The admissions department at Binghamton University is trying out a new recruitment method in high schools, using people who know the University best: the students.

The Binghamton University Student Ambassador Program (BUSAP) consists of a group of undergraduate volunteers who engage with prospective students through open houses, Q-and-A panels and the new High School Visit Program, where ambassadors visit their old high schools to recruit prospective students.

Josh Goldberg, the High School Visit Program supervisor and a junior majoring in mathematics, said that BUSAP provides more than just facts about the University.

“The whole point of the Student Ambassador Program, as much as it is really about talking with students and teaching them about Binghamton, it’s really about sharing your personal story, sharing what you like about Binghamton,” Goldberg said.

Ambassadors participate in events with high prospective student attendance, including open houses and information sessions where they answer questions about the University and share their own perspectives and stories.

The High School Visit Program is a subset of BUSAP in which volunteers go through a separate training process where they learn about how to present and promote BU to prospective students in their old high schools.

Emily Davan, the program coordinator for BUSAP and a senior majoring in nursing, wrote in an email that the High School Visit Program allows for ambassadors to connect with high school students and share their college experience in a different setting aside from campus.

“Each student here has a unique and different story that is worth sharing,” Davan wrote. “Many BU Ambassadors have strong relationships with their high schools and may still know students attending. By allowing students to go back to high schools, Binghamton is represented in not only a professional manner, but also a relatable one too.”

Davan added that she first became a student ambassador in 2013 because of her own college application experience.

“The most memorable part of any campus visit I did as a high school student was the student presence at these events,” Davan wrote. “You can gauge a lot about a campus just by speaking to the students. Binghamton had always been a top school for me, and a big part of that was that the students here seemed genuinely happy here.”

Anyone can volunteer for the program, and those who do undergo a training session in which they learn facts to mention to students and how to connect with them through a presentation. The ambassadors then contact the guidance counselor from their high school to set up either a formal presentation, an opportunity to table inside the high school or to just drop off informational material that prospective students can look at.

Tova Goldfischer, the events supervisor for BUSAP and a sophomore majoring in human development, said that engaging with prospective students outside of campus is an important part of the admissions process.

“A University is an endless cycle of the replacement of graduates with incoming students,” Goldfischer wrote in an email. “Without new students, the University would fail as an educational institution. Therefore it is imperative that the Admissions team take recruitment and outreach very seriously, and the High School Visit Program plays a big part in that.”