In this special live episode of Admit It, recorded at the AACRAO Annual Meeting 2026, host Dr. Alex Fronduto sits down with two enrollment leaders from Texas A&M University to discuss their conference session, “On the Road to Recruitment: Regional Open Houses That Bring Campus to the Community.”
Joining the conversation are Laurie Castillo and Elisa Jones-Martinez, who share how Texas A&M’s San Antonio Regional Office has successfully hosted off-campus open houses for more than two decades, bringing the campus experience directly to prospective students and families across the region.
Together, they discuss the planning, logistics, and partnerships that make these regional events successful, as well as the lessons they have learned about engaging students, collaborating with campus partners, and maximizing impact while working within a limited budget. Their insights demonstrate how institutions can extend their reach and create meaningful connections with prospective students beyond the boundaries of campus.
Whether you are looking to expand your recruitment footprint, strengthen regional partnerships, or design high-impact events with limited resources, this episode offers practical strategies and inspiration for enrollment professionals seeking innovative ways to meet students where they are.
Host:
- Dr. Alex Fronduto
Faculty Lead, M.Ed in Higher Education Administration & Associate Teaching Professor
Northeastern University
Guests:
- Laurie Castillo, Director of Regional Recruitment, Texas A&M San Antonio Regional Office
- Elisa Jones-Martinez, Associate Director of Regional Recruitment, Texas A&M San Antonio Regional Office
| Start | Dur. | Speaker | Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0:00:09.18 | 42.2s | Alex Fronduto | Hello and welcome to the Admitted podcast. This is your host, Doctor Alex Fronduto, and we are live at the AACRAO annual meeting in 2026. I have the pleasure of being joined by Elisa and Laurie. They are from Texas A&M University. On the road to recruitment, regional open houses that bring campus to the community is what they presented on, and they’re gonna share us some insights from what they presented so that if you weren’t able to go to their session or you weren’t able to come to the conference at all, that you can get some great takeaways. Thanks for you both for being here. Thanks for having us. Awesome. Well, first and foremost, we want people to know who you are. So if you could just give a quick intro to who you are, and then we’ll dive into your session specifically. |
| 0:00:51.70 | 10.0s | Laurie Castillo | I’m Laurie Castillo. I’m an assistant director of admission with Texas A&M University, which is in College Station, Texas. We’re actually housed, however, in the regional office in San Antonio, |
| 0:01:02.15 | 14.0s | Elisa Jones-Martinez | and I’m Elisa Jones-Martinez, and I am a regional senior counselor with Texas A&M University College Station, and I have about probably over 15 years of college experience, higher education experience. |
| 0:01:16.34 | 23.4s | Alex Fronduto | Nice. Well, again, thank you so much for coming on, sharing your insights. So again, you’re talking about regional open houses and you already mentioned, Laurie, something about being in a regional office. So before we even dive into the actual session, which you might actually cover this in your session, but can you give our listeners a little bit of an overview of what that even means in terms of a regional office versus, obviously it’s not a campus, so what does that look like? |
| 0:01:39.93 | 37.2s | Laurie Castillo | That is a growing trend in higher ed that a lot of these big colleges or universities, they cannot be everywhere. So College Station is in East Texas. How do we access or give access to the rest of the state of Texas? It’s been over 20 years. The university decided to invest in brick and mortar offices around the states Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Corpus Christi. We’re out of state. So we have 7 brick and mortar regional offices to recruit and assist students interested in Texas A&M, and they’re all over the state. And then we have folks working out of their homes, uh, around the state and around the country. |
| 0:02:17.36 | 13.1s | Alex Fronduto | Yeah, regional recruitment makes sense. The brick and mortar, I feel like, is sometimes less common. So a student essentially will go to the brick and mortar if they want to. They can still have like a meet and greet info session. Obviously can’t have a tour, but |
| 0:02:30.44 | 2.9s | Laurie Castillo | that’s right, everything, a little piece of Aggie land right there. I love |
| 0:02:33.33 | 8.6s | Alex Fronduto | that. And so talk about the regional open house aspect and kind of bring us through a little bit of what you were presenting at the annual meeting. |
