Profile: Olander Fleming

Olander Fleming

Assistant Director of Admissions

Longwood University

How long have you been in admissions/college counseling? Share your journey story!

I’m in my sixth year working in admissions at Longwood University.

How did you get started in college counseling/admissions?

Being an admissions counselor wasn’t on my radar as a potential job after I graduated.  A friend from college called me a few weeks after graduation and said his father (then Dean of Admissions at Longwood) was wrapping up a search for a bilingual recruiter who didn’t mind traveling Maryland through Connecticut.  I graduated with a degree in Spanish from Hampden-Sydney College and knew I wanted to use the language in my profession, as long as it wasn’t teaching, so I applied.  I went through the interview process and was hired as the Admissions Counselor for Emerging Populations at LU.

What's your favorite admissions/counseling memory?

One of my favorite memories happened during an Accepted Student Open House a few years back.  Rewind a couple months before the program to mid-January when we did the “fun” phone-a-thons encouraging students to apply.  I called an individual to encourage her to apply as we had her transcripts and test scores and her application was the last document we needed to make a decision.  Fast forward to the Open House, her mother approached me to thank me for the call to her daughter.  I was unaware the student was suffering from a variety of health issues her senior year and with each set-back, saw her dream of attending college slowly fade away.  My phone call encouraging her to apply brightened her day and motivated her to finish the year off strong.  I was glad she approached me as it helped show there are some things in admissions we sometimes don’t care to do and aren’t as motivated to complete but if we give it a 100%, it could mean the world to a student.

What advice would you give to someone looking to pursue leadership (or membership) in PCACAC and/or NACAC?

Don’t be afraid to network. If you have a passion or consider yourself an “expert” or “the best” on that subject, seek ways you can participate in regional or national leadership/conferences to offer your expertise.  If you aren’t sure where to begin, approach someone who holds a leadership position and ask them about their journey from where they began to where they are now. 

If not working in admissions/college counseling, what else could you see yourself pursuing? 

One of my minors was in International Affairs and as a final project I researched and presented on the disappearance of the Afro-Argentine in Argentina.  If you’ve ever visit the country, you’ll notice it isn’t a very diverse country when it comes to skin color.  What I found that while the color of their skin was much lighter than most of Latin America, some people had physical features more similar to those of African descent.  There isn’t much published information available on the subject so if not working in admissions, I could see myself in Argentina conducting more research on the Afro-Argentine. 

What's one thing that most people don't know about you?

I love to collect baseballs from stadiums, museums, theme parks and cities I visit as I travel.  I’ve been doing so since high school and have them displayed in my house. 

What's a current trend or future issue you're passionate about right now? And why?

I’m very interested in providing information in Spanish to Hispanic families who need it.  The parents are a very tricky group to present to as some speak Spanish, others don’t. Some never attended college, others did but in another country.  A small percentage is undocumented or under DACA status. No matter what their background is, the Hispanic population is growing and consists of a large number of individuals who don’t know much about the higher education system here.  There aren’t many resources available in Spanish that cover the college search process and financial aid and I enjoy being called upon to help share information on the process.