JCU Blog Central

Where did July go?

It's hard to believe that I'm going to wake up tomorrow and it's going to be August.  I have no idea where July went (not to mention May and June).  What this means, of course, is that very shortly (23 days, but who's counting?) we will be welcoming the class of 2011 to campus. 

I love it when students are back on campus.  Sure, I get great parking spots in the summer (and I don't have to wear a tie!), but the campus really comes to life again when students are living here.  One of the things that makes John Carroll such a great place is the people that make up its community and in the summer a large number of that community (namely, the students) go back to their respective corners of the country.  I for one am more than willing to give up my parking space and, yes, the comfort of not wearing a tie, to have the students back on campus. 

In my mind late August and Streak Week could not come soon enough.

Lights, Camera...

...ACTION!

After months of hard work and long hours, the new admission web site is up and running (as of 15 minutes ago).  As they say, "this is only the beginning" - I know it is a bit cliche, but it's true.  The site will still be evolving in the months ahead, but it is our hope that it will be a site which you can easily find the answers that you need about JCU.

Of course, we encourage your feedback so we can serve you better on your journey of finding the right college for you.  We hope you like the new site! 

Closer and closer

We're getting closer to the official launch date of this site (though anyone could have stumbled upon it...which is exactly why you are reading this).  By the end of August we should be up and running with all of our blogs.  Incoming first-year student, Amy Gunderman has agreed to be a blogger throughout the year, so you'll be able to read about Amy's first year journeys from Summer Orientation through spring finals. 

Stayed tuned for more updates... 

The admission "off-season"

The summer months are an interesting time in a college admission office.  The class of 2011 is pretty much in place and we haven't yet begun with the heavy recruitment of the class of 2012, so you may be asking- what exactly do we do in the summer?

This is our off-season, and much like a professional athlete we are training for next season and looking back at the previous one to see what worked and what didn't.  This is not as easy as it sounds.  We have to make a lot of hard decisions about what to change, what to keep, what to revamp, and what to drop.  These decisions are so difficult because the results of them will impact next year's freshman class.  Sometimes the results are good and sometimes the results are not so good.

That is what makes this time of year so exciting.  We get to flex our creative muscles, take some risks, and think about potential rewards.

So what is it that we do during the summer?

Everything.

We do everything.

...and maybe hit a little batting practice.

To build a blog

Welcome to the John Carroll University blog site.  It's not much yet, but it's getting there.  Once we are completely up and running, we will have several blogs for you to get your JCU fix.  There will be four student blogs, an Admission blog, and a Financial Aid blog.  Myself and Patrick Manning will be maintaining this space and adding entries every now and again.

Patrick and I are currently on the hunt for four students who you will be able to follow throughout their school year.  We are happy to announce that we have already found one remarkable student who has agreed to blog about his upcoming senior year.  You'll be able to read about John starting in late summer/early fall. 

Keep on checking back as things will begin to progress quickly from now until the end of the month.