March 19, 2024 • 25 mins
Providence College Dean of Admission Owen Bligh ’10, ’14G pulls back the curtain on the extensive process of recruiting and enrolling students – a virtually year-round enterprise that reached an important milestone this week when PC issued Class of 2028 admission decisions to regular-admission applicants. In this interview, Dean Bligh shares insights about the attributes that PC looks for in prospective students, key indicators of likely success, and the reasons behind growing student interest in what Providence College has to offer.
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Joe Carr (00:00):
Hello, everyone. My name is Joe Carr. I'm from
Providence College's division ofmarketing and communications,
and this is Owen Bligh, PC'sdean of admission. Today, we're
talking about admission, theadmission process, and the class
of 2028, the group of studentswho will begin college studies
this coming fall. Owen, you'vejust sent the decision letters
for the regular admissionapplicants.
(00:20):
What are your observations ingeneral of the class of 2028?
Owen Bligh (00:25):
Absolutely. First of all, thanks for for having me,
this afternoon. I think a fewthings come to mind with the the
class of 2028 and those who areconsidering whether they want to
enroll at Providence in thefall. And I think similar to to
many years, the the overarchingtheme that comes to mind is just
how how talented these studentsare and the number of ways in
(00:46):
which they exhibit that talent.Obviously, academics are are the
main thing that kind of driveour review process but it's not
just the the curriculums thatthey've taken and the grades
that they've received but alsothe the everything else whether
that be things that supporttheir academic pursuits having
done research or internships.
(01:07):
It could also be things thatthey do in their community,
things that they do for theirfamily, working or taking care
of younger siblings. It's notone thing necessarily for for
every student in the applicantpool but each of those students
has what their thing is. And Ithink that's the thing that
really is is noteworthy. Wespend a lot of time talking
(01:28):
about average GPAs andcurriculums and those are the
things that are easy to quantifybut it's when our staff dives
into to individual applicationsthat we really get excited about
what it is that that thosecandidates are going to bring to
our campus. I think the lastthing I would say that is
important to remember with thisclass is that they did kind of
(01:49):
start their high schoolexperience in the midst of
COVID.
And that's something that wassomething that kind of was
apparent, in a number of timesthat we were reviewing students'
applications that they wereperhaps not allowed to have the
opportunity to begin their highschool experience with the
(02:09):
support that they needed or inthe classroom environment. And
it took a lot of work on thepart of the admission staff to
understand what that contextlooks like and to think about
how they progress through theyears. That perhaps an overall
GPA wasn't indicative of whothey were, but instead looking
year to year and selecting thosewho are really kind of hitting
(02:30):
their stride and doing theirbest work yet and will move into
campus ready to to embrace theacademics here.
Joe Carr (02:36):
This is kind of a related question, but I I wanna
refer to your pretty specificand unique perspective. You came
here as a a student in 2000 6.You've been in admission for for
quite a while. So you you reallyunderstand, not only the
admission work, but in the, youunderstand into the context of
Providence College. What do yousee as some of the key
predictors of eventual successat Providence College when you
(02:58):
look at applicants?
Owen Bligh (02:59):
Sure. Our review process, as I mentioned before,
it's it's driven by theacademics, and so we spend more
time with the transcript thananything else. And so we talk a
lot about what the strength of astudent's curriculum is, which
we measure based off looking atkind of how much they've taken
advantage of what's been offeredto them. And so we spend a lot
of time trying to understand theschools that they're coming
(03:21):
from, what the offerings may beat that school, and then how a
student chose to to set up theirschedule. And so an easy place
where that commonly comes intoplay is with kind of the rigor.
So you hear a lot about AP,honors, IB, kind of the level of
classes, but also how they'veprogressed within their
curriculum. So thinking aboutkind of how their math courses
(03:44):
have built upon one another andalso how they prepare their
themselves for their intendedmajor. So if they're thinking
about the business school, havethey studied economics and
advanced math? If they'rethinking about nursing, what
does that science preparationlook like? And so that
curriculum and obviously the theway that they've achieved within
that curriculum is is important.
(04:05):
And that's really kind of whereit starts, but what we're trying
to do is really build a group ofstudents who are going to to
come to our campus and and fitin and be successful. And I
think when we think about whatthe the average Providence
student, if there is such athing, brings to the campus, I
(04:25):
think they really need to beready to kind of embrace all
aspects of what this thiscollege can offer them. And
obviously, we're doing it foracademic reasons and our
students, they they work reallyhard in the classroom. But the
the quote unquote PC student,they're also looking to engage
with the the student life sideof things. They really are
(04:45):
excited about a cause thatthey're passionate about or a
club that they wanna take to thenext level.
They might be really passionateabout athletics, competing on
the field or just being in thestudent section and and cheering
those students on. They mayspend any time they have not in
the library at Saint DominicChapel. And so when we think
(05:05):
about the type of student whomaybe this isn't a necessarily
is competitive for admission,but the type of student who does
well at Providence, it's theones that really are are looking
to take advantage of ofeverything. They're they're
excited about their studies inneuroscience, but they're really
excited to see kind of what theydo outside of that classroom as
(05:27):
well.
Joe Carr (05:27):
This seems to sort of relate to the size of the
college in some ways, doesn'tit? Because there are actual
opportunities to participate inthe life of the community and
you referred to specificallyclubs and things like that, but
that kind of student can findtheir way here.
