The Voice of Maryville College

Every January, a few of Maryville College’s Ambassadors take a trip to the Student Development Institute (SDI) Conference. Hosted by CIVSA, the Collegiate Information and Visitor Services Association, this national conference is a chance to connect hundreds of students from different schools to learn from each other.
This year, four students: Megan Cooper (‘26), Emma Mulligan (‘27), Wes Yarber (‘27) and Clara Webster (‘26) represented MC at the conference in Houston. Assistant Director of Admissions and Visitor Experience Catherine Jahns, who is the supervisor of the ambassador program, has brought students to the SDI conference each year since she started at MC in 2021.
Jahns first attended CIVSA SDI during her Undergraduate at Eastern Michigan University. Her first conference was held in Columbus, Ohio, but the last few years have allowed students to visit Washington, D.C., Denver and Atlanta. 
Jahns said that making professional connections with other colleges and universities was a valuable experience, and presenting at a national conference is an opportunity that not many undergraduate students get to experience.
“It was my first time attending a conference that was 100% led by peers,” said Jahns about the 2018 conference. 
“I thought it was an incredible experience and was very excited to bring it back as an opportunity for MC Ambassadors.” Jahns stated.
Students who are selected to attend the SDI conference must make a proposal for a presentation, regardless of whether or not they are chosen to present.
“This is an excellent opportunity for students to create a session proposal and think critically about what our program offers that might be unique to other campuses,” said Jahns. “A committee selects who gets to present based on the quality of the proposal and other topics being covered.”
Cooper said that the presentation was meant to demonstrate something MC excels at in their admissions department. For her, this topic was positivity and inclusivity. 
Maryville College and Virginia Tech submitted similar proposals, so they collaborated to create a 45 minute presentation called “Positivity Promotes Productivity: Building Strong Leadership to Cultivate an Inclusive Team Environment.”
“Their presentation about Promoting Positivity in the Workplace was completely student-led,” said Jahns. “They came up with the session proposal, submitted the necessary documents and created the presentation all on their own.”
“This proposal was one of the few that got chosen to present,” said Cooper. “I loved learning so much from other schools and getting to work with Virginia Tech.”
This sentiment is echoed by all involved. The opportunity to share ideas with students from across the country is a valuable experience, and one that benefits our admissions team at MC.
“[Other] topics that were presented on include boosting office morale, making tours more personalized, having fun with group tours, making major events unique, etc.,” said Jahns. This conference is very much geared towards student tour guides learning from each other and bringing back new ideas to their campuses,” said Jahns. 
Jahns also mentioned that MC has implemented a number of new tools from what they have learned at SDI. Some examples include creating a Group Tour bingo and a “family point system” that incentivizes ambassadors to have fun with each other outside of the workplace.
“I will definitely be taking back a sense of enthusiasm for my program,” said Mulligan, another student who represented MC at the conference. “Being around so many people who love and represent their school is very inspiring, and I can’t wait to implement this positivity in my tours!”
In addition to presentations that offer new perspectives, students got to visit attractions in Houston. A tour of Houston’s NASA Space Center was offered, which integrated a presentation on how they handle visitors. 
“I thought [it] was a really cool opportunity to learn about visitor operations outside of higher education,” said Jahns about the presentation at the Space Center.
In addition to these activities, students were encouraged to meet and take selfies with other students. This game acted as an incentive for networking and building relationships. 
“Everyone in the conference: students, advisors and staff had numbers on their name tag,” said Cooper. “You just had to find the one other person with your number and submit a selfie with them.”
“It was a truly random win, but it was fun to have an MC student get to go on stage!” said Jahns.
“The experience was the perfect balance of fun and learning. I wish everyone in admissions could go,” said Cooper.
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