Ask Me! Still a Campus Favorite
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s spring semester kicked off on Monday, Jan. 8, but not without the help of staff volunteers joining in a campus-favorite tradition. Ask Me is a biannual, beginning of the semester service where faculty and staff members volunteer at strategic areas around the Stratton Quad holding a sign that reads “Ask Me!” This initiative from the Office of Student Affairs helps orient students and guests who are new to the campus by introducing them to seasoned, sign-wielding members of the campus community.
From recognizing a telltale sign of a lost student, to providing an accessible way for newcomers to ask questions, the Ask Me sessions are enormously effective.
“The first day of class can bring on a lot of anxiety for students, especially navigating our campus for the first time,” said Lindsay Winkeler, new student transitions coordinator for the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. “Our volunteers are very dedicated. This Ask Me session was very cold and windy, but I still had volunteers showing up, braving the weather to help our students.”
Volunteers signed up for half hour shifts to hold the Ask Me signs across campus grounds. Near freezing temperature and gusty cold winds did not seem to deter the veteran volunteers.
“This was definitely the chilliest time I have been an Ask Me volunteer,” said Cindy Scarsdale, events administrator associate from the College of Arts and Sciences. “I enjoy interacting with students on their first day of class, seeing their excitement and interest, and pointing them in the right direction when possible. If being a bit on the cold side makes their first day smoother, it is all worth it!”
According to Winkeler, it brings positive outcomes and a large staff turnout.
“Staff elect to volunteer because it is an easy way to make a difference with a low-level commitment,” Winkeler said. “It takes the entire campus' help to welcome our new students. Plus, this is an easy way for staff to see a lot of the new students, especially if they don't typically interact with them.”
For one volunteer, it was a way to carry on a tradition on which they once relied on.
“As an alumna, I find it so rewarding and fun to do things that I remember as a student,” said Bridgette Connolly, marketing specialist in University Housing. “Ask Me volunteers helped me find my classes my first year, so I wanted to provide the same support to new students. It is such a simple task of providing a student with directions to a building, but it relieves so much of their stress. That warmed my heart on that very cold day!”
Warming hearts, carrying traditions and meeting students makes for a great start for the spring semester. For more information about how to be an Ask Me volunteer in the fall, visit the Welcome Weekend webpage.
Photo: Elementary Education major Lena Stein from Mount Olive, Illinois getting direction from Bridgette Connolly of Housing
