Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Recruitment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Tennessee Tech trustees hear from Trailblazers student tour guides marking five‑year program
Summary
Three student tour guides told the Board of Trustees how Tennessee Tech’s five‑year Trailblazers program personalizes campus visits, reaches about 128–130 families per week at full capacity, and serves as a paid, scholarship‑supported recruitment tool while students identify parking as the program’s common tour‑day drawback.
Kaley Martin, a Trailblazers captain, told the Tennessee Technological University Board of Trustees that the five‑year old Trailblazers tour program gives prospective families a one‑on‑one experience tailored to students’ intended majors and hometowns. “We see about, at full capacity, we see about 128, 130 families a week,” she said, noting the program runs two tours a day on several weekdays and conducts larger group visits on other days.
Jimmy Guadalupe, the admissions office media coordinator and Trailblazer, said the program is scholarship‑supported and helps students both financially and professionally. “We have to go through interviews… it is a scholarship position. The university pays us to do this, which really helps us as students,” he said.
Students told trustees the personal match—placing a visitor with a tour guide in the same major or from a similar hometown—helps families connect with the campus and often closes the decision. “Cookeville is not Cookeville without Tennessee Tech,” Martin said, explaining how local community ties make the campus welcoming to new students.
Trustees asked the students about common negatives raised on tours; parking proved the most frequent concern. Students acknowledged it’s the program’s most asked about issue and described how they reassure families and point to campus improvements.
Chair Rose and other trustees praised the Trailblazers as an important part of recruitment and campus life, and students thanked university leadership for support. The Trailblazers’ presentation was followed by additional student and trustee reports in the meeting agenda.
