We sat down with Natasha Russell, the director of student support at the Westwood College Chicago Loop Campus, and got the inside scoop on a new program that recently awarded student ambassador status to 10 students and one alumnus.
This new student ambassador program joins several others at many Westwood campuses. The programs provide student-to-student orientation resources, community outreach, student mentoring and other opportunities to students and alumni.
How did the Chicago Loop campus’ student ambassador program come about?
So many of our students are an inspiration to me – they’re doing great academic work while also balancing other commitments, like a family or a full-time job. We wanted to develop a program to really showcase and leverage these stand-out students who are truly role models on campus and in the classrooms.
What responsibilities do ambassadors have?
They play an important role in new student orientation. When new students are nervous or don’t know what to expect and may be questioning whether or not they can even do it, seeing students like our ambassadors at orientation is really inspiring and comforting. We also have ambassadors positioned right by the elevators during the first week of the term, helping students with things like finding classrooms, printing schedules, book ordering, etc.
During the term, they set up “Ask an Ambassador” stations twice a week — one for day students and one for night students — for student support. Then they also do mentoring during finals week in the library.
How do other students on campus benefit from the program?
Peer-to-peer relationships are extremely important at any college. I can’t imagine going to college without having those relationships. If there are solid relationships among the student body, the student body will stand strong. We want students to feel, when they’re here, that there are people to support them.
What benefits do the Student Ambassadors get from this program?
It goes without saying that they practice a lot of skills by being an ambassador — networking, connecting with organizations outside of Westwood, giving back to their school or their alma mater, public speaking skills, presentation skills, event planning skills … But it’s also a huge honor to put on their resumes for future employment.
If you have a question for one of our student ambassadors, leave it in the comments section and we’ll post an answer from them.