2007–2008 Year in Review A report on the progress, activities and ongoing plans of Visitor & Information Programs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Please click the following links to read more: A Message from Director Steve Amundson Overview of Facilities Red Gym Welcome Center Overview of Programs and Services Information and Referral Welcome Center Conference Services Publications Campus Area Housing Campus Visit Program Parent Program Outreach Programs Acknowledgements
Visitor & Information Programs 716 Langdon Street Madison, WI 53706 608/263–2400 askbucky@uwmad.wisc.edu http://www.vip.wisc.edu
A Message from Director Steve Amundson
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I’m sure everyone recalls the expression “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Visitor & Information Programs (VIP) lives and breathes this sentiment every day. As the gateway to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, VIP oftentimes serves as the first interaction someone has with UW–Madison. Whether we are contacted by telephone, e-mail, a specific VIP program or a visit to one of our two campus facilities, our goal is to ensure everyone is treated as a “VIP” and has a positive experience. Keeping this philosophy in mind, I invite you to read our year in review. You will discover that VIP offers programs and services for a variety of groups—current students, faculty/staff members, prospective students, parents, alumni, visitors and community members— and serves as the central access point for campus and community information. How many people did VIP interact with this past fiscal year? Nearly 2.5 million! The overall success of VIP truly results from a team effort. Many campus departments and community-based organizations play a critical role in helping us deliver quality programs and services, and we greatly appreciate these partnerships. In addition to the support from campus and community colleagues, VIP would not be able to achieve its goals without our student staff. Each year, VIP employs some seventy-five students who help us deliver our programs and services. They are committed to providing first-class customer service while contributing their own passion and enthusiasm for UW–Madison. I hope you enjoy reading VIP’s year in review, and I encourage you to share it with your colleagues. Sincerely,
Visitor & Information Programs thanks our campus and community partners for their support during 2007–08 and the approximately 75 students who have worked with us during the year.
Steve Amundson Director Visitor & Information Programs
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Overview of Facilities
Red Gym
The Red Gym, located at 716 Langdon Street, is the central point for Visitor & Information Programs (VIP) operations. It is home to the Campus Information Center, Campus Area Housing services, VIP administrative offices, and the starting point for prospective student and walk-in tours. Located just inside the front doors of the Red Gym, the Campus Information Center serves visitors, students, faculty, and staff. Information Guides are ready to answer questions, direct visitors, and assist with questions about the Campus Area Housing Listing Service. The center offers a lounge and public workstations, as well as many brochures, maps, and colorful displays. The Red Gym also serves as the starting point for prospective student tours and walk-in tours. VIP, in partnership with the Office of Admissions, provides prospective student tours, which consist of a 45-minute information session with an admissions counselor, followed by a 100-minute walking tour of campus led by a student tour guide.
Visitor & Information Programs Student Staff Testimonials
“Awesome job all the way around! The whole visit team got me very excited about the opportunities available to me at UW–Madison and I’m working on my application already. Thanks again!”
ProsPective student
“The CIC staff was very helpful and knowledgeable.”
ProsPective student Parent
“I am glad there was room on the tour and that the UW employee on the phone with me was kind and helpful. Thanks much for you help.”
tour attendee
Welcome Center
The Welcome Center, a state-of-the-art facility at 21 N. Park Street, was created by city and campus entities to serve as a one-stop shop for campus and community visitor information. The comprehensive facility is a collaborative effort among Visitor & Information Programs, Transportation Services, and the Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau. The center reception area offers dynamic displays, informative campus and community literature, and conference rooms. Information Guides are on hand to answer questions, and the facility boasts a convenient drive-up window for parking information. The first-floor conference spaces are situated in the heart of the UW–Madison campus and are ideal for special events, conferences, or meetings. The rooms can be divided to accommodate small to medium-sized groups or combined to accommodate larger conventions or gatherings of up to 200 people. Each room is equipped with extensive audiovisual technology and offers conference-call capabilities. The Welcome Center, in the heart of the newest part of campus, aims to provide visitors a starting point to explore the city and the campus.
