The welcome mat is out and well-used at UD’s Visitors Center

Ever wonder what keeps UD running smoothly? Up Close & Personnel profiles the employees who keep UD ticking around the clock throughout the year. This week, the focus is on UD’s Visitors Center.

Michael McCloskey, assistant director of admissions

8:59 a.m., Aug. 24, 2005--For most prospective students, their families and other campus visitors, the Visitors Center at 196 South College Ave. is their first introduction to the University of Delaware. Warm and welcoming with an old-fashioned front porch and home-like atmosphere, the house was built in 1890 and restored and renovated about 100 years later to serve as UD’s Visitors Center.

The trio responsible for running the center, with the help of 200 student Blue Hen Ambassadors--Michael McCloskey, assistant director of admissions; Imani Powell, admissions counselor; and Florene Henderson, service coordinator--are as friendly and welcoming as the house itself.

McCloskey was a tour guide at his alma mater, Mansfield University in Pennsylvania, and decided that working in admissions was what he wanted to do. “There are always variety and new challenges,” he said.

Part of the admissions team, McCloskey does it all--visiting high schools, reading applications and helping with decisions on admission and assisting with special weekends and admission events. He helped coordinate DelaWorld new student orientation, which hosted 3,728 future Blue Hens this year.

Imani Powell, admissions counselor

Powell came up through the ranks, so to speak, to his current job as admissions counselor. A 2002 UD graduate, Powell served as a Blue Hen Ambassador while a student and became familiar with the workings of the admissions office. When the opportunity came, he took a job in admissions. He is still a student at UD, working on his doctorate in educational leadership.

“I really enjoy my job,” Powell said. “The focus changes every few months with different priorities.”

McCloskey and Powell work closely together, selecting the 200 Blue Hen Ambassadors who serve as tour guides and also respond to the thousands of e-mails that come to the center. “We choose 60 to 70 new Blue Hen Ambassadors each fall from 300 applicants and train them to join our returning ambassadors. We are like a family here and all work together,” McCloskey said.

“Visitors are interested in my talk when I welcome them here as part of the tours, but they also want to talk to students and get their input about the University,” McCloskey said. He also talks to students individually who request interviews or have in-depth questions in his office, featuring his extensive collection of Pez dispensers, which he began collecting as a child.

Senior Roberto Torres

Powell is responsible for recruitment of new students in southeastern Pennsylvania and will soon travel to high schools in that area, working with guidance counselors to keep them up to date on procedures and programs. Later on, he will help with applications and then follow up with students who have gained acceptance to UD.

“The University of Delaware is an institution I value, and I like sharing my pride in the school,” Powell said. “My job in the summer is working primarily with the Blue Hen Ambassadors and prospective students, while Mike’s focus is welcoming incoming freshmen and transfer students.”

Powell has responsibility for the Visitors Center e-mail project, training Blue Hen Ambassadors to answer the thousands of e-mails from prospective and incoming students. “When you consider that UD receives 23,000 applications for admission, that’s a lot of e-mails,” he said.

Blue Hen Ambassadors are in the front lines interacting with prospective and new students. Senior Roberto Torres said he enjoyed being a Blue Hen Ambassador for two years. He also helped with DelaWorld this summer. “It’s fun and exciting, talking with people and trying to answer their questions, and I also enjoy socializing with other Blue Hen Ambassadors,” he said.

Junior David Gibson

Junior David Gibson, another Blue Hen Ambassador, staffs the computer, answering the constant stream of e-mails the office receives. “Many of the questions are about things like deadlines and housing,” he said.

Henderson is the third member of the Visitors Center staff. Under a portrait of Francis Alison, the founder of the 18th-Century academy that eventually became UD, she is the meeter and greeter at the front desk and also fields the constantly ringing telephone. She has worked for admissions for 24 years and is well-qualified to answer the myriad questions and requests that come her way.

Flexible and friendly, Henderson has learned to do several things at once. While talking to a potential graduate student in Utah on the phone, she takes times to offer advice on lunching on Main Street to a family and hands out maps to someone else. She also helps organize the stream of visitors who arrive on campus for tours.

Florene Henderson, service coordinator

“We get a variety of requests,” she said. “Some people think we are the city of Newark visitors center, and we get calls from families who have gone by mistake to Delaware State University in Dover and need help locating us.

“You have to be patient and have a listening ear. The Visitors Center is like no other place on campus,” Henderson said.

Article by Sue Moncure
Photos by Sarah Simon, AS ’06

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