The Student of Color Outreach Program (SCOPE) will host its fall admissions recruitment weekend next month - without an associate director in charge of the program.
The former associate director of the program, Joy St. John, left the admissions office this summer in an exodus that included five other officers. Susan Mantilla, assistant director of admissions, has worked with SCOPE for three years and said that despite an ongoing search to replace to St. John, the need is not urgent at the moment.
The office "just [doesn't] want anybody to fill in the vacancy," she said.
Mantilla added that she has not noticed any negative effects because of the vacancy, although she said it was still to early to tell. She explained that since St. John left, students and staff have become more involved with SCOPE to fill her former duties.
"That's how we want it to be," Mantilla said. "We want [the students] involved. Everyone knows they're in charge."
SCOPE activities have continued without a director, and admissions is preparing for a recruitment weekend starting Oct. 25. Over 125 African-American, Latino, and Asian-American high school students have signed up to participate in this fall's program. SCOPE also hosts a visiting weekend in April.
The three student coordinators of SCOPE and the admissions officers involved have shared responsibility for planning next month's event, according to student coordinator Shaina Wysche.
The admissions office has sponsored SCOPE for more than a decade to attract and encourage students of color to apply to Tufts. Mantilla said that "all universities of [Tufts] caliber" host similar programs, including Harvard, Wellesley, and Amherst.
The program buses participants from New York City and Hartford, CT to the campus. Last year, the plan partially subsidized flights for the first time, bringing 17 prospective students to Tufts from states as far as California and Texas during the April SCOPE weekend.
The Admissions Office invites attendees based on their transcripts, recommendations, and essays to the Admissions Office.
Eighty percent of the participants at last April's SCOPE weekend decided to enroll at Tufts. Mantilla considers this a success, saying that the program should continue to be developed to keep attracting the same number of "high quality kids and make them fall in love with Tufts."
Mantilla said that this year, SCOPE has developed momentum; more than half of this years' hosts attended the SCOPE weekends when they were prospective students, and they want to "give back."
An estimated 100 students are involved in various aspects of SCOPE by hosting high school students, participating in the Super Show - an entertainment show held during the weekend - and through discussions and seminars.
Mantilla hopes that in the future, SCOPE can increase the number of prospective students that it flies in from other states.
The other five admissions officers who resigned were replaced before the school year began. In an anonymous interview with the Daily, one former admissions officer cited an uneven division of work at the office was one cause the departure, and said that the new officers may not be as experienced as their predecessors.
Dean of Undergraduate Admissions David Cuttino has expressed his full confidence in the new members of the admissions team, and said that the exodus has not had any negative reprecussions.
