The online format creates equity and accessibility

Sydney Kate Watson, asst. arts & living editor 

During their time as prospective students, many current Berry students participated in scholarship day interviews, even if they are not necessarily in those programs now. This Berry experience has stayed virtual, even as students attend in-person classes and tour groups travel around campus regularly. 

Leadership Fellows and Service Fellows Coordinator Cecily Crow said that the decision to stay virtual happened in September and October of 2021. Crow said that during that time no one knew what the future of the COVID-19 pandemic would look like, so to ensure the safety of current and future students, scholarship day maintained a virtual format. 

“We didn’t know what was going to happen with Covid, so we felt like it was a safe option,” Crow said.

While the COVID-19 pandemic played a role in keeping the interviews virtual, Whitehead Scholars Coordinator Meredith Johnson said that other factors for continuing virtually were accessibility and equity. Some prospective scholars may not have the resources necessary to travel to campus, or find hotel accommodations, according to Johnson. 

“[Virtual interviews] kind of levels the playing field for all of our applicants, regardless of where they’re located or what needs and resources, they have available to them,” Johnson said. 

Gate Scholarship Coordinator Haley Smith reiterated that the most important aspect is ensuring that prospective students have the opportunity to interview. She said that these students are located all over the nation, and that traveling to Berry is not necessarily easy, especially for those who are interviewing for need-based programs. 

“We have students from all over the country who are looking to get a scholarship to come to Berry,” Smith said. “They don’t always have the means to travel.”

Whitehead Scholar Assistant Student Director Amari Slack, senior, recounted that during her time as a prospective student the possibility of travel was a challenge. 

“I was a freshman and there was mentioned travel for me so there was a really good chance that I wasn’t even going to be able to interview,” Slack. 

Johnson also mentioned that another reason the interviews stayed virtual was due to the process of the interview. Interview days tend to be long and taxing and sometimes require two trips to Berry to participate in different interview days. That can be difficult for some students, especially for the prospective students who are involved in high school sports, clubs and volunteer organizations, and the majority of the applicants are. So, going virtual gives prospective students more flexibility. 

Conducting interviews virtually has its difficulties, but Smith said that due to our continued use of virtual environments, people have learned many skills, firstly how to be more personable over a screen. 

“We’ve learned how to not be as stoic and how we can be a little bit more personal,” Smith said. “We have had some time to learn how can we really benefit and use the tools that are given to use to keep people safe and then also to build relationships and receive the information that we need.”

Smith also mentioned that virtual communication is a resource that allows people to be aware of their speaking habits, such as talking over others or taking space away from someone else. 

“One thing that I’ve learned is that we need to start thinking about how we leave open space for everybody to be able to speak,” Smith said. “We need to learn how to be more generous listeners.”

Through virtual interactions, there is time to think about what you are going to say, and even write down notes to better articulate your thoughts. However, Smith clarified that each person must decide for themselves if they are going to use this advantage to be a better communicator, or simply give up on being personable. 

“You can either choose to not be personable and not think that and stay [behind] the screen, or you can choose to use it as a tool for us to be better communicators once we’re back in a place where we can all be in person again,” Smith said. 

No one knows for certain what the next scholarship day might look like. However, Johnson does know that the different scholarship programs will continue to coordinate more with one another to provide the most efficient experience for prospective scholars. 

“It’s nice for us to have increased efficiency and shared information, but ultimately we want to prioritize the students’ experience and give them the best outcome possible,” Johnson said. 

Slack theorized that future interview days could be a hybrid of in-person and virtual, catering to the students’ preferred and most comfortable experience.

“I hope that somewhere in the future we do something that’s more like a hybrid model,” Slack said. “Maybe we have some people come in person, if that’s what they prefer, and maybe we have some people over Zoom if that’s what they prefer.”

Berry’s Office of Admissions has prioritized understanding future students’ stories and experiences to better connect with them, and Smith knows that this will be an essential aspect of scholarship interview days moving forward. 

“Figuring out how to best connect with prospective students’ stories and experiences is going to continue to grow as a priority,” Smith said. 

Crow and Smith are looking forward to the continued partnership with Admissions that has been established. 

“We appreciate the partnership with Admissions because they really do support us in the communication and just the overall process, so it’s definitely a collaboration between them and all the different scholarship programs,” Crow said. 

Smith urged current students to reflect on their own experience during previous scholarship days. Any suggestions or thoughts students want to share, she and Admissions are willing to listen.

“There should always be space for current students to be able to speak into what their experiences have been, and how we can continue to improve whatever processes we have,” Smith said.