College hosts largest-ever conference of overseas admissions and counseling professionals, July 9-11

More than a thousand school counselors and college and university admissions professionals from around the world are arriving in the Hudson River Valley this week as Marist College hosts the 20th Anniversary and largest-ever Overseas Association for College Admission Counseling (OACAC) conference July 9-11.

Attendees from more than 80 countries are traveling to Marist for the conference, which is being held in New York for just the second time. Previous host institutions include Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, George Washington University, and Duke.

“We look forward to welcoming our colleagues from around the world to the Marist College campus and to the historic Hudson River Valley,” said Vice President for Enrollment Management Sean Kaylor. “As a longtime leader in international education, Marist provides an ideal forum for counseling and admission professionals to gather to network and discuss the many important issues impacting our field.”

PAID AGENTS IN INTERNATIONAL RECRUITING 

Chief among those issues is sure to be the use of paid agents in international recruiting, which is the subject of a new report from OACAC affiliate, the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). The report, released June 13, recommends new standards in the use of these agents, including maintaining NACAC’s ban on member institutions’ making incentive-based payments for domestic recruitment and, for institutions that employ incentive-based arrangements for international recruitment, implementing a series of strict requirements for transparency, integrity, and institutional accountability.

Other trending topics in international education that will be the subject of conference discussion are the counseling of International Baccalaureate students, international internships, the increasing popularity of the gap year, and recruiting international student athletes.

SHOWING OFF THE BEST OF THE HUDSON RIVER VALLEY

In addition to advancing professional knowledge and networks, the conference will also introduce attendees to the wealth of cultural, historical, and natural resources that the Hudson River Valley has to offer.

Attendees will have the option of participating in regional excursions, including a visit to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, where guests will be hosted by Library Director, Lynn Bassanese, Marist Class of ‘75 and be among the first visitors to see recently completed renovations at the museum; a visit to Marist’s own historic Col. Oliver Hazard Payne Mansionoverlooking the Hudson River and home of the Raymond A. Rich Institute for Leadership Development, which will be hosted by Marist College President Dennis J. Murray and include civil war re-enactors and a lecture by Jim Johnson, Frank T. Bumpus chair in Hudson River Valley History and executive director of Marist’s Hudson River Valley Institute; a visit to the renowned Mohonk Mountain House for outdoor adventures in the beautiful Shawangunk Mountains; as well as a Hudson River cruise, a tour of nearby Vassar College, and other events. A closing reception on the magnificent Walkway Over the Hudson will round out the schedule of unique Hudson River Valley activities.

GOLD SPONSORS

Marist is hosting the OACAC Conference with the Gold-level sponsorship support of: neighboring institutions, the Culinary Institute of America and Vassar College; The Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute, Marist’s partner in its Florence, Italy campus; and Study NY, a program of the New York State Department of Economic Development that works to attract international students to New York’s many fine colleges and universities.

ABOUT MARIST COLLEGE

Located in New York State’s historic Hudson River Valley, Marist College is a comprehensive, independent institution grounded in the liberal arts, educating 5,900 students in 44 undergraduate majors and 12 graduate programs, including fully online MBA, MPA, MS, and MA degrees.

A longtime leader in international education, Marist is among the nation’s leading colleges and universities in terms of the participation rate of its students in study abroad programs, with as much as 45 percent of students studying in more than 50 countries in any given semester. The Princeton Review recently placed Marist 7th on its list of the 20 colleges and universities with the most popular study abroad programs. At its Florence, Italy campus, Marist offers several bachelor degrees, a master’s degree program, a one-year, study-abroad Freshman Florence Experience (FFE), traditional semester study abroad for Marist juniors and seniors, and the Pre-College program for rising high school juniors and seniors.

Marist is also a destination for students from more than 40 countries who come to study in the Hudson River Valley. One way Marist contributes to this growing diversity is through its participation in the US-Sino Pathway Program, a consortium of leading American universities, including Northeastern, DePaul, George Mason, and others, that provides an academically rigorous pathway for talented Chinese students who want to pursue their undergraduate studies in the U.S.

ABOUT OACAC

OACAC’s membership is made up of nearly 1,300 professionals from around the world dedicated to serving students as they make choices about pursuing postsecondary education. It is committed to maintaining high standards that foster ethical and social responsibility among those involved in the transition process, as outlined in the NACAC Statement of Principles of Good Practice.

OACAC effectively brings together primary and secondary school counselors, independent counselors, college admission and financial aid officers, enrollment managers, and organizations engaged in guiding students through the secondary to higher education transition process. Its mission is “To facilitate global interaction among counselors and institutions in support of secondary students transitioning to higher education while promoting professional standards that fosters ethical and social responsibility."