Stephanie Mason/ Staff Writer
Students are constantly being challenged to stand out from the crowd when it comes to academics and extracurriculars.
Signing up to be a student ambassador can help do just that for students in the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.
The deadline to apply to be a student ambassador is March 1.
Becoming a student ambassador is an option that’s been around for two years.
However, according to Fabiana Ferrer, graduate assistant in enrollment and recruitment services for CSHTM and coordinator for CSHTM student ambassadors, this year they are working on polishing up the Student Ambassador Program.
Ferrer graduated from the CSHTM this past December and as a previous student ambassador herself, said, “When I started, it was very inactive.”
This year, the Student Ambassador Program will be collaborating with the Student Alumni Association and the University wide ambassador program.
“So what’s happening is that it’s becoming a better program, bigger,” said Ferrer.
“We were approached by the Student Alumni Association about combining the program, so it’s going to be revamped from what it was this past year,” said Dawn Fagnan, enrollment manager for the CSHTM and supervisor in the Student Ambassador Program.
Fagnan stated that by collaborating with the SAA and the University wide ambassador program, the students will receive a lot more benefits that they wouldn’t have been able to just being an ambassador in the Chaplin school.
“When we were doing our own program we were saying ‘there’s networking opportunities, you get invitations to special events, you get to have face time with the dean and actually sit with him in meetings and represent the student body,’” said Fagnan. “But along with those things which we’ll still keep in place, the student ambassador program has professional development programs and they have conferences and retreats and party registration which is…amazing.
For students interested in becoming an ambassador, Ferrer said, “We definitely want them to have..interpersonal skills because mostly what we do is give tours to those interested and we want them to be knowledgeable about the program, excited about the program, enthusiastic people.”
According to Ferrer, the job of a student ambassador entails recruiting students to the CSHTM, giving tours, and speaking to other students about the CSHTM.
“We want as many students as possible to be a part of the student ambassadors,” said Ferrer.
Fang Shu, coordinator for the China programs for the CSHTM, was a student ambassador in the fall semester and described the experience as perfect.
“Because you are a student ambassador you stand for the school so you know everybody in the school..faculty and staff, you get a chance to talk to them because you are the ambassador of the school.”
Shu said that he has already recommended other students to be an ambassador.
Hospitality and tourism management senior, Vanessa Casal, said this is her second semester being a student ambassador in the CSHTM.
“We’ve also done a lot of public speaking workshops and things like that so it is very helpful and you get to learn a lot about other people and you learn a lot about your school as well,” said Casal.
Casal said that she would recommend other students to become a student ambassador.
“It’s an amazing opportunity, it really opens the door a lot,” said Casal.
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