So Long, for Now: A Former Admissions Officer Looks Back

Though their contributions are often overlooked, young admissions officers play a crucial role on college campuses, as this new article describes. For those who happen to be underrepresented minorities, the job can be especially rewarding — and frustrating. A desire to promote opportunity draws many into an enterprise where bottom-line decisions can trump idealistic goals.

Two years after graduating from Willamette University, in 2012, Jamiere Abney returned to his alma mater as an admissions counselor. In two recent interviews, Mr. Abney, who is black, described what attracted him to the job, how it challenged him, and why he decided to leave the profession, at least for now. The following transcript of those conversations has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. What got you into college admissions?

A. I kinda fell into this. After graduating, I worked as a Child Protective Services caseworker for the State of Oregon, which was emotionally and physically taxing. I looked to this job as an opportunity to connect to something, working with kids, but on a grander scale. So this seemed like a seamless fit for me, a challenge. It was also a pay cut, leaving a state position with great benefits. But I found there exactly what I was looking for.

Q. And what was that?

A. Being a first-generation student, part of what you have to do is give back. My mom was a single parent with three kids. As the oldest of three, I realized early on it was very important to make education happen. I wanted to be in a position to give something back, and one of the easiest ways is to work with younger people, being someone who can tell them about the educational opportunities that are out there.

Q. What was the hardest part about starting out as an admissions counselor?

A. Not quite feeling like we know what we’re doing. There’s a tendency to really have this trial by fire as you begin. We play a lot of different roles beyond campus recruiters. Event planners. Communicators. Troubleshooters for parents. Mentors for some students. You have to take a step back and understand what all these different pieces mean. That first year is really key. Some of my peers, they face lots of upheaval, a lot of turnover in their offices, and they take on larger roles, more than they might be ready for. I was able to kind of lean on mentors, and lean on my experiences on campus.

Q. Why did the experiences you had as a student at Willamette matter? How did those experiences inform your work?

A. When I first visited, I felt welcome, like these are my people. I joined a frat, did research, interned on and off campus. Willamette was then more white than now. One of the things that really helped me was having gone to a high school that was predominantly white. Talking to my peers on campus, it was harder for some of them who hadn’t. I played football here for four years, and I do remember facing that stereotype down, that I was not much more than “Oh, what sport do you play?”

Q. When people asked you that, how did it affect you?

A. The question that came up for me early on was, Do I actually belong here? I had to answer it for myself, as an ethnic minority. What really helped me is this is a place that’s welcoming. One thing I advised freshmen on was just to buy into the experience, the quirky traditions. That’s where I had seen friends struggle, they couldn’t get in line with that.

Q. Tell me about an important lesson you learned in admissions.

A. Admission work is very much kind of this secret. How do we make decisions? How do we review apps? Sometimes the way the sausage is made isn’t exactly what you want to it to be, or what you would hope for. When you don’t quite agree with what the institution wants to do, people look at you like it’s your fault, especially when it comes to diversity and how to provide for a more diverse group of students.

Q. Can you describe that a little more?

A. Over the last couple years, I have had minority students express their unhappiness with certain things, their want for more in terms of offices, physical spaces, campus programming. I’ve watched the university change in a positive way, and what comes with that is a struggle to meet the needs of those students. That’s the rub: You’re becoming more diverse, which is great, but when you don’t have all those supports in place when those students get there, they feel like they were promised things they aren’t really getting. For me, as an African-American male, I take that a little personally.

Q. You take it personally?

A. As an admissions officer, you don’t want to paint a picture that’s not really true. At the same time, I know this is a great place, I had great experiences here. I always think about how you share that messaging so that you don’t create this disillusionment when they do set foot on campus.

Q. How do you strike a balance and present a realistic picture?

A. Enrich facts with real stories, try to be as objective as possible. I tried to figure out, what is that student really interested in, and then think about, well, what does that look like on this campus? Maybe it was an underrepresented-minority student who wanted to go into an academic field that’s predominantly white. I would tell them that that can be a challenge, but also what the resources are, who their advocates might be. I tried to take myself out of my own experience, because though I had very positive interactions on campus, I did things that other people didn’t do, and I had different friend groups than other students might have had. As an admissions officer, you have to keep in mind that you might be the exception.

Q. Admissions officers must talk to a public that’s increasingly skeptical of higher education. How do you build trust with young people who, based on their family backgrounds, might be especially wary of college, its price tag, and whether they’ll have a good time on campus?

A. One of the things I really tried to do is not just spit information at people, saying, Hey, I value questions. In interviews, it’s not just asking them about their interest in my school, but what do they care about? I wanted them to remember me as this counselor who’s walking them through the journey of applying to college. My first and foremost job was just to get students excited about attending college, whether it was Willamette or not. Sometimes that’s being upfront and saying, Hey, this place might not be the best place for you. That goes a long way in building rapport.

Q. Let’s talk about diversity in the admissions field, which has long been predominantly white. Why is it important for the profession to reflect the nation’s diversity, whether it’s in terms of race, socioeconomic background, or anything else?

A. If you talk about the diversification of the student body, to continue to enroll those students, you need administrators and faculty who are diverse. One of the things that is a frustration for students of color, they just don’t feel that they have a community of safe spaces, a diversity of thought. The types of people who are there on campus help you recruit a diverse student body. As a first-gen student, I know my experience is different than other people’s, and not just because of my ethnic makeup. It adds more depth to be able to relate to some of these kids. I can say, I was able to overcome XYZ. You can empower people in a way. Sometimes that’s all a student needs.

Q. Recently, you left Willamette and moved across the country to pursue a master’s degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Why?

A. Getting through as an undergrad was a huge accomplishment, but then I started thinking about what I wanted to accomplish. Once I knew education was where I would make a career, I saw that the higher the level of education you have, the more impact you can make. I want to take what I’m going to learn here and give back to those same groups I was working with before, but do it in a leadership position that many entry-level counselors feel like they’re missing.

Q. So, as of now, do you plan to return to admissions?

A. Admissions will be where I find myself right after this. It’s something I enjoy and care about, and it has a great social benefit. But I’m also interested in looking at policy issues, trying to understand the bigger picture from the top down. Even though our goals are of high morals and wanting to do the right thing, you sometimes forget about the actual students being impacted by legislation and policies. I want to ensure that students are at the forefront of conversations about education.

Q. What’s your advice for admissions counselors, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, who are just starting out?

A. Don’t take it personally. Sometimes it can be frustrating to put so much time and energy into that one student, and they don’t attend your college. Also, take advantage of opportunities. Go to conferences. Build a network of people who work in higher education. Sometimes you can get so bogged down with travel, with reading apps, with who’s admitted and who’s not admitted, that you don’t stop and think about the great opportunities to impact this field. Some aren’t necessarily in admissions.

Q. How does it feel not to be trekking around, recruiting, and thinking about application numbers?

A. It’s strange. I always enjoyed travel season and getting to reconnect with school counselors and colleagues from other colleges. However, I am glad to not have all of those applications waiting for me. Ha ha.

Eric Hoover writes about admissions trends, enrollment-management challenges, and the meaning of Animal House, among other issues. He’s on Twitter @erichoov, and his email address is eric.hoover@chronicle.com.