EXPERIENCEIOWASTATE

AESHM 470F Final Internship Project

Jesslyn Prohaska

A NEW WAY TO EXPERIENCE IOWA STATE

This summer I had the opportunity to work in the Soults Family Visitor Center at Iowa State University as a Student Associate. My jobs included giving campus/residence hall tours, office tasks, and putting my best foot forward to represent the university. I have loved all the experiences I have had in the position and all of the people I have met both through the admissions office and the visiting guests. Part of my job was to assist in large prospective student visit days called Experience Iowa State. As an Event Management major, these events were right up my alley. They showed me the ins and outs of putting on a successful event for a large number of people. This presentation includes all the different parts of EIS from both the guests perspective as well as my own.

WHAT IS EIS?

Experience Iowa State (EIS) is a program offered to prospective students that allows them to get all the information they would get on a daily visit to campus, plus even more! The event itself draws in around 400+ students and parents considering Iowa State University for their college education. It’s crucial that those of us putting on the event put our best feet forward because it could potentially be our actions or words that is the deciding factor for the potential students.

EIS: THE GUEST’S SCHEDULE

The guest’s schedule includes:1. Check In2. Programs & Services Fair3. Welcome & Information

Session4. Student Panel5. Academic Information

Sessions6. Complimentary Lunch7. Campus Walking Tour8. Afternoon Activity*9. Afternoon Activity*10. Afternoon Activity*

*Students & families have the opportunity to pick from multiple different afternoon sessions so they can get the best information fit for their specific situation

FRONT BACK*

EIS: MY SCHEDULE

One of the biggest things I learned from working EIS is the importance of organization. When we’re hosting 400+ people at a time, everyone working needs to know where to be at all times, to avoid any job confusion. These pictures are screenshots of my schedules for two of the EIS days. One can see how organized the event is from behind the scenes, this allows those who are working better adapt to any unforeseen changes or conflicts. I enjoyed having such specific schedules because instead of asking what I was to do at all times, I could just get to work. This made for less stress behind the scenes which allowed us to present the best face of Iowa State during guest interactions.

EIS PART 1: CHECK IN

BEFORE SET UP

DURING SET UP

SET UP COMPLETE!

CHECK IN: BEHIND THE SCENES

EIS Check In is an important step in the day because it leads to the first impressions that guests form about Iowa State. Because of this, setting up for Check In and the University Welcome takes the most time. The set up crew comes in at 6:30am to ensure everything is ready for the families to check in at 8:15am. We put up multiple signs, Cy the Cardinal cutouts, and a bunch of pom-poms to show our school pride! The first part of the guests check in process is a walkthrough of their schedule followed by parking validation. The next part is to get their nametags and folders. The nametags are laid out in alphabetical order allowing them to be found quickly, as are the folders. The folders contain information about the City of Ames, ISU admission requirements, a brochure about housing options, a coupon to the bookstore, and so much more! Once they have received their folders, guests proceed to the Program and Services Fair.

EIS PART 2: PROGRAMS & SERVICES FAIR

The Programs & Services Fair allows for the guests to get a chance to mingle around and have one on one conversations with people from many different areas of the University. Some booths include; Greek Affairs, Study Abroad, Student Activities Center, the Office of Admissions, and a booth from each one of the 6 Colleges.

PROGRAMS & SERVICES FAIR: MY JOB

While the guests mingle throughout the different booths and enjoy complimentary breakfast foods, myself and another Student Associate mingle with the guests giving them temporary tattoos! We pre-soak the tattoos so we can easily put them on the backs of guest’s hands so they can start showing their Cyclone pride. Doing this gave me the opportunity to talk to prospective students and continue to better their impression of Iowa State. The way we have the tattoos prepared for immediate use is a great example of how much being organized and prepared can take stress away from a task.

EIS PART 3: WELCOME & INFORMATION SESSION

After the Programs & Services Fair, the guests move directly into the University Welcome and Information Session. An admissions representative will go up first and do some fun ice breakers with the crowd, give out prizes, and get everyone excited about their day at Iowa State. Directly following that, another admissions representative will get up on stage and do the Information Session. They talk about the admission requirements for ISU, the application process, and what follows the application process. A few videos of student testimony are included so the guests have a chance to see the students real opinions of Iowa State. This presentation is a great intro to the university that may potentially answer any questions the guests may have started their day with or bring up new ones that they can ask throughout EIS.

WELCOME & INFORMATION SESSION: MY JOB

My job during the Welcome & Information Session was pretty simple, tear down everything that got set up for Check In. The tear down process is a bit easier than set-up because we already know where everything is and we don’t have to take our time and make sure things look perfect. At this time we also set out bottles of water for the guests to grab on their way to their next session. The guests do quite a bit of walking on campus and since it is during the summer we want to make sure they’re well hydrated and taken care of while they’re at ISU.

