Brock University’s Fall Preview Day will include all the staples: guided campus tours, engaging information sessions and valuable opportunities to chat with current faculty, staff and students.

And although this year’s event will again be held online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, every effort is being made to give prospective students and their families a feel for what that on-campus experience is like.

Fall Preview Day — for students considering joining Brock in January or September — will be streamed live on the Welcome platform Sunday, Nov. 7 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Students will have the chance to create their own schedule for the day, choosing from a variety of live interactive sessions they can participate in from the comfort and safety of home. Throughout the day, Badger hopefuls will have the opportunity to speak with staff, faculty and current students and have their questions answered.

“It’s similar to what students would do when they’d arrive on campus for a traditional Fall Preview Day: choosing their own path, deciding what they want to see and who they want to hear from throughout the day,” says Carly Dugo, Recruitment Officer, Campus Initiatives.

In addition to the virtual campus tours offered as part of Fall Preview Day, on-campus tours will be offered on weekends throughout November by Brock Ambassadors, including fifth-year Concurrent Education student Tricia Doma.

“There will be a little bit of everything there to help students get to know what Brock is all about, what we offer and how they can get involved on campus,” she says. “This is our way of helping them to feel comfortable and confident about coming to Brock as a student.”

As part of the opening ceremonies, led by Matt Melnyk, Brock’s Director of Student Recruitment, the virtual crowd will hear from Interim University President Lynn Wells and members of the Brock University Students’ Union, before being given a walkthrough of how to navigate the event site.

Presentations will be delivered by each of Brock’s Faculties, as well as the University’s Residence and Co-op, Career and Experiential Education teams, with students able to pick which sessions they participate in.

The afternoon will also include a series of networking lounges that will each focus on different campus services, supports and other aspects of university life.

“This format is meant to give students all the same information they would get by hopping from booth to booth in Brock’s Ian Beddis Gymnasium in a normal year,” Dugo says. “We’ve heard from students that interaction and flexibility is key and have worked that feedback into our live programming to make it as engaging as possible.”

A series of student panels will round out the day, focusing on academic success, living at Brock, experiential learning and the performing arts.

“Our student ambassadors will be talking about their experiences and then opening the floor to questions,” Dugo says. “We find that prospective students tend to learn more and form stronger connections when they’re able to speak directly to students who are living the university experience.”

Dugo says the Recruitment team’s virtual offerings have come a long way since the pandemic forced many in-person events online in March 2020.

“After every event we’ve hosted, we’ve made adjustments to try and better meet the needs of those in attendance,” she says. “Students want to connect with us, be able to ask their questions and have the experience be as personal as possible, even though it is online for the time being. We’re really excited to have a live Fall Preview Day with engaging opportunities for students to participate in.”

The live event is a “huge community effort,” she says, with “everyone coming together from across the University to make Fall Preview Day happen.”

A Fall Preview Day website, which will launch Nov. 7 and remain available into the new year, will act as a complement to the live event, with information on programs, services and extracurriculars. Recordings of the event’s Faculty presentations will be available on the site at a later date for those unable to attend.

In addition to virtual tours held as part Fall Preview Day, Brock will be hosting in-person campus tours on weekends throughout November. To register, visit discover.brocku.ca/tours

For the full schedule for Brock’s Fall Preview Day, visit discover.brocku.ca/fallpreview

Anyone interested in applying for Brock’s January Winter Term or September Fall Term can visit brocku.ca/admissions/apply for more information.