TheSkiffView
VISITING
Campus tours should be more personal

We’ve all seen those massive groups touring campus early Monday mornings. Hundreds and hundreds of people trying to listen to tour guides as they stand in front of the library and the chapel.

Monday at TCU has become a popular program for prospective students and their families. So popular that a Wednesday program has been added to accommodate the large number of visitors. Today, Spring Preview, the name for the new program, will welcome 176 prospective students. This is almost half the size of Monday at TCU groups.

Programs like Monday at TCU give students and their families information about all areas of academic, residential and social life. Special sessions and interactions with current students, faculty and staff are scheduled throughout the day.

Unfortunately the popularity of the programs prevents many visitors from experiencing the campus in a personalized setting. Tours are given during the week and Saturdays.

Some groups are as small as one family. But during Monday at TCU, tour groups can be more than 50 people. What kind of impression do you think they have of straining to hear a tour guide compared to the smaller group who basically has a conversation with their tour guide?

Increasing the number of tour guides is one obvious solution. Student groups who give tours need to get more of their members to participate. The number of people who attend the program at one time should also be restricted. It’s not a service to anyone if so many people attend that they don’t feel they received any personal attention.

Spring Preview will give more students the chance to visit the campus with at least half the size of the bigger Monday at TCU events. A smaller personal experience is what TCU should be all about.