Owen Bligh (05:39):
Mhmm. Absolutely.
Joe Carr (05:40):
Which brings me to the thought about declaring majors.
Coming in and declaring iscertainly a very good option for
many students and and worthconsidering, but most students
do pick a a major on the way. Inwhat kinds of trends are you
seeing in terms of whetherstudents do declare a major and
if so, which ones?
Owen Bligh (05:58):
Sure. So at Providence, it's about 20 to 25%
of our incoming students who whodo so undeclared. Interestingly,
in this year's applicant pool,we were up about 13% in students
who were were choosing theundeclared option. And that is
not necessarily something that'ssurprising for us and I think
it's because of the the optionsthat an undeclared student has
(06:20):
when they get here. The onlyprogram that a student needed to
have applied into to thenultimately study is the nursing
program.
And so our students can go fromundeclared to finance. They can
go from undeclared to chemistry.They can kind of take those
introductory classes and and byMarch of their sophomore year,
(06:41):
decide what it is that they wantto to pursue a full course of
study in. So I say this a lot tocollege counselors as they're
they're visiting our campus,it's a great place to be
undeclared and I think thestudents who who choose that
path are really well supportedthrough an advising program that
helps them, discover where theirtheir interests are, where their
(07:03):
skills are, what they're goingto be good at, and and also what
they're passionate about. And soyou're correct that the the
amount of students kind ofcoming in undeclared has
declined, a little bit throughthe years.
And I think a lot of that comestowards the investment that
college brings and and needingto kind of connect it to an
outcome. But we're fortunatehere that our undeclared when,
(07:33):
they they discover what sort ofpostgraduate work or employment
they're looking to go into.
Joe Carr (07:37):
And in most cases, there's also the opportunity to
change course on the waythrough. Your story is a perfect
example of that and what youchanged at least once. Right?
Owen Bligh (07:46):
Absolutely. Yeah. So when I enrolled at Providence, I
was a marketing major. And Ireally enjoyed my studies. In
high school, I was thinking Iwanted to go into politics, and
I thought to do so, you neededto know how to market yourself.
And so when I kind of started asa marketing major and we're
(08:07):
looking at buyer behavior andaudience segmentation, this had
nothing to do with politicalcampaigns. So I switched to
undeclared, and kind of exploredsome areas. And then one day, I
was just wandering throughHowley Hall, which is the home
of the political sciencedepartment, And one of our our
professors just started talkingto me asking who is this random
(08:28):
person reading all the bulletinboards. And and I thought,
alright. Maybe political scienceis the the place.
By that point, I had kind ofgiven up on the career in
politics, but it was a fieldthat I was was really interested
in. And through the time kind ofstudying there actually grew
into finding an interest ineconomic development and how how
(08:52):
cities are formed and my seniorthesis was actually part of the
Foran Scholars Program that thethe political science department
has looking at how collegesimpact the the neighborhoods
that they're in. And with myadvisor, doctor Cammarano, I was
starting to look at higher ed asmore than just kind of the
school that I attended for 4years and thinking about it as a
(09:13):
larger part of our society andand from that, I was also one of
our ambassadors and here I ammany years later still in higher
ed.
Joe Carr (09:21):
I remember reading that senior thesis a few years
ago. It was very, very good. Andby way of example, improving the
notion that you can end up doingalmost anything if you come to
Providence College and earn adegree. We both have political
science degrees from ProvidenceCollege and here we are. So you
never really know where it willtake you and that's that's the
beauty of this kind of a a placein many ways.
(09:44):
Oh, and this fall is this reallythis cycle marks the 1st year
that we've had a full year toidentify, recruit, and enroll
nursing and health sciencesstudents in the new program.
What are your observations, whatyou're seeing in in that cohort
of applicants?
Owen Bligh (09:59):
Yeah. And so this would actually be the 1st class
that we've had kind of the fulladmission cycle to get the word
out about the program as well.So for those who follow PC
closely, you probably rememberthat this program was approved
in in the fall of, 2 years ago,and that's a that's a really
limited time to work withprospective students. And so we
(10:20):
did kind of have to get the wordout quickly and and applied, and
we have 59 nurses who are oncampus right now and doing
incredibly well. This class, theclass of 2028, is the first ones
where we could talk to themabout this nursing program that
we have when they were juniorsin high school and work with
them throughout the fall tospread the word about the
(10:42):
program.
And so the interest is isreally, growing in it. I think
there's a number of differentthings that are kind of
attractive. I think thecurriculum is a a very modern
one that has been responsive tokind of the needs of what the
nursing field needs now. I thinkalso the faculty that, has been
hired for our program, the widerange of of expertise that they
(11:05):
have and the different ways thatstudents can kind of connect
their their interest in nursingto those those professors who
will only continue to add more.And then obviously the facility
that's coming on the way willtake it to a whole another level
with the Mondor Center.
And so for for nursing andhealth sciences, we've seen a a
great increase in the number ofapplications and so I think
(11:27):
we've been given the opportunityto choose those students who are
incredibly accomplished, butalso a good fit for what a
Providence Nursing and HealthScience Education would would
offer a student.
Joe Carr (11:38):
And just a little more detail on that facility, the Ben
Monder Center For Nursing andHealth Sciences on the site of
the former Fennell Hall on EastCampus will open in January of
next year. So in just a fewmonths, you'll be able to take
prospective students through aspectacular state of the art
facility, which I'm sure will behelpful.
