Southeast student ambassadors hosting visit days during COVID-19

Editor's Note: A previous version of this article stated the wrong link to apply to become a Student Ambassador, the link has since been updated.

The Student Ambassador program will host a series of visit days for prospective students in the spring geared towards answering their questions and giving them a personalized experience at Southeast.

A student ambassador is a current undergraduate or graduate student who serves as a representative of the Southeast student body population. They are diverse in their majors, backgrounds and experiences.

One of the duties of a student ambassador is providing daily campus tours. According to Casey Hohler, campus visit and event coordinator, the position offers opportunities for its ambassadors to build a connection with prospective students.

“A student ambassador’s [job] is way more than just providing a family a tour of the campus,” Hohler said. “We really encourage our ambassadors to share their own personal experiences with SEMO and connect on a more personal level with those prospective students, so that hopefully when they leave here, that potential student can see themselves being a Redhawk.”

Southeast junior, Alex Meyer, who is also a senior student ambassador echoes the notion that becoming an ambassador is more about offering the Southeast experience than it is about only giving campus tours.

“For us, it gives us a feeling of being a part of something important,” Meyer said. “Our job is to make people want to come to SEMO, explaining why we chose this school. Overall, it creates a very positive experience for the campus, the people you’re going to school with and any prospective students who you might go to school with in the future.”

The connection between a current and potential student and their family is very important, Hohler said.

“At times, that connection is really a reason for prospective students to come to SEMO,” Hohler said. “The connection that they make is so genuine, so personalized, that a lot of times, a prospective student feels that this is a home to them and helps them make a decision to come to SEMO.”

Hohler said the position of student ambassador is highly regarded and a very important position for the Office of Admissions.

One of the events Student Ambassadors usually take part in is Show Me Day. Show Me Day is the premier campus visit day with multiple days offered throughout the year. Prospective students are able to tour the campus at Southeast, talk to professors, get valuable information on various topics and hear from people who will help with their college journey.

Due to precautions in response to COVID-19, Show Me Day on Saturday, March 28, 2020, was canceled, but similar events, such as visit days, have been put in place.

The Office of Admissions is hoping to get back to having Show Me Day’s as part of the Southeast experience. Visit days are similar to Show Me Day’s in that prospective students are able to be a part of a group event. One of the differences between Show Me Day’s and regular visit days is that Show Me Day’s are more personal. A prospective student is able to tour the campus, eat at the dining facilities on campus, and talk to professors from the department the student is interested in.

An upcoming visit day will take place in March.

Because student ambassadors interact with large groups of people at once, certain qualities are needed in order to hold the position.

“Anyone can apply, however, there are things we look for in the hiring process,” Hohler said. “We want someone that is trustworthy, punctual, reliable, a hard worker, works well within a team, has good communication skills, is confident in themselves, and being friendly and having an outgoing personality definitely helps.”

In addition to those qualities, they also are required to have a 2.5 GPA or higher and be a full-time student, requirements for all student workers.

Southeast freshman Russell Goss said he wanted to become a student ambassador to show what Southeast has to offer and to try to help gain prospective students’ interest.

“We’re usually the first contact, and sometimes the only contact a prospective student has with Southeast, so just us being there to show them around helps bring more students in and more interest coming to SEMO,” Goss said.

Meyer said being a Southeast ambassador allows for a sense of pride in the university.

“We try to present the best image of SEMO that we can. I also think it grows a lot of pride for SEMO and school spirit, too,” Meyer says. “It reminds you of why you came to SEMO, what you liked, and a lot of people take their own tour experiences, and how good of experience they had and put that into the tours that they do.”

For more information on campus visit days, go to https://semo.edu/visit/. Students interested in becoming a Student Ambassador can apply by visiting redhawkjobs.com