Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: Features

Media Credit: Suguru Takebayashi Nick Spaeth, sitting in his office, enjoys meeting with current and future Lakeland students.

Since he first came to Lakeland, Nick Spaeth has tried to become familiar with this place and its people, and he has found a niche here. Spaeth joined the college in June to serve as the new director of admissions. "The campus is gorgeous, and I've really enjoyed getting to know it," he said.

Spaeth, originally from West Bend, Wis., currently lives with his family in Glendale, Wis. He and his family are going to move to Plymouth next month.

"I'm definitely looking forward to being closer to campus," he said.

After receiving his master's degree in management at Cardinal Stritch University, he worked for a study abroad company and in corporate recruitment. Subsequently, he went back to Cardinal Stritch University as the assistant director of admissions, working there until he came to LC.

As director of admissions, Spaeth manages recruitment and enrollment of all students to Lakeland. Among his responsibilities are attending college fairs in Sheboygan and Milwaukee, visiting high schools to teach high school students about Lakeland, and organizing visits to campus for those who show an interest.

He said Lakeland's admission staff wants prospective students to make sure that they "are looking for the environment and community that is found here at Lakeland" and that they "truly know as much as they can about Lakeland before making their decision to enroll here."

On June 1, Spaeth's first day at Lakeland, he liked this compact campus where people mingle closely with one another. Though it took him a little time to get used to his work, he said it has not been very difficult. "I've always felt rather at home here," he said of Lakeland. "A small, residential campus is one of the things I personally loved about my college experience, and have enjoyed that aspect of Lakeland from day one."

The only drawback of his job here is that his office is located in the Nash Center, where the opportunities to interact with LC students are limited. The Nash Center is near the edge of the campus, situated between WAK and North Drive. Since there are no classrooms there, most students seldom enter the Nash Center, which makes Spaeth feel a little isolated from the other parts of the school. "Nash is a bit of an island, so to speak," he said.

Nonetheless, he believes it's important that he interact with LC students because doing so will help him better introduce and recommend Lakeland to prospective students. Thus, he doesn't shut himself up in his office any more than he can help.

"I get out of Nash as much as possible, be it for lunch at Bossard Hall, a coffee in the Campus Center, or attending on-campus events." Spaeth expects that moving to Plymouth will enable him to spend more time on campus since he will have a shorter commute.

One request that Spaeth has for the LC community is to watch for when student ambassadors or admission staff members are showing prospective students around the campus. He asks everybody to say hello to such future friends. "Showing them what LC students really are like is huge," he said.

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