Owen Bligh (11:55):
Absolutely. Absolutely. I think one last
thing that is just kind ofinteresting about nursing is we
talked about kind of theundeclared program and and how a
Providence student often kind ofchanges their interests and
moves around. Working withstudents interested in nursing
has been a a really exciting anddifferent experience for many of
us in the admission officebecause they're students who, in
(12:19):
some ways, almost feel a callingtowards that field that's almost
vocational for them in that theyknow they wanna be nurses. And
through their application,they've shared with us the
reasons why they feel that way,the preparation that they've
made for those programs.
And so we we fully expect thatour nursing students will add on
second majors in in classics orin marketing, in health policy.
(12:43):
They will do that and they'llexplore the wide range of
minors, but I think compared toto many of the programs that we
have here, they are committed tonursing for for all 4 years, and
it's it's been a really excitingthing to have a part of our our
conversations in the admissioncommittee.
Joe Carr (12:59):
And also interesting is the programming in health
sciences, which opens up avariety of avenues for careers
in in health sciences and in thehealth care field. So there's a
lot of, interest in that and alot of possibility for
prospective students.
Owen Bligh (13:12):
There is. Yeah. We have always been a a good option
for students who are lookinginto health care, but I think
now that they have a programthat offers a number of
different pathways towards thosefields, we're going to be kind
of even more attractive andprovide even better preparation
for those students. And andhealth sciences is as versatile
a program as we have on campus.Students can use it for, a path
(13:37):
towards some of the things thatyou may expect when you think
about kind of allied health, sogoing to be physical therapists
or physician's assistants, butalso a number of them want to go
into epidemiology and publichealth.
Others want to go more kind ofan academic route. And so it's a
a great curriculum that throughthe study of anatomy and
physiology, biology andchemistry, all with the lens of
(14:00):
kind of the the health careenvironment will set them up to
be be quite successful in kindof whatever pathway it is that
they choose.
Joe Carr (14:07):
And of course a defining characteristic of these
programs here at PC, similar tothe business programs, is that
these fields of study are rootedin the core curriculum
development of WesternCivilization, so students will
not only get this specific kindof training in these career
fields, but it's all built onthat liberal arts foundation.
Right. It's a beautiful thing.So, let's talk a little bit more
(14:28):
about the class of 2028 morespecifically. This is the
largest applicant pool the PC'sever had, breaking a record set
just last year.
To what do you attribute whatappears to be a growing interest
in the college? College?
Owen Bligh (14:40):
So certainly the new majors that the college has has
lent itself to the the applicantpool growing and we we talked
about nursing and healthsciences, but also adding
programs in neuroscience, blackstudies, Catholic studies, and
liturgical music. Though theyhave varying kind of degrees of
enrollment, I think all of themhave really kind of caused some
buzz to to indicate thatProvidence is a it's an
(15:02):
institution that's growing,that's continuing to respond to
what students are looking for,and all of those those majors
are are going a long way in inmaking that case. I think
another thing is just thecollege's national reputation as
we continue to kind of findstudents who are a good fit for
the Providence experience, butmaybe haven't heard of us,
(15:24):
that's something that continuesto kind of grow in interest
certainly in in specific pocketsof the country. We're seeing a a
great deal of success, withthat. And then lastly, I think
it's just that whenever we'rewe're traveling and talking with
prospective students, one of thethings that I hear more than
(15:46):
anything else is that Providencehas a great reputation.
I'll talk to to perhaps a parentof a prospective student who
has, no familiarity withProvidence except maybe a
coworker's child went there orsomething. And I hear quite
frequently, everyone seems tolove that place or everyone
seems very kind of satisfiedwith their experience. And I
(16:10):
think the members of ourcommunity are some of the best
storytellers for us. So as kindof alums or parents of current
students get the word out aboutPC, we're only going to see this
momentum continue to grow.
Joe Carr (16:23):
Diversity is something that's very important to all of
us Providence College. In fact,it's a stated strategic
priority. What can you tell usabout diversity recruitment
efforts in the current day'scontext? I'm thinking in part in
context of last summer's SupremeCourt decisions.
Owen Bligh (16:39):
Sure. Absolutely. So we are we're fortunate this year
to have one of the most,racially and ethnically diverse
applicant pools in collegehistory. And that was through a
lot of kind of intentionaleffort on the part of not just
the admission staff, but reallycollege wide to continue to kind
of commit to to efforts todiversify our our campus
(17:01):
environment. And so there's afew places where you can you can
see kind of this this workhappening and the results, soon
to follow.
I think our recruitment travelin the fall took a very
different approach as wereemphasized visiting community
based organizations. We usedlarge amounts of data to to look
(17:21):
for high schools where maybe thethe word about Providence wasn't
getting to them, but there werestudents who were were a great
fit for our community. We alsodid a number of different kind
of marketing and recruitmentapproaches to to really get the
word out about Providence andlet students know that it is an
option that is a a good academicfit that can be affordable, and
(17:45):
that will be a a a good optionto include on their their
college list. I think morebroadly, you'll also see a
number of investments from thecollege. The Cristo Rey
scholarship that was announcedlast year and that we have 28
students who have received itthis year is a great example of
that.
