What is the Program Ambassador Scholarship
Program Ambassadors are highly motivated students who receive funding to offset a portion of their faculty-led study abroad program fee in exchange for supporting the program recruitment effort and inviting their friends and classmates to apply.
1-2 Program Ambassadors will be chosen for each faculty-led study abroad program.
Ambassadors will receive $100 upon selection and an additional $400 when minimum enrollment for their program is reached.
Ambassadors will receive recruitment materials (e.g., digital and print poster, flier, social media post and caption, and presentation deck) which they can use in their outreach to peers.
Ambassadors commit to sharing their study abroad experience in a video recording at the end of the program which will be used by Learn from Travel for marketing purposes.
What are the Best Recruitment Strategies for Faculty-led Programs
Meet with as many students in person as possible. Presentation in your and your colleagues’ classes and host information sessions. Because the faculty-leader makes such a big difference to students, it’s important for them to learn about you and the program. Zoom sessions are not as effective. During the presentation be sure to share your background, your passion for the destination and the subject matter, and any personal stories from prior travel, even if to other destinations.
Collect interested students’ phone numbers, through an interest form or early in the application process, to follow up via text if they don’t complete the application. Many students do not complete their applications and do not respond to emails, but they do respond to texts.
Reach out personally to each student who starts an application or expresses interest to answer their questions and encourage them to complete the application ASAP.
Reach out to clubs, campus centers, and departments that can easily resend your digital recruitment materials to their members and students they serve.
How to Work with Your International Education Office to Recruit Students
Meet with IE staff as early as possible in the process to learn about timelines, requirements, and available resources. Some offices provide a lot of support, others provide very little, depending on their capacity.
Create an information and registration webpage to which students will be directly in advertising materials. Your IE office will likely create this page, but Learn from Travel can create this page for you. Review the content of this page carefully to ensure its complete and communicates the true highlights of the program.
Determine which marketing materials the IE office will create and which ones Learn from Travel should create. Use the form below to request materials from Learn from Travel. Also determine what strategies the IE office uses to promote the program. In most cases, the faculty leaders do much of the recruitment.
Use IE office listservs and/or newsletters to reach out to many students in the target audience at once. The IE office might have a list of students who have expressed interest previously.
Co-host information sessions with the IE office. You will be able to share the academic content and your passion for the program, and the IE office staffperson will share the application process, requirements, and financial information.
Review other programs at your institution and consider how your program is different. Your IE office will be able to guide you in positioning your program unique features (e.g. destination, subject matter, costs, duration, timing, credit, etc.) in a way that appeals to students and fills gaps in the current offering.
Timeline for Student Recruitment
6-9 months prior to program: Lay the groundwork
Create registration webpage with program info
Develop recruitment materials such a print and digital poster, presentation deck, and social media posts. Your IE office or Learn from Travel can help you make these materials
Meet with International Education to coordinate recruitment
Look for scholarship funds from department or other sources
Schedule information sessions for students in coordination with IE office
Reach out to relevant campus centers, organizations and departments to ask to share program recruitment materials
Plan for study abroad fair, which are usually held only once per year
3-6 months prior to program: Reach as many students as possible
Invite all of your current and former students, they are your best target audience
Present in as many of your colleagues’ relevant classes as you have time for, starting with the largest and most relevant classes
Share digital poster with students in your department, or in relevant courses in other departments, using a campus email software, newsletters, or listservs. (Ask IT for support if needed.)
Share the digital poster with chairs of relevant departments and other faculty
Help Learn from Travel recruit Student Ambassadors, who will promote the program to their peers
Ask your department, the IE office, and and relevant university social media accounts to post promoting the program. Learn from Travel can create the content for this post
Meet one-on-one, speak on the phone, or email with interested students and those in process of completing the application. Your personal attention to them will make a big difference
Hand out fliers at relevant campus events
Host information sessions and obtain each attendee’s contact information
Connect with past participants to ask to spread the word, if the program is a repeat
Student Recruitment Materials Request Form
Please use the form below to request recruitment materials from Learn from Travel. Materials that incur an additional fee are marked with ($). Please email us any photos you might have to include in the promotional materials to info@learnfromtravel.com.
