BRISTOL, RI __ Roger Williams University hosted its first Open House of the new academic year last weekend and we saw a fair number of prospective students during the half-day event.
The purpose of these open houses is to demonstrate to prospective students what they'll be learning as undergraduates at our institution. For our part, my new colleague Dr. Paola Prado and I stationed ourselves inside Global Heritage Hall and shared a lively dialog with parents for several hours.
Afterward, one parent wrote us to discuss his student and their observations. As a point of privacy, I won't share with you the parent's note (I also changed the name of the student); instead, I'm posting my reply here simply because I know that there are many, many other parents going through the exact same process.
Searching for a proper university setting for your student is a very important decision; one many are not taking lightly.
Here's the note:
The purpose of these open houses is to demonstrate to prospective students what they'll be learning as undergraduates at our institution. For our part, my new colleague Dr. Paola Prado and I stationed ourselves inside Global Heritage Hall and shared a lively dialog with parents for several hours.
Afterward, one parent wrote us to discuss his student and their observations. As a point of privacy, I won't share with you the parent's note (I also changed the name of the student); instead, I'm posting my reply here simply because I know that there are many, many other parents going through the exact same process.
Searching for a proper university setting for your student is a very important decision; one many are not taking lightly.
Here's the note:
Paola and I do these Open House events because we want to help aspiring college students find a place that will best suit their education needs. Of course, to us, the day is a blur of faces, conversations and questions... but we find, during the Summer orientation, that we're actually benefiting from this process: I used to believe that professors can't choose their students but during the last few years, we've begun enrolling EXACTLY the kinds of students we want in the classroom.
When Jennifer makes her decision, our hope -- truly -- is that she finds an academic setting that best suits her passion.
Now, it would be unfair of me to say that Jennifer belongs at Roger Williams. That decision belongs to you and your family and, of course, to Jennifer.
Do this: Take her to as many colleges as you deem necessary. Please understand that as she moves around each of these campuses, what she's seeking, really, is a sense of "community;" she's wondering "do I belong here?"
Finally, when the time comes to make a firm decision, consider the following options:
- Bring her back to Roger Williams University for Accepted Students day in the Spring;
- Bring her down to Roger Williams and have her sit in one of our journalism classes;
- Encourage her to contact a friend at RWU or, if she doesn't have one, have her email me and I'll connect her with a student.
Closing, let me say a few things.
First, thanks for the kind feedback. We're very proud of our work at Roger Williams University, and, if you didn't get this, we really enjoy what we're doing here. Everything at the University feels very new and fresh. It's a great time to be a student and a teacher at Roger Williams.
Finally, a word about our discipline: When I left the news industry in 2004, I feared I'd miss it. And to be fair, when my friend -- Wendy Ruderman -- won the Pulitzer Prize for her work at the Philly Daily News last Spring, I felt a little pang of jealousy. Of course, when the paper filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, I remembered why our generation is getting out of the news industry: the craft of traditional newspapers is dying.
But really, the news industry is simply redefining itself and there will always be a demand for news people. I guess I'm saying that if Jennifer works hard, there will be a career in the news industry waiting for her when she finishes her undergraduate studies; the only difference will be in the medium.
She won't be a newspaper reporter in the traditional sense; instead, she'll be a modern journalist armed with the skills to write in the Associated Press style as well as long-form features; she'll also be a Digital Journalist trained to use electronic tools for an Internet-based society.
Translation: She'll be fine!
As for what's going on here, our purpose at Roger Williams is to inspire our students to love the craft of journalism and to appreciate the new tools that are changing the way we tell stories. Hopefully, our students are inheriting that passion and earning those skills.
Good luck to you and Jennifer... and thank you for your kind interest in our work.
Michael Scully
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