The University's Volunteer Admissions Support Team (VAST)--made up of alumni, faculty, current students and parents of current and former students--helps UD's admissions office attract diverse and academically skilled freshmen.  

With more than 300 active members located from California to Florida to American military bases in Germany, Italy and Spain, VAST has nearly doubled its membership in the last year. Members help with college fairs, prospect identification, open houses and receptions.

"As Delaware becomes a more national institution, they can help us reach places that we can't easily get to," Bonnie Alunni, assistant director of admissions and coordinator for VAST, says. "They're like our eyes and ears outside of Newark."

According to Alunni, the college fair is the most popular volunteer activity. College fairs are primarily held in the fall for high school seniors trying to decide which colleges they will apply to. VAST members set up and operate tables representing UD at the fairs, then distribute literature and answer questions from prospective students and their parents. Last year, approximately 40 VAST members represented the University at college fairs across the country.

Prospect identification allows VAST members to select individual members of their community, as early as ninth grade, to see if they are interested in the University of Delaware and if their desired major is offered at UD. Once a student is identified, they will be sent recruitment literature; if they respond, they then are placed on the admissions mailing list for future contact.

The University holds open houses throughout the year in Newark, with VAST members attending for training purposes, participating as panelists or staffing information tables. Blue and Golden Saturdays are open houses held in the fall for prospective students. In the spring, Decision Days are held for admitted students and their parents, and Discovery Days are held three Saturdays in June for high school seniors. According to Alunni, VAST members often chat with guests during these events, answering questions or telling stories of their experiences on the Delaware campus. VAST volunteers convey the value of their UD degrees to guests and add a personal touch to the college search process, she says.

"During our Discovery Days summer open house, VAST member Barbara Owens, CHNS '58, delighted prospective parents and students, as well as tour guides, with her stories of campus life back in the days before coed dorms," Alunni says.

VAST members also have the option of hosting or planning receptions for prospective students, students who have recently been accepted, or students who have recently enrolled. The volunteers have freedom to decide what type of event they hold, ranging from a dinner at their home to taking a group of students to a professional baseball game. The important thing, Alunni says, is that students interested in attending the University gather together and have a good time.

Bill Taylor, AS '59, has hosted several receptions for prospective students at his home in Media, Pa. There are also annual receptions in New Jersey, New York's Long Island and Maryland. VAST is particularly interested in members who are willing to host a reception outside the geographic area of Delaware and its neighboring states.

Last summer, parents Victor and Barbara Kalafa hosted a reception at their home for incoming freshmen who, like their daughter Stacie, lived in Florida and were planning to attend UD in the fall. Other alumni and VAST members in the area attended the reception to answer questions and distribute information. "It's a great way for these students to meet other students from their area who are also going to be attending the University," Alunni says.

"There are some new programs we have developed that we thought would get the students more involved and excited, and so far they seem to be successful," Diana Baczkowski, senior secretary in the admissions office and VAST assistant, says.

An interview project held in Boston last summer was the most successful of the new programs. Six alumni from the Boston area interviewed more than 30 applicants from the area and sent their evaluations back to the admissions office in Newark. "We get to know the student a little better from a different angle," Baczkowski says. The interview also gives the applicants and their parents a chance to ask the alumni questions about the school.

"To celebrate the success of the pilot interview project in Boston, several of the alums who interviewed applicants joined a reception for alumni at a Boston Red Sox game," Alunni says.

The only requirement to join VAST is an affiliation with the University of Delaware. Anyone interested in joining should visit [www.udel.edu/VAST/join.html].

--Dean Geddes, AS '05