EIU Open House to Bring 1,000-Plus to Charleston, Campus
Feb-12-2014
More than 1,000 high school seniors and their families will be in Charleston Monday in an effort to decide whether Eastern Illinois University is the school for them.
The Feb. 17 Open House/Admitted Student Day will allow prospective students and their families, along with students who have already been admitted for Fall 2014, to tour the EIU campus, including residence halls, and speak with representatives from a variety of student services, as well as admissions counselors.
Visitors from throughout Illinois, as well as Indiana and Missouri, will attend a number of sessions, including those with focuses on Housing and Dining, financial aid, academic highlights, Honors, student panels and more. Various academic departments will participate in departmental showcase presentations. And parents will have the opportunity to hear from other parents of currently enrolled students during a special panel discussion.
Lou Hencken, Eastern’s interim admissions director, said he was pleased by the interest in this Open House, scheduled to coincide with Presidents’ Day, an official federal holiday commemorated by most high schools. This allows college-bound students a free day in which they can travel to Charleston to observe the university and its community at work.
(Eastern will commemorate Presidents’ Day on Friday, Feb. 14, so classes will be in session on Monday.)
Currently, there are 610 students registered to attend Monday’s event. And most of those, Hencken added, will bring at least one family member along with them.
Hencken acknowledged that inclement weather often prevents some registrants from attending the Open House. Those students, along with others who aren’t able to attend this event, are invited to campus on subsequent days. On Saturday, March 29, for example, Eastern will host a second Admitted Student Day.
In addition, prospective students often spend a day on Eastern’s campus during their high schools’ respective week-long spring breaks. Although the university plans to maintain this tradition, it is likely some districts’ spring breaks will be cancelled in order to make up for those “snow/cold weather” class days lost due to the inclement weather.
"We’ll accommodate those students any way we can,” Hencken said. “We will continue to offer events throughout the spring.”
