An open house, especially in the collegiate setting, conjures up notions of an institution opening its doors to the general public, alumni and others for visiting and observation, not just of the facility —but of its members as well.
However, breaking traditional open house norms this past December, Keene State College President Anne Huot held KSC’s first-ever virtual open house. Huot invited community members, alumni, students, faculty and anyone who was interested to join her in a festive holiday open house, which took place online via webcam and a live interactive chat room.
“For a first time, I think it went very well, we got a lot of very positive comments from folks that were connected to the event through the electronic chat room that was set up, we got great participation from the community,” Huot said.
Huot accepted the position of KSC president after a six-month long search process to replace former President Helen Giles-Gee, who left KSC after a short seven years to become the twenty-second President of University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. President Huot, who started her presidential duties on July 1, 2013, held the open house on Dec. 12, 2013, just days after completing her first semester as president.
Denise Grattage/Equinox Staff
The open house began with an introduction and welcome from Huot to the participants. Following were songs performed by several students and faculty in the music program and a poem read by a student. Huot then interviewed a graduating senior on his experience at KSC with an emphasis on the community service aspect. Lastly, a live chat room was enabled so participants could ask questions.
“The objective was to be able to connect with alumni and friends across the country so we could share a live welcome and holiday greeting and some of the very special things about Keene State College so it’s a way to connect a broader audience without having to actually physically come together on the campus,” Huot shared.
One way KSC and its students were highlighted during this event was through an electronic holiday card that was sent out prior to the event.
The card featured several videos of students talking about KSC, what the school means to them and their outcomes at the school. “It was a very successful way of getting a message out about our college to a broad audience,” Huot said.
Because of the success of the first-ever virtual open house, President Huot shared that there are some plans in the future to extend it to things like a virtual open house for students that are interested in coming to KSC, she reinforced that this is a way to reach a broader audience.
Student Body Class President, Eric Grady, said he is in favor of this for the future. “I think it would be a great idea for sure, not just for students but for their parents as well to see that the college administration really cares about incoming students.”
In Huot’s first semester, she spent a majority of time getting to know more about not just the college but also about the relationships we have with the community of Keene.
Huot said, “I think we had a successful first semester and I think the effort I have put into meeting and engaging with our students, our faculty, our staff and the external community, really listening to people about Keene State College and what our strengths are and what our areas of opportunity are has given me a really broad foundation now on which to take the college forward with a shared vision for the future.”
In small group settings with students, faculty, staff and community stakeholders, Huot gathered three themes that came to the forefront during discussion. The first was that relationships with each other are very important.
“Students and faculty said it, the staff said it, the external community said it, about the relationship with the college in the sense that we are really a very close-knit community and we care deeply about each other,” Huot said.
Secondly, Huot noted the physical beauty of the campus and what an asset it is.
The last topic that was brought up focused on students and furthering the community.
“We talked a lot about focusing in on support structures for student success and what kinds of things we can do in the future to enhance even further academic support and support the residential environment,” Huot continued, “We talked about our relationship with the city of Keene and the kinds of things we can do in partnership with the city to make the city stronger, in particular in that front we talked about the importance of bringing theory of practice and helping our students get hands-on experience through internships and service learning, voluntaryism, undergraduate research,” Huot said.
Huot explained that she will use these themes as the underpinnings of a plan going forward.
Grady agreed that the college’s relationship with the city of Keene could be strengthened through increased service.
“I think the college kind of gets a negative image sometimes from the media and Keene, with The [Keene] Sentinel and stuff and I think service learning is great. I would like to see more being brought into the classroom. I think we need more of that. I think that’s something that I am sure President Huot would support. I think the alternative break trips are great, but I think we could go one step further and do more service right here in our own community,” Grady stated.
Rachel Heard can be contacted at rheard@keene-equinox.com