Many students take orientation tours prior to beginning collegiate journeys. For student worker Jacob Dupuis, a tour guide in the Office of Admissions, his tour inspired him to want to be a part of the conversations incoming students have with members of the university.
One of his most recent responsibilities with the Office of Admissions was giving a “President’s Tour” to University President Dr. John L. Crain, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Tena Golding, Vice President for Administration and Finance Sam Domiano, Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Eric Summers and Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management Dr. Kay Maurin.
The senior marketing major has worked for the office for the past three and a half years. His main goal for the tour was to build connections with those receiving them. For the “President’s Tour,” he aimed to be more brief than usual and cover major topics. The biggest change in preparation was that the recipients of this tour were not hearing the stories he would tell for the first time.
“My goals for the tour was to do my best as possible but always be able to connect to them and build a lasting impression,” said Dupuis.
Crain was impressed with Dupuis’ skills as a tour guide throughout the process.
“He did an outstanding job,” said Crain. “We started in the student union then visited several parts of campus, including student housing. Taking the tour was not only a lot of fun, it was quite informative. To be totally honest, it was very impressive. I would enroll here if I was looking for a college.”
Several changes have been made in the attempts to improve campus tours that are given to prospective students and families. Crain explained that Maurin and Director of Admissions Anthony Ranatza developed the “President’s Tour” for members of senior management to witness these changes.
“They believed it would be helpful for members of senior management to effectively see the university through the eyes of prospective students and their families,” said Crain.
The tour provided the administration with an opportunity to seek more points for improvement during tours.
Crain said, “While we were all very pleased with what we saw and heard on the tour, we did learn about a few things that we can change in order to offer our prospective students and family members an even more impressive experience.”
Dupuis found several points of improvements for tours such as increasing interaction so that students will see what they would do on a day-to-day basis. He explained the surprising discovery he made following the tour.
“What I learned from this tour is that everyone is equal,” said Dupuis. “Even though I was on the golf cart talking to and driving the top five administrations here at Southeastern, everyone’s brain stops growing at 27. They just become more professional, but still think like a 27-year-old.”
Dupuis remains grateful that his hard work in the department contributed to him being chosen to lead the tour he received positive feedback on.
“I enjoyed hearing back from my boss and Dr. Maurin about what an amazing job I did,” said Dupuis. “The most rewarding thing about it was just being able to show the upper administration what it is that I do every day to recruit these students here to Southeastern.”