“Thank you once again for hosting another successful Greenbush Day celebration. WC staff were most helpful with every aspect of the event. I think the Welcome Center is the perfect facility for this event and I personally hope we can host it there again in the future.”
uW–Madison faculty MeMber and Greenbush day orGanizer
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Overview of Programs and Services
Information and Referral
Visitor & Information Programs (VIP) maintains two information centers: the Campus Information Center in the Red Gym and the Welcome Center at 21 N. Park Street. Staff at the centers answer telephone calls, e-mails, and walk-in inquiries. Visitor & Information Programs 2007–08 Statistics
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28,750 phone calls to 608–263–2400 (Campus Information Hotline) 23,300 Directory Assistance inquiries for UW–Madison and the State of Wisconsin 2,450 e-mails to askbucky@uwmad.wisc.edu More than 137,500 walk-in visitors to the Campus Information Center 28,100 walk-in visitors to the Welcome Center More than 951,000 Web visits to www.vip.wisc.edu
Ask Bucky Testimonials
“Thank you so much, you are wonderful. I am very happy to have Ask Bucky as a resource.”
returninG adult student
“Thanks for you help. We’ll be in touch with any other questions. What a great system you have here!”
ProsPective student
The “Ask Bucky” e-mail service (askbucky@uwmad.wisc.edu) is one of many services provided by VIP. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, visitors and members of the university community can e-mail “Ask Bucky” about the who, what, where, when and why of UW–Madison.
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Overview of Programs and Services
Welcome Center Conference Services
Visitor & Information Programs manages the Welcome Center conference spaces located on the first floor at 21 N. Park Street. In fiscal year 2007–08, the conference rooms housed 300 events, accommodating more than 13,578 attendees. In accordance with the university’s facility use policy, Welcome Center spaces may be reserved by: Conference rooms are typically available during Welcome Center hours. Hours may vary during holiday and university break periods and are expanded in conjunction with select campus and community events. Before- or afterhours events may be scheduled in the conference rooms and Welcome Center reception area for an additional fee. Contact reservation staff to discuss specific needs: Welcome Center E-mail: wc-reservations@uwmad.wisc.edu Phone: 608–262–4636
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campus departments and programs, recognized university, faculty, or staff groups, registered student organizations with a university departmental sponsor, governmental agencies, and groups not associated with the university that are either sponsored or invited by a university department or organization for civic, educational, cultural, and other programs.
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Overview of Programs and Services
Publications
Visitor & Information Programs (VIP) distributes numerous publications to visitors, students, faculty, and staff. During the past year, VIP distributed 127,976 copies of the following publications: • isitor Guide to UW–Madison V • ake City Lake — Official Visitor’s Guide L to Madison • ampus Map and Guide C • ampus Walking Tour C • ampus Map Pad C For more information about these and other VIP publications, visit pubs.vip.wisc.edu. VIP published two editions of its electronic newsletter, Navigator, which features VIP services, as well as campus and community events. Navigator is sent to the campus community and is available at www.vip.wisc.edu/newsletter.
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Overview of Programs and Services
Campus Area Housing
Campus Area Housing, a function of Visitor & Information Programs (VIP), is UW–Madison’s official student resource for off-campus housing. This web-based service provides students, the campus community, and the general public with a comprehensive database of rental vacancies within Dane County. The vacancies are displayed by owners, managers, and sublessors, and include houses, apartments, co-ops, or individual rooms, or current renters seeking roommates. Campus Area Housing offers additional housing-related resources, including Web links to a variety of housing services for those searching for places to live in the neighborhoods surrounding campus. 2007–08 Achievements
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725,000 Web site visits 3,374 new listings posted during the last 12 months
Campus Area Housing Testimonials
“When I studied abroad, I needed someone to sublet my apartment. Campus Area Housing was an easy and affordable way to find someone to take over my lease.”
uW–Madison student
In 2008, VIP conducted a survey of subscription customers and one-time listers. The survey found that:
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96% of the those surveyed recognize VIP staff as courteous and helpful 88% find the cost to be reasonable 89% would use our service again property owners believe that some students tend to take their safety for granted, and that student tenants need to be more aware of their rights and responsibilities as renters. (Both issues have been identified as Campus Area Housing priorities for the upcoming year.)
“I’ve been with my company for about five years and have seen the changes your listing service has gone through. I applaud you for all the work done to make it easier for property managers to list and make updates. Great job!””
caMPus area housinG subscriber
“It is a great service that has found us good renters at a reasonable price. Many students, hospital employees, and UW employees seem to use it almost exclusively when looking for housing.”
caMPus area housinG lister
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Overview of Programs and Services
Campus Visit Program
Prospective Student Tours Visitor & Information Programs (VIP) provides comprehensive campus tours for campus and community members. In partnership with the Office of Admissions, VIP offers prospective student tours that include an Admissions information session on Mondays through Fridays. A general walk-in tour is offered daily at 3 p.m. on weekdays and at noon on weekends.
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During the 2007–08 fiscal year, more than 19,000 people took part in 326 prospective student tours, and 8,097 people visited the campus on 329 walk-in tours.
