Prospective Graduate Student Visit Coordinator#
This is a very big job requiring the combined efforts of at least three, if not four, students, though the workload is somewhat dependent on how many students are admitted (and how many of those choose to visit) - which is unfortunately something we don’t know until the spring.
The department sends out its offer letters for Spring admissions typically in early February. As soon as this occurs, at least one member of the hosting committee needs to e-mail each one of them, inviting them to come visit and providing travel and visitation information, offering to answer questions, etc. - that is, generally serving as the primary representative of the department before their visit. Once students begin making travel arrangements, the committee has to be sure to keep careful tabs on everyone’s arrival and departure dates, and ask/beg/plead the other students in the department to serve as hosts during their stay and provide transportation to and from the airport. The prospectives’ days must also be planned out in advance, including faculty meetings (this means contacting faculty to arrange visits) and perhaps a handful of fun activities, such as a visit to SF. When the students arrive on campus, the committee is in charge of making sure the plans are actually executed as planned, including making sure all hosts are aware of the schedules of their prospectives. Meals are usually not planned well in advance (except the occasional special meal such as a women’s lunch), but someone on the committee should be in charge of recruiting students ahead of time for each potential meal, making sure that there are neither too many nor too few current students coming along to talk with the new prospectives.
This large role breaks down into numerous smaller roles, including:
E-mail liaison - in charge of contacting prospectives before and after their visit to arrange travel plans and answer any early or late questions. This is probably the largest sub-job. Night host planner - in charge of recruiting night hosts and making sure students get there on time. Transportation planner - in charge of making sure students get to and from the airport. Faculty liaison - in charge of contacting faculty to arrange meetings with students and working out the students’ schedules. Meal planner - in charge of gathering students for lunch and dinner (and, often, handling reimbursement for those meals.) Activity planner - typically a dispersed job that everyone pitches in for. Typically, an effort of this size also requires one person to be designated as being the master planner as well, in addition to any lower-level responsibilities.