Thousands of prospective students visit the Capstone each year, all arriving with curiosity to see if The University of Alabama will make the right future home for them. One way potential students can see if they will assimilate well into the University is through the use of college ambassadors.
Ambassadors serve as student representatives of each college at the University and provide potential students insight into what the specific college is like.
Some of those colleges with ambassador programs include the Honors College, the Capstone College of Nursing, the College of Engineering, College of Education, Graduate School Ambassadors and the College of Communications and Information Sciences.
Members of the Alabama Student Society for Communication Arts serve as the college ambassadors for the College of Communication and Information Sciences.
“The group is composed by students of different majors from within the college,” Hannah Hook, a senior majoring in communication studies and current member of ASSCA, said. “We serve as guides for incoming students and parents when they visit Reese Phifer.”
Hook said the program also mentors current students through their Ask ASSCA program, maintains alumni relations and assists the school’s faculty with events hosted by the College of Communications and Information Sciences.
“I wanted to join an organization where I could meet other students within the College of C&IS, while also getting to know faculty, staff, prospective students and alumni,” Hook said.
Each spring, applications for ASSCA become available. From the application, candidates are then called in for interviews conducted by their faculty advisor, which determines acceptance.
The Ambassadors of the College of Engineering have responsibilities similar to that of ASSCA. They also host alumni events, assist the College of Engineering with events and conduct tours of the engineering facilities to prospective students.
“Our main daily focus is recruitment for The University of Alabama and the College of Engineering,” Shelby Cochran, a junior majoring in aerospace engineering, said. “I normally have one to two lunches per week. On average, I spend two hours with a family while taking them to lunch and on a tour.”
The application process for the Ambassadors of the College of Engineering requires applicants to submit an application with references and three essay questions. An in-person interview then follows.
“Our students join the program because they themselves were recruited and love the idea of giving back to the College,” said Tyler Mathews, a senior majoring in civil engineering, is president of ACEs.
“I wanted to get more involved in the College and make sure we continue to recruit the best and the brightest in the country,” Mathews said. “The idea of being placed in a position to be able to talk with others about the opportunities and success the University has given to me was extremely exciting.”
The greek community also has fraternity and sorority members that serve as representatives of the campus’ greek life to potential students through the Greek Ambassadors program.
Greek Ambassadors shows students with a desire to learn about greek life at the University.
“The program is for high school seniors and juniors, who might be on the edge of wishing to rush, or for those who are still thinking about where to attend school when they graduate high school,” said Ryan Snyder, a senior majoring in communication studies and minoring in political science and vice president of administration for the organization.
Greek Ambassadors gives tours of fraternity or sorority houses and explains the traditions and the day-to-day activities of a greek student.
“The program is a great way for rising students to get a glimpse of greek life, and see a fraternity or sorority house as a high school senior,” Snyder said. “This excites them more about both greek life and college.”