Cristo Rey is a network that isincredibly aligned with the
(18:07):
Catholic and Dominican mission,of the the college even though
it it did start as a Jesuit,network, but those students are
are a great fit for here. And soto be able to add significant
scholarship opportunities aswell as meet their full
demonstrated need, that has beena a big part of our diversity
recruitment. And then next year,we'll look to join the Posse,
(18:30):
network. And that foundation,has done quite a bit to to help
students who may not otherwisehave access to to a 4 year
education access those types ofinstitutions. It's it's really
an elite list of memberinstitutions, and we're we're
quite fortunate that they lookedfavorably upon our application
for it and excited about thethe, the cohort or posse of
(18:54):
students that we'll have joiningus from New Orleans next year.
Joe Carr (18:57):
Let's talk about the admission timeline. So the
application decisions have justbeen sent mid March here, and
we're past early admission,early decision. So it's really a
long process to build this poolof students who will decide
whether to enroll here in in thefall. What's next? So from
admission professionals,perspective, what do you do in
(19:18):
the next few weeks months?
Owen Bligh (19:19):
Sure. So this is kind of the the difficult part
of our calendar where we'rehaving a number of conversations
with people who are at differentstages of the process, and so we
have lots and lots of highschool juniors who are are
chomping at the bit to starttheir college search, and you
probably see the tours as you'rewalking around campus of of
juniors who are just, they'veheard good things about
(19:41):
Providence and they wanna know alittle bit more, but they're
very kind of introductoryconversations. And and so we are
greeting them and welcoming themand sharing some information
with them. And then in acomplete opposite place, we have
all of the seniors, our admittedstudents, who have done their
research on Providence. Theythey got to the point where they
wanted to apply and and then weinvited them to join our
(20:03):
community, and they are kind ofdoing some of their their final
bits of research, kicking thetires if you will, to to learn
more deeply about what exactlyour creative writing program can
offer them, to understand whatthe different housing options
are, where the internships intheir area may be.
And so very differentconversations, both very
(20:24):
important though. And so we'rewe're excited about what the
next couple months will bring aswe as we finalize, those who
will will choose to join us forthe class of 2028 and and look
forward to the 2029 and and eventhe class of 2030 who are
already, touring our campus. Andso for admitted students, we
have a number of differentoptions. Obviously, admitted
(20:46):
student day is the the big onewhere all of campus shows up and
and we welcome hundreds ofadmitted students, but we're
also offering shadowing programsthrough our Friar for a Day
program. We have admittedstudent tours several times a
week as well as speaking ofdiversity recruitment, our night
in Friartown, diversityovernight as well, which will
take place at the end of April.
Joe Carr (21:07):
To add a little flavor to the description of the
process, you've just you andyour colleagues have just been
through a period of time whereyou've gone through a gigantic
number of applications. Take usinto that room a little bit.
What what's the process like?How does it actually work
mechanically when you're whenyou're working your way through
that part of the process?
Owen Bligh (21:26):
Sure. So our process starts actually just with the
the one individual who'sresponsible for the territory.
So personally, I'm responsiblefor New Hampshire, Minnesota,
and Western Massachusetts and
Joe Carr (21:37):
so when combination.
Owen Bligh (21:38):
Okay. It's quite a mix. I I've had Minnesota since
I started at the college and thesame with, New Hampshire, and
then I'm originally from WesternMass. So a nice way to build a
trip home. But the processstarts kind of with the the
counselor who's responsible foryour area, and they do all of
the academic review.
So I mentioned before about kindof assigning the strength of
(21:59):
curriculum, and we recalculateall of the GPAs. So we will
never look at the GPA that'sprinted on a transcript. All of
that kind of academic prep workis done just by by one
counselor, and then kind of thewhole committee process starts
where every file is going to beread by at least 2, but usually
3 and and 4 about a quarter ofour files, all of us, breaking
(22:25):
up into smaller rooms and andgoing through files and making
selections, making reallydifficult choices oftentimes. We
though the college has been kindof growing in the last few years
and and we'll welcome 12 151styear students this fall, we
could have a much larger collegeand still kind of have plenty of
interest in students who are arequalified for admission.
(22:46):
Admission.
So it's oftentimes that we haveto make difficult decisions in
in deciding who to admit. Andit's it's a lot of work, to to
go through over 12,500applications, but I think one of
the things that we particularlykind of pride ourselves in our
process is that every studentdoes have a a thorough review.
(23:06):
That one counselor, butoftentimes 2, 3, 4 of us have
spent the time to read theirapplication, to understand their
essay, to look at everythingthat they've shared with us,
read, the endorsements andrecommendations of those who
have written on their behalf,and ultimately make the decision
that we think that they haveearned throughout the last 4
years.
Joe Carr (23:27):
Well, this is a lot of work as you indicated, Owen, and
I'm sure you and your colleaguesand admission are are really
looking forward to the day whenthese students walk through the
door and we welcome them asFriars, next fall. So thank you
so much for all you do. We areare grateful for that, and thank
you for your time today and forsharing all these insights.
We'll have to do some more ofthis sometime because there's a
lot to explore here in in thework that you and everybody else
(23:49):
in admission and financial aiddo to find, recruit, and enroll
Providence College students?
Owen Bligh (23:54):
Absolutely. I appreciate you having me on to
to share a little bit about ourprocess. I think one of the
things that we're we're reallythankful for and fortunate in
our office is that it's it's nothard work to to enroll this
class each year. We we work veryhard, but if you tell the
Providence College story and youyou help students understand
(24:16):
what this place can do for themfor the next 4 years, It's it's
actually it's one of the mostenjoyable parts and obviously,
you and your colleagues inmarketing communications help us
Joe Carr (24:34):
Owen Bly. And thank you for joining us for our our
producers, Chris Judge and RyanHenowich. I'm Joe Carr. Have a
good day.