EIS PART 4: STUDENT PANEL

After the Welcome & Information Session is complete, the guests stay in their seats for the Student Panel. Five of our current students who have been trained and prepped to be a part of this panel will go in front of the crowd and answer any questions the guests may have about Iowa State. This is a great opportunity for the prospective students to hear from actual students about what college life is like and hopefully give the parents some relief about any concerns they may have had. During the student panel I was a mic runner. Both myself and another student associate were in charge of watching for people with questions and getting the mic to them. If a guest asked a question they also got a window decal as a prize to keep building that Cyclone spirit! I believe that the Student Panel is a very important part of the EIS day. Getting to hear from real students about life at Iowa State is so beneficial for the guests, it’s a time where something said could be the turning point for the guest’s opinions about the university and whether or not it would be a fit for them.

EIS PART 5: ACADEMIC INFORMATION SESSIONS

Following the Student Panel, the visitors are divided up for their Academic Information Sessions of choice. When the guests register for EIS they specify which department they would be interested in and what major they want to learn more about, using this information we divide them into pre-determined groups. In case guests can’t remember which session they signed up for, we print it on their nametag for an easy reminder. This also makes things much easier for those behind the scenes so that when it comes time to dismiss groups we don’t have to help them find the correct one. Each group is assigned a letter (A, B, C, etc.) and we dismiss them in alphabetical order. Multiple different students are assigned a group and a location to walk them to. I was in charge of walking the Biology majors (Group C) to Bessey Hall. This easy dismissal is yet another great example of how organization made things work much more smoothly. By having pre-divided groups, giving each group a letter, dismissing them in an easy to follow order, and finally having them led to their locations by pre-determined guides made for a flawless execution of group dismissal. And of 400+ people no less!

EIS PARTS 5 AND 6

Part 5: Complimentary LunchAfter the Academic Information Sessions are complete, the guests are led to a complimentary lunch in the dining center. As a guide, I was in charge of getting the Biology majors to the dining center at the correct time and making sure they understood how the lunch process worked. Once we arrived at the dining center Admissions Staff found seats for each family as quickly as possible so they could get to their free meal! The lunch process was also extremely organized. Staff was ready and waiting at all areas of the dining center so that when guests arrived they were quickly given seats. The staff also made sure to let everyone else know what groups they had sat and which areas were full to avoid any confusion and chaos in the dining center.

Part 6: Campus Walking TourDirectly following lunch the guests head back to the Memorial Union to be dismissed in different groups for the Campus Walking Tour. The Admissions Staff is also very prepared for this part of the day. A pre-specified number of people are assigned tour group dismissal and make sure they make it back from lunch before the guests, myself included. We had several people directing traffic and some counting the number of guests in each group, trying to make them as even as possible. The process moves very quickly, as guests arrive they are put in a group. There are a line of tour guides ready to go with pre-assigned routes so they know where they’re headed before they even leave. My job at this point of the day was simply to direct traffic and make sure all family members were present before putting them in a tour group. The preparedness for this part of the day led to yet another flawless execution of dismissal.

EIS: THE REST OF THE DAY

After their campus walking tour, the guests get to decide what they want to do for the rest of the afternoon. There are multiple sessions that they get to choose from, one each hour from 1 to 3 o’clock in the afternoon. I think this is a great option for the guests because they get to personalize their visit and get the information that they believe best pertains to their specific situation. There was one EIS day where I gave a tour to guests but on the other days my job after tour dismissal was to head back to the Soults Family Visitor Center and work in the office. I would prepare for the next daily visit day as well as help direct any lost EIS families.

AT THE END OF MY NEW IOWA STATE EXPERIENCE

I absolutely loved getting to help with Experience Iowa State. I learned so much from the Admissions Staff about how being prepared can truly be one of the biggest stress relievers. Also, the saying “many hands make light work” couldn’t be more true than in this situation! With all of the people we had working, EIS went off without a hitch, and even if something unexpected did come up, we were ready to handle anything. The amount of time and effort that goes on behind the scenes is what allows the students to get the best possible impression of Iowa State. They never saw staff running around frantic or getting frustrated with either the situation or the people around them because we were ready for everything. Working these events was a fantastic learning experience for me and my future and I can’t wait to use what I learned through my internship in my career as an Event Planner.

Did you create this project independently, or did you work on a team?I created this presentation on my own. I took all the pictures myself and organized them in a way that made sense to the reader. Of course the event itself was a team project but my documentation of it was done independently.

Supporting Documentation: What steps did you take to complete the project? Did you have to conduct any research?To complete this project, I spent my first EIS day observing how the day worked while still doing what was expected of me as an employee. On the following EIS days was when I took my pictures and made sure to both physically and mentally document how they day worked. I didn’t do research before the event but I suppose you could say that my first EIS day spent observing was my research period where I took note of how things were done both behind the scenes and up front.

What programs and/or resources did you use?The resources I used was my co-workers and supervisors. I asked them how things were done, what needed to be done, and why we did things the way we did. Those who had worked EIS days before helped me understand how the day worked and why the things they had me do were necessary.

How will your organization/company utilize your project?I think my project allows for a good look into an employee’s point of view and their understanding of how things are done and why they are done that way. If I misinterpreted something, the Admissions Office will see that and know what they need to fix in order for others in the future to understand it. I think my project gives a good behind the scenes look at a large event that could lead to changes or further support that what they’re doing is the right way to be doing things.