Possibly the most important responsibility of an ambassador is to be
logging into the program on a regular basis. We ask that ambassadors log
into the program at least a few times every week. These sessions do not
have to be long, it can even be as little as 5 or 10 minutes at a time.
Logging in consistently like this keeps ambassadors engaged, enables
them to respond quickly to any messages that may have been posted either
on the public forum or privately, and increases the likelihood that
their profile will be regularly updated. Logging in consistently is the
most basic responsibility of any ambassador and it is often the
determinant of their effectiveness.
Forum
Ambassadors are asked to post on the forum regularly. To facilitate
this, we can provide a schedule of topics to be discussed each week. This
schedule can be used as a general guide (ambassadors can of course post
unscheduled topics) or it can be used to assign topics to specific
ambassadors. If you choose to have topics assigned to each ambassador
then these assignments can also be linked to a shared Google Calendar
which will provide a reminder notification to the ambassadors when it is
their turn to post.
When it is not an individual ambassadors turn to start the topic for a
specific week, they should instead be responding to the topics started
by other ambassadors. Responding to other ambassador's posts creates a
depth to the information provided and it also helps to keep the
conversation going.
In addition to posting on the topics provided in the topic schedule,
ambassadors should also be responding to any user comments or questions
that may be posted.
Direct Messaging
Ambassadors will receive a notification email whenever they receive a
direct message from a user. These messages are very important and they
should be responded to as soon as possible.
Ambassadors also have the ability to send direct messages to users
through the system. By going to the "members" or "classmates" page (the
title may vary based on your program), ambassadors can access the
profiles of any validated user*. The most effective direct messaging
campaigns utilize the intelligence of the program to guide the
messaging. For example: sending messages to users who have had an
activity decline, messaging users who have started but not completed a
certain process (an application, registration, or deposit), or messaging
users who have engaged with a specific type of content which may be of
interest to you (visit registration, scholarship application, etc). You
can access this intelligence can be accessed directly through the
reporting center or it can be provided by the EL team.
*Note: only ambassadors and administrators have access to the users full name name search features by default.
Notifications
If you find that users are posting questions in the forum and
ambassadors are not responding as quickly as you would like, there is an
option to send a notification message to ambassadors (in mass or
individually) to alert them to the new posts. Please let us know if you
would like to enable this feature for one or all of your ambassadors.
Questions and Suggestions
Ambassadors have a very unique prospective on these programs as they
are in the programs on a regular basis and they are very close to the
demographic of the average program user. For this reason, we recommend
providing an outlet for ambassadors to bring any questions or
suggestions they may have. This is normally a member of the admissions
staff that they can go to should they have a question about what to do
in a particular situation (maybe they don't know the answer to a user's
question) or a suggestion for something to add to your program. In
addition to an admissions staff member, ambassadors are also encouraged
to contact our staff at any time should they have any questions.