Many colleges and universities have had to pivot and figure out a new way for prospective students to explore their campuses as the global pandemic has stretched on. Life Chiropractic College West is no exception.
The Admissions department is thrilled with its new, creative program to engage with prospective students as many continue to shelter in place from their homes around the world.
Dr. Jennifer Bosco
In fact, the new Digital Discovery series is so successful, Executive Director of Admissions Dr. Jennifer Bosco says, that Life West will continue with the series even after the pandemic ends.
Life West holds more traditional, in-person Champions Discovery Weekends several times a year. Prospective students are invited to campus to tour and listen to speakers including graduates, established chiropractors and student ambassadors, who are still attending classes and can offer a very credible perspective on the experience.
In May, as the pandemic stretched from weeks into months, the Admissions team had to cancel a planned Champions Discovery Weekend in order to comply with shelter-in-place orders in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the Life West campus is located.
Instead, Dr. Bosco said, they planned a digital event with four different sessions. Life West President Ron Oberstein conducted an opening keynote, followed by an admissions overview webinar that included the steps toward enrollment. Next was a guided virtual tour by Life West’s student ambassadors, who not only showed pictures and video from the campus but talked about their experiences and the curriculum.
The digital event’s final speaker, Life West graduate Dr. Ian Davis-Tremayne, spoke about using chiropractic to create your best life.
The digital event was attended by more than 140 participants –“more than we’ve ever been able to host on campus because we just don’t have space for that,” Dr. Bosco said, adding that the event was “highly successful” and the number of participants doubled the goal they had set for the event.
“Participants were parents, advisers, some students who had already applied or others looking at schools,” she said. “People appreciated the venue and the opportunity,” she added.
And experiencing success like this helps turn that pandemic pivot into something new Life West can offer. “The nice thing about it is that Admissions is moving more into using digital in a way that we have never done before, and offering events like this allows for a broader reach,” Dr. Bosco said. Students came from all over the United States and Canada, which was expected, but participants in this digital event literally came from all over the world. One prospective student joined the event from Zambia in Africa.
“Not everyone can always make it all the way to campus, and this allows us to bring Life West into people’s homes or workplaces so they can get more information about who we are,” Dr. Bosco said.
Two more Digital Discovery events are planned in 2021. More information will be available soon at go.lifewest.edu. Life West is also beginning to offer monthly webinars and virtual tours.
“What Life West is really good at is that personal connection,” Dr. Bosco said. “Because we’re founded in lasting purpose, all of our speakers are really able to talk to that both in person and digitally, to really answer those “why chiropractic” and “why Life West” questions. Our speakers come from all different perspectives and backgrounds and have different future goals, but all have a clear way to represent their experience at Life West, and people really resonate with that.”
The Admissions team is ready to support students where they’re at, Dr. Bosco added.
Life West offers flexibility with academic tracks, as well as many activities, clubs and sports in addition to classes, so students can develop the educational experience they want to have. That comes across when the student ambassadors speak, she said.
Interested in learning more about Life West? Visit go.lifewest.edu to sign up for an upcoming digital event.