Hello, everyone. My name is Joe Carr. I'm from
Providence College's division ofmarketing and communications,
and this is Owen Bligh, PC'sdean of admission. Today, we're
talking about admission, theadmission process, and the class
of 2028, the group of studentswho will begin college studies
this coming fall. Owen, you'vejust sent the decision letters
for the regular admissionapplicants.
(00:20):
What are your observations ingeneral of the class of 2028?
Owen Bligh (00:25):
Absolutely. First of all, thanks for for having me,
this afternoon. I think a fewthings come to mind with the the
class of 2028 and those who areconsidering whether they want to
enroll at Providence in thefall. And I think similar to to
many years, the the overarchingtheme that comes to mind is just
how how talented these studentsare and the number of ways in
(00:46):
which they exhibit that talent.Obviously, academics are are the
main thing that kind of driveour review process but it's not
just the the curriculums thatthey've taken and the grades
that they've received but alsothe the everything else whether
that be things that supporttheir academic pursuits having
done research or internships.
(01:07):
It could also be things thatthey do in their community,
things that they do for theirfamily, working or taking care
of younger siblings. It's notone thing necessarily for for
every student in the applicantpool but each of those students
has what their thing is. And Ithink that's the thing that
really is is noteworthy. Wespend a lot of time talking
(01:28):
about average GPAs andcurriculums and those are the
things that are easy to quantifybut it's when our staff dives
into to individual applicationsthat we really get excited about
what it is that that thosecandidates are going to bring to
our campus. I think the lastthing I would say that is
important to remember with thisclass is that they did kind of
(01:49):
start their high schoolexperience in the midst of
COVID.
And that's something that wassomething that kind of was
apparent, in a number of timesthat we were reviewing students'
applications that they wereperhaps not allowed to have the
opportunity to begin their highschool experience with the
(02:09):
support that they needed or inthe classroom environment. And
it took a lot of work on thepart of the admission staff to
understand what that contextlooks like and to think about
how they progress through theyears. That perhaps an overall
GPA wasn't indicative of whothey were, but instead looking
year to year and selecting thosewho are really kind of hitting
(02:30):
their stride and doing theirbest work yet and will move into
campus ready to to embrace theacademics here.
Joe Carr (02:36):
This is kind of a related question, but I I wanna
refer to your pretty specificand unique perspective. You came
here as a a student in 2000 6.You've been in admission for for
quite a while. So you you reallyunderstand, not only the
admission work, but in the, youunderstand into the context of
Providence College. What do yousee as some of the key
predictors of eventual successat Providence College when you
(02:58):
look at applicants?
Owen Bligh (02:59):
Sure. Our review process, as I mentioned before,
it's it's driven by theacademics, and so we spend more
time with the transcript thananything else. And so we talk a
lot about what the strength of astudent's curriculum is, which
we measure based off looking atkind of how much they've taken
advantage of what's been offeredto them. And so we spend a lot
of time trying to understand theschools that they're coming
(03:21):
from, what the offerings may beat that school, and then how a
student chose to to set up theirschedule. And so an easy place
where that commonly comes intoplay is with kind of the rigor.
So you hear a lot about AP,honors, IB, kind of the level of
classes, but also how they'veprogressed within their
curriculum. So thinking aboutkind of how their math courses
(03:44):
have built upon one another andalso how they prepare their
themselves for their intendedmajor. So if they're thinking
about the business school, havethey studied economics and
advanced math? If they'rethinking about nursing, what
does that science preparationlook like? And so that
curriculum and obviously the theway that they've achieved within
that curriculum is is important.
(04:05):
And that's really kind of whereit starts, but what we're trying
to do is really build a group ofstudents who are going to to
come to our campus and and fitin and be successful. And I
think when we think about whatthe the average Providence
student, if there is such athing, brings to the campus, I
(04:25):
think they really need to beready to kind of embrace all
aspects of what this thiscollege can offer them. And
obviously, we're doing it foracademic reasons and our
students, they they work reallyhard in the classroom. But the
the quote unquote PC student,they're also looking to engage
with the the student life sideof things. They really are
(04:45):
excited about a cause thatthey're passionate about or a
club that they wanna take to thenext level.
They might be really passionateabout athletics, competing on
the field or just being in thestudent section and and cheering
those students on. They mayspend any time they have not in
the library at Saint DominicChapel. And so when we think
(05:05):
about the type of student whomaybe this isn't a necessarily
is competitive for admission,but the type of student who does
well at Providence, it's theones that really are are looking
to take advantage of ofeverything. They're they're
excited about their studies inneuroscience, but they're really
excited to see kind of what theydo outside of that classroom as
(05:27):
well.
Joe Carr (05:27):
This seems to sort of relate to the size of the
college in some ways, doesn'tit? Because there are actual
opportunities to participate inthe life of the community and
you referred to specificallyclubs and things like that, but
that kind of student can findtheir way here.
Owen Bligh (05:39):
Mhmm. Absolutely.
Joe Carr (05:40):
Which brings me to the thought about declaring majors.
Coming in and declaring iscertainly a very good option for
many students and and worthconsidering, but most students
do pick a a major on the way. Inwhat kinds of trends are you
seeing in terms of whetherstudents do declare a major and
if so, which ones?
