[civsa] Best Practices for Campus Tours

[Trent Sandles]

Good Morning! Below are the answers for Texas Wesleyan :)

Rams Up!

Trent Sandles

Campus Visit Coordinator

Office of Admissions

Texas Wesleyan University

1201 Wesleyan St.

Fort Worth, Texas 76105

Office: 817-531-4445

[http://txwes.edu/media/twu/content-assets/documents/communications/toolbox/TxWes-email-logo.png]

From: listserv [mailto:listserv-bounces at civsa.org] On Behalf Of Andrea Rose Santi
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 9:13 AM
To: listserv at civsa.org
Subject: [civsa] Best Practices for Campus Tours

Hi everyone,

I'm putting together a working group here at Waterloo with various stakeholders in recruitment, the faculties, and residence. We are looking at a re-imagined campus tour to launch next year and I'm just starting to do some preliminary research. I was wondering if you would be able to share best practices you currently use for your campus tours? I've seen various articles, blogs, etc. and would be great to pull some of that information together as well as see what other universities are doing.

Some specific things to consider could include (but not limited to):
- length of tour[Trent Sandles]  ( 1-1 ½ hours. Tours are offered Mon-Friday at 9am and 1pm)
- content (i.e. academic focused vs student services, student life)[Trent Sandles]  We balance to the best of our ability focusing on the academic portion that's relevant to the student and coupling that with the tour guides talking all about their experiences and why they love TxWes.
- facilities you show on your tour[Trent Sandles]  Our tours include a tour of the campus, classrooms, student union, dining hall, housing, and athletic facilities (for those who are interested in being an athlete)
- residence (is this included or separate?) [Trent Sandles] Included
- how do faculty tours play in? [Trent Sandles] Our students have the option to sit in on a class and we have faculty members that open up their classes daily during our campus visit for students to sit in on. We also have all of our visitors carry a yellow bag with our shield on it so that everyone on campus (especially faculty) know who the visitors are and can just stop them to say hello
- introduction[Trent Sandles]  welcome, introduction from myself, they then meet with a counselor to answer as many academic questions as possible, they are then introduced to their tour guide and they tell them the schedule and route for the day and then the tour begins.
- conclusion[Trent Sandles]  They come back into our office after the visit. Fill out their survey on our iPad while we get them their shirt and then I had a chalkboard wall painted and they sign the wall as the final "signature" moment.
- booking process[Trent Sandles]  online form that is filled out.
- communication prior to and after tour[Trent Sandles]  I send them a confirmation email once I have received the request, we do a follow up 2 days before to confirm the visit as well
- parking (is it free?) [Trent Sandles] Yes all of our parking is free
- "swag" / giveaways - what do visitors receive? [Trent Sandles] Visitors receive a bag of information, a pennant just depending upon if they see it and mention they would like one, and all visitors receive a T-shirt as well as a coupon for the bookstore.
- options to customize their visit? [Trent Sandles] - We give them a few options. Sit in on a class, eat lunch on us, meet with a coach, and we also give them the option to write something if they would like.
[Trent Sandles] I hope this helped :)

I really appreciate any information you can provide! Thanks in advance for your responses :)

Andrea

Andrea Santi
Manager, Visitors Centre
Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment
University of Waterloo
(519) 888-4567 ext. 35732
uwaterloo.ca/find-out-more<https://uwaterloo.ca/find-out-more/>
[university-of-waterloo-logo-esig]

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