| 0:02:42.22 | 33.0s | Elisa Jones-Martinez | So a little bit of the uh population that we we have in San Antonio and the surrounding areas, sometimes they don’t have the means to go and travel the 3 hours to go and check out the university and so what we like to do is we like to put this event together so that we can bring the university. To these students and have a, a day of feeling of like oh OK this is how it feels. I would talk to students that are currently attending. I would talk to current uh professors maybe departments and you know just kinda get a feel for this university and really get to talk to us too with admissions. |
| 0:03:15.71 | 16.7s | Laurie Castillo | Academic colleges send their representatives, student services, housing, the corps cadets, honors, residents, like, I mean, all of these offices will have a representative come. They’ll have a table. They talk to the student, come and go, get your information and save you 3 hours, 6 hours round trip, |
| 0:03:32.75 | 28.1s | Alex Fronduto | right? I mean, and that like you said, that is, it’s an expense. We know that for anyone, you know, even potentially. Families trying to take off work. Things like there’s so many things that, you know, play into that, and it’s great to hear that it is really, you know, the whole university stepping up. It isn’t just, you know, one person, you know, giving an info session and it’s an open house. And so talk a little bit about like those logistics. Are they happening at every single brick and mortar? You mentioned a large number. Is it only some of them? Like, are you, how are these |
| 0:04:00.86 | 48.1s | Laurie Castillo | working? That’s a good question. San Antonio has been hosting this particular open house for about 20 years, almost over 20 years, about 23. We have tried to replicate it in the other regions, Dallas, Houston. It doesn’t always work, uh, as you would think. I think San Antonio is unique. First of all, people wanna come visit San Antonio. They can make it a weekend. So college representatives, you know, someone from the College of Engineering. The College of Ag and Life Sciences. Yes, I’ll come to your group, and I’m bringing my family, and they’re gonna stay downtown at the Riverwalk while I come to your event and represent these different majors. So we have tried it with the other ones. They do have, have one at a certain level, but not to the extent we’ll get 40 to 500 people to come to this single event that we host. |
| 0:04:49.29 | 15.8s | Alex Fronduto | And so is it really just the logistics from the university level that it’s harder to replicate, like, as you’re saying, like some people are just not wanting to go to the other campuses, or do you also feel like if you did hold them, you wouldn’t get the same turnout that you’re saying is so great in San Antonio? San |
| 0:05:05.10 | 25.6s | Laurie Castillo | Antonio is the perfect size. No matter where, where we have it, we’re gonna be 30 minutes away for you, from wherever you are. If you try to do that in the Dallas-Fort Worth, if you put it in one place, you’re gonna need a convention center and everybody. Who’s interested in the A&M to be able to show up. So then you’re running to, well, where are we gonna host this? What is that gonna cost? We have figured it out in San Antonio because we just had a unique set of circumstances. OK. So it |
| 0:05:30.72 | 24.6s | Alex Fronduto | worked for us, and that’s helpful. I mean, for other people that might consider the same model, like these are some of those checks and balances. Like some people would just assume, well, why don’t you do it everywhere? And like you said, it doesn’t work everywhere. And so if you were trying to tell someone like these are the things you should consider, let’s say they’re not in Texas, right? So it might not. Be Texas specific, but just in general, like, what should someone kind of check with their university or college to consider if this is even worth it? |
| 0:05:55.51 | 51.5s | Elisa Jones-Martinez | Well, you definitely wanna get the buy-in, right? It’s very important to have that support from, from everybody involved, and you really wanna put a great, uh, great, uh, outcome for the student because you want the students to leave, say, hey, this is where I wanna go, or, hey, this is where I wanna go check out the university now because now this is where I fit in, um, but you definitely get the buy-in. Wanna do location right location location location um because you wanna make sure that where you’re coming in that experience is not only for the students but for your presenters from uh that aspect and then of course the product that you’re putting out there it has to be able to meet the needs of these students, right? You wanna be able to address every single need that they have now are we gonna always address that need? Maybe not, but you wanna at least try to check all those boxes I think. |
| 0:06:47.1 | 23.2s | Laurie Castillo | Yeah, so other universities will want to take into consideration where they are, and it’s what an open house, smaller one, I think a more modest, uh, smaller region is probably gonna work better, uh, because people can come to that. The date, the time of the year that we have it. We stay away from the fall. We have now stayed away from the fall because football game is very important. Football is, |