Owen Bligh (05:58):
Sure. So at Providence, it's about 20 to 25%
of our incoming students who whodo so undeclared. Interestingly,
in this year's applicant pool,we were up about 13% in students
who were were choosing theundeclared option. And that is
not necessarily something that'ssurprising for us and I think
it's because of the the optionsthat an undeclared student has
(06:20):
when they get here. The onlyprogram that a student needed to
have applied into to thenultimately study is the nursing
program.
And so our students can go fromundeclared to finance. They can
go from undeclared to chemistry.They can kind of take those
introductory classes and and byMarch of their sophomore year,
(06:41):
decide what it is that they wantto to pursue a full course of
study in. So I say this a lot tocollege counselors as they're
they're visiting our campus,it's a great place to be
undeclared and I think thestudents who who choose that
path are really well supportedthrough an advising program that
helps them, discover where theirtheir interests are, where their
(07:03):
skills are, what they're goingto be good at, and and also what
they're passionate about. And soyou're correct that the the
amount of students kind ofcoming in undeclared has
declined, a little bit throughthe years.
And I think a lot of that comestowards the investment that
college brings and and needingto kind of connect it to an
outcome. But we're fortunatehere that our undeclared when,
(07:33):
they they discover what sort ofpostgraduate work or employment
they're looking to go into.
Joe Carr (07:37):
And in most cases, there's also the opportunity to
change course on the waythrough. Your story is a perfect
example of that and what youchanged at least once. Right?
Owen Bligh (07:46):
Absolutely. Yeah. So when I enrolled at Providence, I
was a marketing major. And Ireally enjoyed my studies. In
high school, I was thinking Iwanted to go into politics, and
I thought to do so, you neededto know how to market yourself.
And so when I kind of started asa marketing major and we're
(08:07):
looking at buyer behavior andaudience segmentation, this had
nothing to do with politicalcampaigns. So I switched to
undeclared, and kind of exploredsome areas. And then one day, I
was just wandering throughHowley Hall, which is the home
of the political sciencedepartment, And one of our our
professors just started talkingto me asking who is this random
(08:28):
person reading all the bulletinboards. And and I thought,
alright. Maybe political scienceis the the place.
By that point, I had kind ofgiven up on the career in
politics, but it was a fieldthat I was was really interested
in. And through the time kind ofstudying there actually grew
into finding an interest ineconomic development and how how
(08:52):
cities are formed and my seniorthesis was actually part of the
Foran Scholars Program that thethe political science department
has looking at how collegesimpact the the neighborhoods
that they're in. And with myadvisor, doctor Cammarano, I was
starting to look at higher ed asmore than just kind of the
school that I attended for 4years and thinking about it as a
(09:13):
larger part of our society andand from that, I was also one of
our ambassadors and here I ammany years later still in higher
ed.
Joe Carr (09:21):
I remember reading that senior thesis a few years
ago. It was very, very good. Andby way of example, improving the
notion that you can end up doingalmost anything if you come to
Providence College and earn adegree. We both have political
science degrees from ProvidenceCollege and here we are. So you
never really know where it willtake you and that's that's the
beauty of this kind of a a placein many ways.
(09:44):
Oh, and this fall is this reallythis cycle marks the 1st year
that we've had a full year toidentify, recruit, and enroll
nursing and health sciencesstudents in the new program.
What are your observations, whatyou're seeing in in that cohort
of applicants?
Owen Bligh (09:59):
Yeah. And so this would actually be the 1st class
that we've had kind of the fulladmission cycle to get the word
out about the program as well.So for those who follow PC
closely, you probably rememberthat this program was approved
in in the fall of, 2 years ago,and that's a that's a really
limited time to work withprospective students. And so we
(10:20):
did kind of have to get the wordout quickly and and applied, and
we have 59 nurses who are oncampus right now and doing
incredibly well. This class, theclass of 2028, is the first ones
where we could talk to themabout this nursing program that
we have when they were juniorsin high school and work with
them throughout the fall tospread the word about the
(10:42):
program.
And so the interest is isreally, growing in it. I think
there's a number of differentthings that are kind of
attractive. I think thecurriculum is a a very modern
one that has been responsive tokind of the needs of what the
nursing field needs now. I thinkalso the faculty that, has been
hired for our program, the widerange of of expertise that they
(11:05):
have and the different ways thatstudents can kind of connect
their their interest in nursingto those those professors who
will only continue to add more.And then obviously the facility
that's coming on the way willtake it to a whole another level
with the Mondor Center.
And so for for nursing andhealth sciences, we've seen a a
great increase in the number ofapplications and so I think
(11:27):
we've been given the opportunityto choose those students who are
incredibly accomplished, butalso a good fit for what a
Providence Nursing and HealthScience Education would would
offer a student.
Joe Carr (11:38):
And just a little more detail on that facility, the Ben
Monder Center For Nursing andHealth Sciences on the site of
the former Fennell Hall on EastCampus will open in January of
next year. So in just a fewmonths, you'll be able to take
prospective students through aspectacular state of the art
facility, which I'm sure will behelpful.
