May 4, 2026

May Program Tasks

• Priority: The program’s senior survey is ready for distribution, please see channels below.
• Priority: Our annual Spring Marketing toolkit is available for you to access relevant digital and print materials to share with juniors and their families.
• Priority: Sign up for a May “Get Set for Success” session to get ready for a smooth start to the fall. Recently conducted new high school training videos are available as well for anyone in need of a refresher.
• Priority: In this final program month-and-a-half, please continue to promote college options to generate student responses. Data will continue to be distributed to colleges until June 14th. See technology updates below.
• Invoices for your program funds must be sent to our office if data has been received from your high school. Extensions will not be granted after the end of the month.
• Per your local process, student transcripts can be sent to their colleges of requested proactive admissions. More details below.
• Please take a brief program survey to support our efforts and possible creation of a new program postcard.
• Data and metrics are found below. The program dashboard is now available, too.
• Our final “Just-in-time High School Mentor” session of the year is this month on the morning of May 13th: hope to see you there!

Greetings, high school partners!

Program updates for the month follow:

Senior Survey

The program’s annual senior student survey is available. Please share the hyperlink or QR code with graduating seniors via communications channels available to you. We hope the survey will help us better understand the impact of Direct Admissions on students and their college-going decision-making processes, particularly in relation to perceptions, affordability, workforce goals, and more. 

The active link will remain live through the evening of Saturday, June 13^th. If you’d prefer the QR code, please use the following:

Spring Marketing Toolkit

The Spring Marketing Toolkit is available for you to access relevant digital and print materials to share with juniors and their families. There is plenty of digital content, and you do have the ability to order print materials through Bolger a final time before summer.

"Get Set for Success"

We have two “Get Set for Success” sessions this month for currently participating high school staff. These sessions will be great for anyone on the local Direct Admissions support team. This session is not mandatory, though highly encouraged, and the content for each session will be the same, so register for the option that works best.  All training courses are recorded, so if you’d prefer to simply watch the video later, please still RSVP.  Content will include future tool enhancements and the planned annual maintenance window; SIS status updates; best practices within the tool; newly developing resources; and more! 

• Session 1: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM on Tuesday, May 5^th, 2026 >> Register today!
• Sessions 2: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM on Wednesday, May 13^th, 2026 >> Register today!

Final Data Distribution and Technology Updates

• We continue to receive student survey selections and will do so up until Monday, June 15^th, when our program tool maintenance window takes effect for enhancements and fine-tuning.  The program tool will then again be available later in the summer starting on August 15^th. 
• This past month, we connected with all SIS partners in advance of our summer work during the maintenance period. All are on track for a successful fall start that mirrors the above maintenance window.
• If you want to get a jump start on fall, please double check that your local team has Login-MN credentials established for Tool access, particularly if you have new staff engaged in the program.
• For those of you utilizing Infinite Campus, jmc, and PowerSchool, please know the password has changed for the SFTP site: you can reach out to the program email to request the updated password.

Training Videos

Training videos for new high schools are now available, and while you have been with the program for some time, the marketing and conducting the academic review sessions are always a good refresher:

• Marketing the program & logistics 101: This Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE) Direct Admissions MN training focuses on marketing supports for the program. This training shares how to utilize the many marketing tools and supports for the program, including the program’s spring marketing toolkit newsletter; the program toolkit; social media and print materials; and more. Information about how to order and employ the marketing materials will be shared.  This training is required for the school's primary program staff personnel (usually the counselor) and recommended for communications professionals assisting with the sharing of information to families and students. 
• Building the data with the SIS and OHE's program tool: This Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE) Direct Admissions MN training focuses on broad data needs to conduct the program, particularly when utilizing your local student information system (SIS) to gather fields and run the report to conduct the academic review.  We share general information about the program’s data fields, the current state of SIS integration, and agency-specific resources to interface with the program Tool.  This training is required for counselors and technology support professionals assisting with data elements and reporting to run the program.

Last Call for Invoicing Program Funds

Once your data has been received by the agency, you are able to invoice per your contract for program funds. More on invoicing can be found at the following toolkit resource: When and How do I Invoice OHE.

Reminder

Be sure to remind students about sending along their transcripts to colleges they’ve requested proactive admissions to. Your local process does not need to change, and this is another possible use of your roster in the Tool. To get a better sense of when colleges prefer receiving this important document, please consult the toolkit resource: Transcript Send Timeline Table

Postcard sending survey

Please take a few minutes (less than 5) to complete a short survey about our agency creating and providing Direct Admissions’ Promotional Post Cards for high schools to send to the families of rising seniors. OHE’s goal is to determine if there is demand within high schools for this sort of promotional material, and your input is requested to help guide our work!

Data Update

Currently, we have 246 of 257 participating high schools (95% of the program’s high school cohort) reporting, with 34,770 surveys sent to 34,775 students via Direct Admissions. Currently, 4,751 students are requesting proactive admission to a participating college partner (approximately 14% of the eligible cohort).  The program-level data dashboard is also now available.  While your portal allows you access to your individual school’s student level data and roster, this next phase is a comprehensive dashboard for public reporting and accountability.  We will cover the Dashboard in greater detail at the “Get Set for Success” sessions, and know that in the fall it will provide in time metrics on a weekly basis moving forward.

Monthly Check-in

Our optional and final Direct Admissions' “High School Mentor Meet-up & Community of Practice” gathering is on the morning of Wednesday, May 13^th from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM. The meeting ID and passcode is as follows:

Microsoft Teams Need help?
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 277 387 226 787 3
Passcode: fJ3eV2yH

Your Work Matters

Thanks for all the program work you do on behalf of students and families. Please reach out to the Program Coordinator, Aaron, with any questions.

Invite Colleagues to this Email Group

Please invite colleagues from your high school community to receive these emails or participate in any upcoming education or training activities by contacting Aaron at aaron.salasek@state.mn.us.

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