Co-panelist Karl M. Furstenberg, former dean of admissions at Dartmouth College

The fourth of six national seminars sponsored this year by the College Board’s Access and Diversity Collaborative reached enrollment managers from graduate and professional schools, as well as traditional undergraduate four- and two-year institutions. The seminar focused on the continuing need to evaluate institutional outreach, recruitment, admissions and financial aid policies and programs that are designed to enroll a diverse class of students. The event was lauded by several participants as “one of the best professional/educational seminars” they had ever attended.

The seminars continue to provide participants with guidance on the use of race and ethnicity in enrollment programs while remaining compliant with the outcome of recent Supreme Court cases and federal and state laws. The issue is important for all sectors of higher education — as evidenced by the number of participants representing graduate and professional schools. One of the seminar’s highlights was to hear from practitioner panelists who brought real-world experience on the subject to the group. Dr. Robert Witzburg, associate dean and director of admissions at Boston University School of Medicine, and Karl Furstenberg, former dean of admissions, Dartmouth College, offered the group the benefit of their experience in developing educationally and legally sound practices.

The Collaborative has two remaining national seminars on the calendar for the year; May 6-7 in Denver, Colo., and June 19-20 in Coral Gables, Fla.  Seminars fill up quickly, so interested parties should visit the Web site for information.

VP Arthur Doyle

For each of the past seven years, the New England Region's Community College Advisory Committee has led the collaborative sponsorship of the region's only opportunity for our educators at two-year, degree-granting institutions to convene. Created by the College Board's New England Regional Council, the Community College Advisory Committee established an annual fall conference and now sponsors a Community College Convocation during the regional forum. At the first convocation this year, the committee presented an award of recognition to Daniel M. Asquino, president of Mount Wachusett Community College, for serving the College Board in two capacities: first, as past chair of the regional Community College Advisory Committee and, second, as  the current chair of the College Board's national Community College
Advisory Panel.

With more than 150 educators from our institutions registering for this past fall’s conference, the College Board Community College Advisory Committee and the New England College Council will cosponsor the New England Two-Year College Showcase again next October. Entitled “Celebrating the Two-Year College Experience: Strengthening the Voice of Equity, Excellence and Opportunity,” the conference will take place Oct. 23-24, 2008, at the Four Points Sheraton Norwood Hotel and Conference Center in Norwood, Mass. This professional development event is intended to occur annually and will provide a setting for sharing best practices and networking with colleagues from other two-year colleges throughout New England. Faculty, staff and administrators will come together to share, learn, discuss and celebrate their many accomplishments. I encourage you to make plans to attend. For more information, please visit the New England Region’s events page by clicking here.