Owen Bligh (11:55):
Absolutely. Absolutely. I think one last
thing that is just kind ofinteresting about nursing is we
talked about kind of theundeclared program and and how a
Providence student often kind ofchanges their interests and
moves around. Working withstudents interested in nursing
has been a a really exciting anddifferent experience for many of
us in the admission officebecause they're students who, in
(12:19):
some ways, almost feel a callingtowards that field that's almost
vocational for them in that theyknow they wanna be nurses. And
through their application,they've shared with us the
reasons why they feel that way,the preparation that they've
made for those programs.
And so we we fully expect thatour nursing students will add on
second majors in in classics orin marketing, in health policy.
(12:43):
They will do that and they'llexplore the wide range of
minors, but I think compared toto many of the programs that we
have here, they are committed tonursing for for all 4 years, and
it's it's been a really excitingthing to have a part of our our
conversations in the admissioncommittee.
Joe Carr (12:59):
And also interesting is the programming in health
sciences, which opens up avariety of avenues for careers
in in health sciences and in thehealth care field. So there's a
lot of, interest in that and alot of possibility for
prospective students.
Owen Bligh (13:12):
There is. Yeah. We have always been a a good option
for students who are lookinginto health care, but I think
now that they have a programthat offers a number of
different pathways towards thosefields, we're going to be kind
of even more attractive andprovide even better preparation
for those students. And andhealth sciences is as versatile
a program as we have on campus.Students can use it for, a path
(13:37):
towards some of the things thatyou may expect when you think
about kind of allied health, sogoing to be physical therapists
or physician's assistants, butalso a number of them want to go
into epidemiology and publichealth.
Others want to go more kind ofan academic route. And so it's a
a great curriculum that throughthe study of anatomy and
physiology, biology andchemistry, all with the lens of
(14:00):
kind of the the health careenvironment will set them up to
be be quite successful in kindof whatever pathway it is that
they choose.
Joe Carr (14:07):
And of course a defining characteristic of these
programs here at PC, similar tothe business programs, is that
these fields of study are rootedin the core curriculum
development of WesternCivilization, so students will
not only get this specific kindof training in these career
fields, but it's all built onthat liberal arts foundation.
Right. It's a beautiful thing.So, let's talk a little bit more
(14:28):
about the class of 2028 morespecifically. This is the
largest applicant pool the PC'sever had, breaking a record set
just last year.
To what do you attribute whatappears to be a growing interest
in the college? College?
Owen Bligh (14:40):
So certainly the new majors that the college has has
lent itself to the the applicantpool growing and we we talked
about nursing and healthsciences, but also adding
programs in neuroscience, blackstudies, Catholic studies, and
liturgical music. Though theyhave varying kind of degrees of
enrollment, I think all of themhave really kind of caused some
buzz to to indicate thatProvidence is a it's an
(15:02):
institution that's growing,that's continuing to respond to
what students are looking for,and all of those those majors
are are going a long way in inmaking that case. I think
another thing is just thecollege's national reputation as
we continue to kind of findstudents who are a good fit for
the Providence experience, butmaybe haven't heard of us,
(15:24):
that's something that continuesto kind of grow in interest
certainly in in specific pocketsof the country. We're seeing a a
great deal of success, withthat. And then lastly, I think
it's just that whenever we'rewe're traveling and talking with
prospective students, one of thethings that I hear more than
(15:46):
anything else is that Providencehas a great reputation.
I'll talk to to perhaps a parentof a prospective student who
has, no familiarity withProvidence except maybe a
coworker's child went there orsomething. And I hear quite
frequently, everyone seems tolove that place or everyone
seems very kind of satisfiedwith their experience. And I
(16:10):
think the members of ourcommunity are some of the best
storytellers for us. So as kindof alums or parents of current
students get the word out aboutPC, we're only going to see this
momentum continue to grow.
Joe Carr (16:23):
Diversity is something that's very important to all of
us Providence College. In fact,it's a stated strategic
priority. What can you tell usabout diversity recruitment
efforts in the current day'scontext? I'm thinking in part in
context of last summer's SupremeCourt decisions.
Owen Bligh (16:39):
Sure. Absolutely. So we are we're fortunate this year
to have one of the most,racially and ethnically diverse
applicant pools in collegehistory. And that was through a
lot of kind of intentionaleffort on the part of not just
the admission staff, but reallycollege wide to continue to kind
of commit to to efforts todiversify our our campus
(17:01):
environment. And so there's afew places where you can you can
see kind of this this workhappening and the results, soon
to follow.
I think our recruitment travelin the fall took a very
different approach as wereemphasized visiting community
based organizations. We usedlarge amounts of data to to look
(17:21):
for high schools where maybe thethe word about Providence wasn't
getting to them, but there werestudents who were were a great
fit for our community. We alsodid a number of different kind
of marketing and recruitmentapproaches to to really get the
word out about Providence andlet students know that it is an
option that is a a good academicfit that can be affordable, and
(17:45):
that will be a a a good optionto include on their their
college list. I think morebroadly, you'll also see a
number of investments from thecollege. The Cristo Rey
scholarship that was announcedlast year and that we have 28
students who have received itthis year is a great example of
that.
Cristo Rey is a network that isincredibly aligned with the
(18:07):
Catholic and Dominican mission,of the the college even though
it it did start as a Jesuit,network, but those students are
are a great fit for here. And soto be able to add significant
scholarship opportunities aswell as meet their full
demonstrated need, that has beena a big part of our diversity
recruitment. And then next year,we'll look to join the Posse,
(18:30):
network. And that foundation,has done quite a bit to to help
students who may not otherwisehave access to to a 4 year
education access those types ofinstitutions. It's it's really
an elite list of memberinstitutions, and we're we're
quite fortunate that they lookedfavorably upon our application
for it and excited about thethe, the cohort or posse of
(18:54):
students that we'll have joiningus from New Orleans next year.
