On Sunday, September 28th, we held our first Open House of the academic year. This was the first of four such events that we have for prospective students and families. We had more people visit this September than one year ago (this is a good thing since last year yielded the largest incoming class ever) and there was no rain!!
Anyhow, most people probably don't realize what goes in to putting on an event for more than 1,300 people. I actually started my day at about 5:30 a.m. by putting out the signs that directed people to the Open House. Yes, the Director of Admissions puts out signs! I believe in helping out with everything - we all work as a team at UNH and our students benefit from this teamwork and outstanding service every single day. The only issue that I really encountered all day was some of the signs actually fell out of my car onto the Boston Post Road at about 6:00 a.m. and I had to go back and get them. Even at 6:00 a.m. someone was honking their horn at me to get me out of the way!
Of course, if you've read my previous entries, I had to have my daily allowance of junk food. Eight chocolate chip cookies and at least three cokes did the trick! I did take a few minutes to sit down and speak with a few families later in the day and learned how impressed many of them were with the faculty participation at our Open House. You see, we don't just throw someone at a table and let the people walk around. We have specific presentations for each and every major - and at least one (if not more than one) faculty member from each of these areas provides a very interactive and personal presentation! Way to go UNH!!
The day didn't end until well after 7:00 p.m. for me. I got home to discover that my daughter had taken a check that was made out to my wife and had been hoarding it for over two months. She told me that she wanted to save it for vacation or college - this way mommy wouldn't spend it. Very interesting!
Don't forget - we have two more Open Houses this fall! The next one is Sunday, October 19th and the other is Sunday, November 9th. The fourth overall Open House will be Sunday, February 1st. Sign up at www.newhaven.edu/openhouse!
