By Dannicka McGrath, Photo Editor
Have you ever seen students around campus giving tours to high schoolers? These are Newman’s student ambassadors.
Co-supervised by Jasmine Rodriguez, assistant director of admissions, and Kolton Landreth, admissions counselor, nine students work in the admissions office representing Newman in multiple ways. They guide in-person and online tours, accompany visiting students to and from meetings and to lunch, and assist with admissions-hosted events. Last month, for example, the admissions department hosted the Jet Preview Day, and student ambassadors helped organize and clean up the event and spoke with students while it was happening.
Newman is looking for new student ambassadors who have many different jobs. One of the main ones is making prospective students feel comfortable choosing Newman.
“Eventually they’re telling their own story of either how they got to Newman, what is keeping them at Newman, the ins and outs of classes and faculty members, (and) spreading the Catholic identity, of course,” Jasmine Rodriguez said.
A key part of the student ambassador position is sharing experiences with potential new students.
“We take part in a lot of on-campus events that will help others decide whether they want to come to Newman or not, and I think that a student perspective is more important than having someone, like a faculty or staff member sharing their own,” said student ambassador Angelica Rodriguez, a senior. “We’re current students, and maybe one day they’ll be in our shoes.”
Newman relies on student ambassadors to be examples of what a Newman student should be.
“For the university, what the goal is is to make sure that student ambassadors are well-rounded in every perspective about campus, about campus life, and to share that with the prospective students,” Jasmine Rodriguez said.
Ambassadors, meanwhile, get to give back to Newman while they build confidence and learn public speaking and time management skills.
“I think being a student ambassador is a great way, one, to really get familiar with Newman, who Newman is as a whole,” Landreth said. “But it's also a great way to kind of give back to Newman by representing the school, by helping prospective students through that journey.”
Tomas Melon, a sophomore and member of the men’s soccer team, is another student ambassador. He said he enjoys many aspects of the job.
“You get to meet a lot of new people, like future soccer players that are going to be my friends,” he said.
Sophomore Valeria Rodriguez, another student ambassador, has some advice for those who may want to apply but may think they’re too shy or socially awkward to become an ambassador.
“Don’t feel like that’s an obstacle,” she said. “You will open up or learn and practice your public speaking. You will improve and grow in many ways. It just really allows you to be involved and get to know different people.” she said.
The admissions office is now accepting applications for both student ambassadors and student social media ambassadors. Students with a passion for social media marketing are needed to promote the University to prospective students. You should exhibit unwavering authenticity as the online face and voice of Newman University Admissions. Ambassadors must have completed at least one semester at Newman, be a full-time student enrolled in 12 or more credit hours and have a passion for Newman University.
Ambassadors get paid $8.25 an hour and can get 20 hours of work a week during the school year and 40 during the summer.
Students can apply at newmanu.edu/administration/human-resources/job-openings
PHOTO: Dannicka McGrath, Photo Editor