Joe Carr (18:57):
Let's talk about the admission timeline. So the
application decisions have justbeen sent mid March here, and
we're past early admission,early decision. So it's really a
long process to build this poolof students who will decide
whether to enroll here in in thefall. What's next? So from
admission professionals,perspective, what do you do in
(19:18):
the next few weeks months?
Owen Bligh (19:19):
Sure. So this is kind of the the difficult part
of our calendar where we'rehaving a number of conversations
with people who are at differentstages of the process, and so we
have lots and lots of highschool juniors who are are
chomping at the bit to starttheir college search, and you
probably see the tours as you'rewalking around campus of of
juniors who are just, they'veheard good things about
(19:41):
Providence and they wanna know alittle bit more, but they're
very kind of introductoryconversations. And and so we are
greeting them and welcoming themand sharing some information
with them. And then in acomplete opposite place, we have
all of the seniors, our admittedstudents, who have done their
research on Providence. Theythey got to the point where they
wanted to apply and and then weinvited them to join our
(20:03):
community, and they are kind ofdoing some of their their final
bits of research, kicking thetires if you will, to to learn
more deeply about what exactlyour creative writing program can
offer them, to understand whatthe different housing options
are, where the internships intheir area may be.
And so very differentconversations, both very
(20:24):
important though. And so we'rewe're excited about what the
next couple months will bring aswe as we finalize, those who
will will choose to join us forthe class of 2028 and and look
forward to the 2029 and and eventhe class of 2030 who are
already, touring our campus. Andso for admitted students, we
have a number of differentoptions. Obviously, admitted
(20:46):
student day is the the big onewhere all of campus shows up and
and we welcome hundreds ofadmitted students, but we're
also offering shadowing programsthrough our Friar for a Day
program. We have admittedstudent tours several times a
week as well as speaking ofdiversity recruitment, our night
in Friartown, diversityovernight as well, which will
take place at the end of April.
Joe Carr (21:07):
To add a little flavor to the description of the
process, you've just you andyour colleagues have just been
through a period of time whereyou've gone through a gigantic
number of applications. Take usinto that room a little bit.
What what's the process like?How does it actually work
mechanically when you're whenyou're working your way through
that part of the process?
Owen Bligh (21:26):
Sure. So our process starts actually just with the
the one individual who'sresponsible for the territory.
So personally, I'm responsiblefor New Hampshire, Minnesota,
and Western Massachusetts and
Joe Carr (21:37):
so when combination.
Owen Bligh (21:38):
Okay. It's quite a mix. I I've had Minnesota since
I started at the college and thesame with, New Hampshire, and
then I'm originally from WesternMass. So a nice way to build a
trip home. But the processstarts kind of with the the
counselor who's responsible foryour area, and they do all of
the academic review.
So I mentioned before about kindof assigning the strength of
(21:59):
curriculum, and we recalculateall of the GPAs. So we will
never look at the GPA that'sprinted on a transcript. All of
that kind of academic prep workis done just by by one
counselor, and then kind of thewhole committee process starts
where every file is going to beread by at least 2, but usually
3 and and 4 about a quarter ofour files, all of us, breaking
(22:25):
up into smaller rooms and andgoing through files and making
selections, making reallydifficult choices oftentimes. We
though the college has been kindof growing in the last few years
and and we'll welcome 12 151styear students this fall, we
could have a much larger collegeand still kind of have plenty of
interest in students who are arequalified for admission.
(22:46):
Admission.
So it's oftentimes that we haveto make difficult decisions in
in deciding who to admit. Andit's it's a lot of work, to to
go through over 12,500applications, but I think one of
the things that we particularlykind of pride ourselves in our
process is that every studentdoes have a a thorough review.
(23:06):
That one counselor, butoftentimes 2, 3, 4 of us have
spent the time to read theirapplication, to understand their
essay, to look at everythingthat they've shared with us,
read, the endorsements andrecommendations of those who
have written on their behalf,and ultimately make the decision
that we think that they haveearned throughout the last 4
years.
Joe Carr (23:27):
Well, this is a lot of work as you indicated, Owen, and
I'm sure you and your colleaguesand admission are are really
looking forward to the day whenthese students walk through the
door and we welcome them asFriars, next fall. So thank you
so much for all you do. We areare grateful for that, and thank
you for your time today and forsharing all these insights.
We'll have to do some more ofthis sometime because there's a
lot to explore here in in thework that you and everybody else
(23:49):
in admission and financial aiddo to find, recruit, and enroll
Providence College students?
Owen Bligh (23:54):
Absolutely. I appreciate you having me on to
to share a little bit about ourprocess. I think one of the
things that we're we're reallythankful for and fortunate in
our office is that it's it's nothard work to to enroll this
class each year. We we work veryhard, but if you tell the
Providence College story and youyou help students understand
(24:16):
what this place can do for themfor the next 4 years, It's it's
actually it's one of the mostenjoyable parts and obviously,
you and your colleagues inmarketing communications help us
Joe Carr (24:34):
Owen Bly. And thank you for joining us for our our
producers, Chris Judge and RyanHenowich. I'm Joe Carr. Have a
good day.
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