| 0:07:12.35 | 1.7s | Alex Fronduto | and that’s what and right, and that’s a consideration. Yes, |
| 0:07:14.17 | 32.8s | Laurie Castillo | they’re not. The college reps are not gonna. Drive 3 hours if there’s a home football. That’s the truth. So think about that, the time of year, SAT ACT testing dates, you wanna avoid things like that. We are able to do it for a relatively small budget, you know, less than $3000. We’ve never gone over $3000. Um, so we recycle things and so there’s, I think there’s some definite considerations. Other schools, if they listen to our, uh, session, they’ll be able to see, you know, how we tackle. Those obstacles. |
| 0:07:47.7 | 22.1s | Alex Fronduto | OK, I love that. That’s really helpful again to consider those pieces. And so, interestingly, you said, so you stick away from the fall. And so are you primarily trying to recruit juniors? Like how is your thought, right? Like, is it in the spring, so you’re actually looking at juniors at that point, or are you also utilizing it as a yield tool for traditional fall stars? Like who’s invited? |
| 0:08:09.25 | 41.7s | Laurie Castillo | We used to have it in the fall and we did move it to the spring, and it’s not, it’s still a uh. Recruitment process for us. The seniors, admitted students by then, they’ve made their decisions, and we’re having it in the summer. They already know where they’re going. They’re busy. Yeah, thank you so much. We appreciate it, but we got everything we need. So we’re focused on rising juniors, but we invite sophomores, freshmen, and, and, uh, sometimes we’ll even reach out to the 8th grade. Anybody who is in our database in the San Antonio region. We will be graduating in the next 5 years, and we invite them and their parents. We have gotten families, we’ve gotten junior high kids, middle schoolers, they come. Everyone is welcome. I love that. |
| 0:08:51.9 | 18.5s | Elisa Jones-Martinez | And we’re thankful that we have a high yield, uh, uh, uh, percentage. But you know, for other schools that are probably thinking about this, this can also be a good yield event, another touch to the seniors, right, because you are inviting them to come and check it out, come and taste this and see if that’s something that you like. |
| 0:09:10.1 | 48.0s | Alex Fronduto | Yeah, and that’s why I was curious, depending on where it’s, you know, what timeline is. I mean, I feel like. For yield, I think those types of events, you know, receptions, things like that are pretty common now, like in a regional area. So, you know, for you saying like, no, this is an open house, that was kind of where I was like, OK, you know, that is sometimes less common. You’ll just see like, you know, an info session at a hotel, but you know that’s not what you’re doing. And so, um, I love that delineation. Um, you mentioned earlier multiple visits, so potentially, right, like another opportunity is like, come, you, we’re close. It’s an easy, you know, an easy yes to get them to come to San Antonio potentially, and now you’re trying to potentially get them to campus. Are you seeing that, not even conversion in terms of applications, but even that kind of idea of second visit? Do you find that these people will take the trip if they’ve had that good experience? Absolutely, |
| 0:09:58.28 | 16.9s | Elisa Jones-Martinez | especially because we are bringing in those. Those, uh, departments and those departments are actually inviting the students out like come on, check it out. I can, I can show you a lab. I can show you, you know, where the classes take place. I can give you a tour of the whole department and so we are seeing the students doing that follow through, yeah, |
| 0:10:15.33 | 28.2s | Laurie Castillo | because they’re not just meeting with admission recruiters, they’re meeting with the advisor in the College of Engineering or the school of business and that person is saying come to. My building, it’s gonna be on West Campus, and if you come for a visit, you can meet the dean. You can do this. Those things are happening with us without us even prompting. And so that’s, that’s why they follow up and a lot of students will say, oh yeah, I’m gonna go to campus. I just talked to somebody in business or engineering. So |
| 0:10:44.11 | 46.8s | Alex Fronduto | no, and that’s good. I mean, that’s what you want, right? You want the students to kind of imagine themselves being there and then what’s easier than telling them all. Great things they could see, right? Like it’s showing them that next step. So I think, I mean, that’s crucial, and I think obviously we care also about, you know, like you were saying, like conversion yield, you know, in terms of applications and admission, but, you know, just even that visit, we know research shows if they come to your campus, that’s gonna already help you in terms of yielding the students. So I love that this is that kind of entry point into the kind of the journey that you’re setting up for these students. So. You actually mentioned you’ve been doing this for a while, so I have kind of a two-part question. Why present about it now? Is there something different you’ve been doing, or you feel like it’s now time to share it to the world? So that’s part one. So let’s start there. |
