Admissions Benefits From Volunteerism

The Student Admission Program (SAP), which is entirely volunteer-based at Boston College, has over 800 volunteers and 10 different programs that allow students to get involved in reaching out to prospective students.

"It's a volunteer program because it can be," said Jeffrey Portu, head coordinator of SAP and A&S '12. "We have a great group of volunteers that are really ready to show what BC is about."

This provides a benefit to the University, because it shows the dedication of the student body that wants to share their experiences with high school students interested in BC.

"It's a nice thing to be able to talk about," Portu said.

The 10 different programs of SAP allow students to be involved in a variety of ways, and only two of the programs – campus tours and panel – are application-based. The other programs are greeting, where volunteers speak with visitors before their tours, outreach, AHANA outreach, and international outreach, where volunteers connect with applicants and accepted students, media, office management, volunteers who help check students in and answer calls, day visits, and high school visits.

"It's a great way to get involved," Portu said. "With more numbers, it just means we can do more things."

Though the tour guide program is similar to other schools, Portu said, the other divisions of SAP are what makes the difference.

"We're able to think outside the box," he said. "Our other programs make us stand out."

During the summer, SAP hires 18 students as paid employees, and they work full time leading tours and participating in info sessions as panelists. During the year, however, the volunteers commit to one-hour shifts per week.

Because students perform such a variety of tasks, it is hard to quantify what it would cost to pay them if they were employees. Though Portu said that being a tour guide is usually a paid position at other schools, the payment comes in a variety of ways, like Bookstore gift certificates or monetary compensation.

"There are a wide variety of things people get for being tour guides, and those 800 people do so many different things," Portu said.

Among these different things are two new programs. The media program focuses on maintaining the website, taking pictures, and managing a blog for prospective students. SAP is also working on an international ambassadors program. Currently, five BC students who are abroad have received informational packets about giving presentations about the University and are going to be speaking to three different high schools each in the cities they are studying in.

"With the volume of students we have [as volunteers] we're able to tell people what we're about," Portu said.