptini”. (Gag) Icing on the cake: party gifts for all.

Barbara Gill sure sends a message … but not the one we think the public wants to hear.