Prospective Student Testimonials
“Our guide was exceptional and extraordinary. She was extremely engaging, appropriate, intelligent and informative. I know that impressions from a university tour are long-lasting and can certainly “make or break” how you feel about the institution. Not only did we appreciate her thoroughness, but also her candor and humor. She was a perfect blend! Most of all, it was very evident that she truly cared about us and enjoyed what she was doing.”
ProsPective student, auGust 2007
“Our tour was superb! Our guide was informative and engaging. He focused on our interests and was able to give us a personable tour of the campus. We were offered valuable information that will impact the quality of education we receive. Until getting this tour I wasn’t certain if UW–Madison was right for me. Now I am certain I made the right decision!”
ProsPective student, June 2008
“Traveling to Wisconsin during my spring break was worth the trip. Before visiting I was unsure about applying to such a large school, but after seeing the University of Wisconsin–Madison, I fell in love with its atmosphere. Every person I encountered was so nice and willing to answer any questions we had. The students were filled with Badger spirit and it was hard not to get caught up in it.”
ProsPective student, March 2008
“Our guide was an amazing tour guide! She was extremely nice and had an answer to every question. She was an excellent representation of the Wisconsin student and she is a major reason why I am now so interested in UW–Madison. I would love to go to school there just to meet more people like her!”
ProsPective student, January 2008
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Overview of Programs and Services
Campus Visit Program
Customized Educational Visits Along with the prospective student tours, Visitor & Information Programs (VIP) offers customized educational visits for civic groups, foreign delegations, conference groups, alumni, UW–Madison departments and others. VIP’s Field Trip Program presents the campus to numerous groups of elementary, middle and high school students. 2007–08 Highlights
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During the 2007–2008 fiscal year, more than 19,391 visitors scheduled more than 470 visits. Of these 474 groups, 56% were repeat visitors. The majority of new groups learned about this service through word of mouth, the VIP Web site or printed materials such as the Field Trip Planning Guide, which is distributed to all elementary, middle and high school teachers in Wisconsin.
Coordinated a customized visit for 15 representatives from Kuwait University who were gathering ideas for a new College of the Arts on their campus. The group selected UW–Madison as one of only three stops on its United States study tour. Welcomed the entire freshman class (500 students) of Addison Trail High School (Addison, Illinois) over the course of one week to experience student life on a Big Ten campus. Served as the first university to open its doors to the Monona Grove School District’s “Get Out, Get Ahead!” Program, a multicultural student group program designed to expose students in grades 5–12 to the educational resources available within their local communities.
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Four UW–Madison videos were developed in 2007–08 to give Web site visitors a taste of campus scenery, arts, athletics and academics. See vip.wisc.edu/videos.html.
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Overview of Programs and Services
Campus Visit Program
Campus Visit Testimonials
UW-Madison Visitors by Region
3296
462 695 1241 9684
Southwest WI Southeast WI Northeast WI North Central WI Northwest WI Out of state
“I just want to thank you for all your help in planning our visit to UW–Madison. Both the genetics students and the physics students enjoyed the day and learned a lot. I spent the day with the genetics class and [the presenter] did an outstanding job with the students. They didn’t want to leave when it was time to go! I hope we can visit again in the future.”
debbie sosinski, st. Mary’s sPrinGs hiGh school, fond du lac, Wi
4013
“Thank you for planning our four group rotations for our class trip to Madison. Our students really enjoyed their time on campus and your tour guides were excellent. Nothing could have been smoother.”
aMy, bryant eleMentary school, suPerior, Wi
“I wanted to thank you on behalf of myself, the GOGA student group, and the parents for your time and attention during our visit to your campus. You helped make this a beautiful, emotional and truly unforgettable experience for us all. This is the first time EVER many of these kids have had the opportunity to walk through a campus, any campus, let alone one as beautiful as yours. The information you gave, insights you shared, and questions you answered helped to foster an interest that many of these kids didn’t have before.”
carol, Get out Get ahead (GoGa) ProGraM coordinator, Madison, Wi
“Once again, our freshmen had a great awakening when they came to Madison, not only because of the beauty of the place, but also because of the focus and purposefulness of the students heading to class. The comments from our students showed they were impressed, inspired and interested in pursuing higher education. For many of them, this was the first time they ever thought of such a possibility.”
kurt, addison trail hiGh school, addison, il
“Please thank our tour guide for the wonderful tour of the Red Gym. The Boy Scouts in my troop learned much from her about this lovely and historic National Landmark.“
Jeffrey, boy scout trooP 142, racine, Wi
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Overview of Programs and Services
Parent Program
The Parent Program, launched in June 2007, connects parents and families of UW–Madison students to the university so that they can support student success. The Parent Program hinges upon the involvement, input and support from the Parent Program Advisory Committee, as well as strategic partners, including schools, colleges and departments across campus.