| 0:11:31.52 | 23.9s | Laurie Castillo | Jeez, I guess, yeah, we just thought we should do it, and you know, COVID did impact our format the location big time and so we did have to revamp it and we were just in the office one day like we’ve got to change this. So now we have it in our office building where our office is and We just thought, you know what, we’re gonna, we’re gonna present, we’re gonna let other people in on our secret. |
| 0:11:55.97 | 13.6s | Elisa Jones-Martinez | I think we were, you know, we didn’t realize like how successful our event is and how it has really grown throughout the 20 plus years that we’ve had it. Um, I haven’t been present the whole time, most of the time. Wow, |
| 0:12:10.0 | 2.6s | Alex Fronduto | congratulations. That’s still, that’s awesome to see it from the beginning, |
| 0:12:12.71 | 15.3s | Elisa Jones-Martinez | yeah, and that’s a great thing that she’ll tell us like, you know what, it used to be this, it used to be that, and to see it. Grow, I think it’s like, you know what, we have something special here. He’s not everybody can say, hey, for 20 plus years we have had this event that’s gone, you know, up and down. It’s |
| 0:12:27.98 | 6.1s | Laurie Castillo | been successful. It’s inexpensive, that gets a good yield and a positive feedback, right? |
| 0:12:34.22 | 27.2s | Alex Fronduto | I mean, who doesn’t want that? I mean, especially in the current environment in terms of thinking financial responsibility, things like, like, for me, I would have thought it would cost much more than that, especially with all the people there, all of that aspect. So, I mean, I think. It is, it is kind of a no-brainer to me. And so my second part is kind of what’s next. You’re clearly, like you said, COVID had you kind of reiterate the process. You’ve been doing it for a while, but is there anything kind of new, different that you hope to do, like in the future, or what’s, what do you think is next? |
| 0:13:01.50 | 6.6s | Elisa Jones-Martinez | So honestly, that’s on my part, I think, because I’m the crazy one that comes into her office and say, guess what, this idea, |
| 0:13:08.53 | 1.7s | Alex Fronduto | oh, you need those people though. |
| 0:13:10.59 | 35.8s | Elisa Jones-Martinez | I don’t know. Sometimes, you know, 90% of the time it’s like crazy ideas, but you know. Um, there are some ideas that are flowing in as to, OK, how can we add on to this, right? How can we make it an additional experience for the students? What are the students looking for? So I think one of the things that we’re gonna start trying to do is do kind of some focus groups with these students and kind of saying, what do you need? What, what, what is missing, and to try to get more feedback from that, you should, yeah, as we should, and start to take that spin. But I think that we are. Growing our, uh, growing, we’re outgrowing |
| 0:13:46.42 | 3.0s | Laurie Castillo | our our, our space, and that’s the biggest. |
| 0:13:49.77 | 2.2s | Alex Fronduto | It’s a good problem to have. So |
| 0:13:52.97 | 21.4s | Laurie Castillo | who’s gonna host this? Where are we gonna host this if we keep getting bigger? Do we limit it? You don’t wanna limit it, not, um, because when you do that, you’re gonna, that’s the first chance that someone’s not gonna come. It’s like, great, I mean we can’t have limited it, um, so we need to think about where we’re gonna go next because it’s, it’s getting very popular. I’m happy to say, yeah, |
| 0:14:14.82 | 21.9s | Elisa Jones-Martinez | yeah, and we’re, we’re, so San Antonio is known for like it feels. A small town family, but it’s not a small town. And so what we’re trying to do is we’re also trying to make this like an event to where, you know, we’ve got the media involved, you know, we’re bringing in like reporters, we’re getting them to cover it, so we’re trying to do little items here and there, |
| 0:14:36.84 | 24.2s | Laurie Castillo | yeah, geographically, the, the pool, so we do get folks from 100 miles out who will drive into San Antonio west of San Antonio. All you have is West Texas. There’s nothing out there. We do have folks coming in from over there and from the south and north of us, you know, we’re heading into Austin, but they don’t have a brick and mortar, so we’re hoping that people from Austin won’t come to ours. |
| 0:15:01.13 | 11.2s | Alex Fronduto | OK, that’s smart. I love that. Well, thank you both so much for coming on the podcast and sharing it, and thank you again for presenting at AACRAO so that people can hear even more. But thanks so much for being on. Thank you, |
| 0:15:12.80 | 1.7s | Elisa Jones-Martinez | Alex. Yeah, you’ve been amazing. |
share