UC Answers: How do I make friends while social distancing?

Pechette: This is very true. In my experience, the students who are engaged in their college decision process and take an active role in their preparation feel more confident when classes start. They know where their resources are, and they’ve developed relationships that get their college experience off to a good start. I would encourage students (if they haven’t already) to begin finding ways to make your mark at Cincinnati. I especially want to remind those students who might find it more difficult to reach out to new people and build relationships that our staff is here for them in lots of different ways. If you need guidance about how to break into the incoming class and the community that’s beginning to develop there, let us know and we can point you in the right direction.

Pechette: Going “off to college” is a big change. Regardless of whether a student is coming from five minutes up the road or 500 miles away, it’s an adjustment. What we’ve seen is that although a successful transition to college can look different for everyone, one common factor that contributes to that success is being able to build relationships and develop a sense of belonging within the college community they’ve joined. Once someone makes a friend, has a meaningful conversation, shares a connection or commonality, they begin to feel more comfortable in their new environment so that as new responsibilities, time commitments, even stresses arise (like they do for new college students) they can move through that with greater ease because they’ve chosen a place where they have a support network. 

Pechette: When we initially began to feel the impact of COVID-19, when campus began to close and we had to completely rethink how we support our students, we took a look at our current practices and had to make some adjustments. The same kind of excitement that we were used to sharing this time of year around students confirming their admission, hosting large campus events, graduating, making college decisions wasn’t really what people seemed to need. They needed to know that the university was here and that we had things under control. We started by having each of our admissions counselors draft an email to send to the students they work with to reassure them that we’re still helping even if it’s from our homes and you may hear our dogs or kids in the background. The day the campus officially closed we were already up and running with virtual visit options so students could still learn about UC and take a tour of campus. We turned to social media and began using an app called ZeeMee to give our admitted students a way to connect with each other and bring back that excitement around the shared experience of choosing UC. 

Pechette: One of our biggest initial successes was how quickly we were able to turn around a virtual visit option. We were told on a Wednesday in mid-March that things would have to look different, and by Friday that meant canceling in-person visits and events for the foreseeable future. By the following Monday we were ready with webinars that would replicate our in-person presentations and welcomed nearly 200 “campus visitors” that week. By early April, over 3,700 people had visited campus using our virtual tour. In the month of May, over 60,000 messages were sent within ZeeMee which is the social app we’ve been using to help admitted students build a sense of community at UC. So, people are active! Our students are still engaged in their search process, and we’ve been doing what we can to still deliver the tools they need to be successful. In a recent survey we did after a three-week admitted student event series, students and their families shared that what they found the most value in was getting to hear in real time from students and staff about the campus community and what they can expect. In times like this, I think it’s important to remind people that we won’t always be operating in the way we are now. Eventually we will get back to “normal.” 

Pechette: Beyond our efforts in the admissions office, every staff member tasked with making a student’s transition successful has been working non-stop over the last several months. From orientation, to One Stop and financial aid, to advising, we’ve been adjusting the way we do our work so that students have the resources they need. Bearcats Bound Orientation has set up an extensive series of online engagement opportunities including regular check-ins with our Student Orientation Leaders. One Stop optimized their approach to offering support and information virtually and ways to connect with a staff member almost instantaneously.

Featured image at top: Linden Pechette, director of admissions, stands near UC's Schneider Engineering Quad on campus. photo/Joseph Fuqua II/UC Creative + Brand