New!
Badger Parent Newsletter Launched in fall 2007, the newsletter offers timely campus information, including tips for parents on supporting their college student, news and upcoming events. It is sent five times per year, twice each semester and once in the summer, and is offered in both print and electronic formats. Parent and Family Membership As of July 2008, 6,832 families were registered with the Parent Program. Parents were invited to join in a number of ways: • In June and July 2007, parents of incoming freshmen learned about the program at SOAR. • In spring 2008, postcards were sent to the permanent address of sophomores, juniors and seniors. • In April 2008, postcards were sent to the parents of 2008–09 incoming freshmen, and they were invited to sign up during SOAR.
2007-08 Parent Program membership breakdown by year in school
8% 10% First Second Third Fourth Other 2% 23%
57%
Parent Program Web site (www.parent.wisc.edu) The Web site offers general campus information, important dates, timely reminders, news updates and frequently asked questions. Interactive features include a monthly survey question with results, membership sign-up and a form to submit a question.
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Visits to the site totaled 169,000 in 2007–08. The most popular pages were: Important Dates, Frequently Asked Questions and Financial Matters. August, April and May were the busiest months, with an average of 500 hits per day.
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Overview of Programs and Services
Parent Program
Parent and Family Calendar In summer 2008, parents of new students and parents on the Parent Program mailing list received a 12–month, full-color calendar highlighting important dates and timely reminders, as well as key milestones and transitions pertaining to all UW–Madison students. The calendar also included a first-year experience section.
Parent Program Testimonials
“Thanks for the new calendar! It’s wonderful to have all the important dates and deadlines right at hand without navigating the various departments on the school Web site.”
Mother of a first-year student
“The Parent Program has been so helpful in staying connected to important things going on at school. I love the surveys and reading the results. Keep up the great work!”
father of a first-year student
“Please know that the Parent Program has been an invaluable resource for me!”
Parent of a second-year student
Phone and e-mail hotline for parents (1–877–262–3977
or parent@uwmad.wisc.edu) Parent Program professional staff personally assisted 1,541 parents from June 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008. Types of questions varied depending upon the time of year. The most common questions in 2007–08 were regarding:
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Academic matters Finances First-Year Parents’ Weekend and/or football tickets Homesickness Joining the Parent Program or updating parent contact information Safety precautions, resources and programs SOAR and placement tests Students with acute and/or chronic illnesses University Housing
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Overview of Programs and Services
Outreach Programs
In partnerships with various campus units, Visitor & Information Programs provides outreach programs that offer engaging and educational events for the campus and community.
Greenbush Day March 2008
Science Expeditions March 2008
Arts Night Out October 2007
VIP, along with the Arts Institute, developed a unique event that invited students and the general public to sample an array of arts programming that is regularly offered by campus galleries, theaters, and various music and arts groups. Arts Night Out was a major success that took place at locations around campus, including the new Welcome Center. More than 3,500 people attended this event.
In an effort to bring the public to campus and share science with Wisconsin, VIP partnered with Science Alliance to present Science Expeditions on campus. VIP staff serve a key role in the event by welcoming guests and providing visitors with information about the university and the Madison area. More than 2,000 people attended this event.
VIP’s Welcome Center hosted the second annual Greenbush Day, which celebrated the historic and culturally diverse Greenbush neighborhood’s past, present and future through storytelling, musical performances and exhibits. This year’s theme was “What Makes A Community?” Located within the Greenbush neighborhood, the Welcome Center housed the successful event. More than 275 people attended this event.
Launchpad June 2008
Wisconsin Wellness March 2008
VIP partnered with the Division of Recreational Sports to offer an outreach program designed to educate the campus and the community about the benefits of health and wellness. This unique program featured educational and interactive activities related to nutrition, exercise, relaxation, and the overall importance of physical and mental fitness for students, faculty, staff and members of the community. More than 2,500 people attended this event.
VIP partnered with Launchpad Wisconsin to bring talented musicians and visitors to campus for the 2008 Garage Band State Finals at the Wisconsin Union Theater. The Launchpad competition “celebrated the reach of music education.” More than 1,000 people attended this event.
Produced by Visitor & Information Programs, July 2008. Photos by University Communications and Visitor & Information Programs
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