麻豆传媒

 

Extending a welcome

- August 18, 2008

Jeff Rodenhizer, housing office assistant, wants to help鈥攋ust ask him. (Nick Pearce Photo)

Can I get to the Chemistry Building without getting wet? When is Shinerama? Is this where I get my U-Pass?

For the second year in a row, Student Services will operate its Ask Me! program, campaign runs from Monday, Aug. 25 and throughout the month of September. It鈥檚 a friendly, folksy campaign aimed at making it easier for students new to 麻豆传媒 to approach staff and faculty with their questions. Program volunteers can be identified by their green, square Ask Me! buttons.

鈥淚t can be intimidating when you first arrive on campus, especially if you鈥檙e not familiar with Halifax,鈥 says Melissa MacKay, Service and Office Manager for Student Community Services at 麻豆传媒. 鈥淲e want 麻豆传媒 to be as welcoming as possible for our students.鈥

So far more than 1,200 volunteers have signed on. Dal staffers and faculty members who鈥檇 still like to participate can fill in the 聽or contact Ms. MacKay at 494-3365 for more information.

鈥淣inety per cent of the questions people got last year were basically, 鈥榟ow do I get there from here?鈥欌 says Ms. MacKay.

Volunteers can brush up on their Dal knowledge by perusing the Ask Me! booklet聽and the 听(笔顿贵).

New this year will be Ask Me! Central, a tent pitched outside of the Killam Library which will be staffed with volunteers for the first week of September.

Another new facet of the campaign is Student Services鈥 , a one-stop site contained within myguide.dal.ca. The site contains details of special events happening in late August and September, including the International Student Orientation, the Induction Ceremony (the university鈥檚 formal welcome ceremony), tours and activities run by individual departments and schools. There鈥檚 a page that explains Dal鈥檚 lingo, in case you鈥檙e wondering who the heck George Munro was and what the Tiger Patrol does, and another with a checklist of what to do those first few days on campus.

鈥淎ll of these events were already happening but there was no central spot to find out about them,鈥 says Lisa MacLean, communications officer with Student Services.