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CoRPs: Commodore Recruitment Programs

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions depends on Vanderbilt alumni to help identify and recruit talented high school students for possible admission to Vanderbilt. Simply put, the more active our alumni, the farther the reach of the admissions office. As we continue to seek a diverse population of academically talented students, we invite you to join Commodore Recruitment Programs (CoRPs) in this exciting and important endeavor.

There are several ways to get involved with CoRPs: interviewing, college fairs, and speaking engagements.

CoRPs Interviewing

CoRPs Interviewing allows students who have applied for admission to Vanderbilt to speak with a Vanderbilt alumnus. This is an excellent way to be involved in the admissions process and give back to Vanderbilt University. CoRPs interviewing allows the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to reach many more students in a one-on-one setting than would otherwise be possible. In the current era of increasingly competitive selective admissions, adding a personalized perspective of Vanderbilt becomes even more important to our mission of recruiting a highly diverse group of talented students. Last year alumni conducted 3,234 interviews, accounting for 19% of the applicant pool. After each interview, the alumni interviewer submits a report to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions which becomes part of the applicant’s admission file; these reports are evaluative in nature and can be helpful in the admissions process. Complete the CoRPs enrollment form to register as a CoRPs interviewer.

CoRPs College Fairs

CoRPs members often represent Vanderbilt at local college fairs in their area. Both Vanderbilt alumni and parents of a current Vanderbilt student may participate in CoRPs college fairs. Attending college fairs allows us to reach many prospective students and their families in the student’s local setting and is a fun way for alumni to stay connected to their alma mater. Once you enroll as a volunteer for CoRPs college fairs, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions will notify you by email throughout the year to invite you to represent Vanderbilt at local college fairs. Each time you receive an email, you will have the opportunity to accept or decline the invitation. Once you agree to attend the fair, the admissions office will mail you materials and detailed information. Complete the CoRPs enrollment form to begin representing Vanderbilt University at college fairs in your area.

CoRPs Speakers

CoRPS speakers talk about their experiences with Vanderbilt University at various recruitment functions throughout the year. Both Vanderbilt alumni and parents of a current Vanderbilt student may participate in CoRPs speaking engagements. Every August the Office of Undergraduate Admissions hosts the Vanderbilt Road Show, a 90-minute information session held in approximately 60 cities ared the country for prospective students and their families. Then in April, Vanderbilt hosts receptions in cities around the world for admitted students. At both of these events, we invite CoRPs members to speak briefly about their Vanderbilt experiences and to be available to answer questions. Please complete the CoRPs enrollment form to participate as a CoRPs speaker.

Troubleshooting

If you are experiencing issues with our forms or emails, please see our Troubleshooting Section below for assistance.

> ELIGIBILITY

Who is eligible to participate as an interviewer?

An alumnus or alumna of Vanderbilt University who:

  • Enjoys meeting with prospective students from diverse backgrounds
  • Has regular access to internet and to email
  • Is willing to spend about 45 minutes per interview
  • Will spend 15-30 minutes per interview report
  • Agrees to participate in online training
  • Does not have a child applying to Vanderbilt for the upcoming academic year

Who is eligible to participate as a CoRPs College Fair Representative?

An alumnus or alumna of Vanderbilt University and/or parent(s) of a current Vanderbilt student who:

  • Enjoys meeting with prospective students from diverse backgrounds
  • Has regular access to internet and to email
  • Is willing to spend approximately 2 hours per college fair
  • Agrees to participate in online training

Who is eligible to participate as a CoRPs Speaker?

An alumnus or alumna of Vanderbilt University and/or parent(s) of a current Vanderbilt student who:

  • Is open to meeting with diverse prospective students from diverse backgrounds
  • Has regular access to internet and to email
  • Is willing to spend approximately 90 minutes per speaking engagement
  • Agrees to participate in online training

> EXPECTATIONS

Basic Expectations and Guidelines of a CoRPs Interviewer

  • Be willing to conduct at least 5 interviews during the season
  • Check your email often
  • Respond to student emails as quickly as possible and use an automated "out of office" reply if you cannot check your email for more than 3 consecutive days
  • Represent Vanderbilt in the best possible light
  • Treat every prospective student with respect and sensitivity
  • Take the time to review the latest Vanderbilt information
  • Keep all student information confidential
  • Be encouraging and resourceful, but always refrain from making comments regarding the likelihood of admission
  • Conduct every interview in a public space
  • Conduct only face-to-face interviews; telephone or internet-based interviews are not permitted

Basic Expectations and Guidelines of a CoRPs College Representative:

  • Check your email often
  • Represent Vanderbilt in the best possible light
  • Treat every prospective student and their family with respect and sensitivity
  • Take the time to review the latest Vanderbilt information
  • Arrive 30-60 minutes before the start of the college fair
  • Stand behind your college fair table rather than in front of it
  • Remain for the duration of the fair
  • Share your personal experiences with Vanderbilt and encourage students and families to contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions with more detailed questions
  • Be encouraging and resourceful, but always refrain from making comments regarding the likelihood of admission
  • Encourage interested students to fill out an inquiry card so that they may receive more information from Vanderbilt

Basic Expectations and Guidelines of a CoRPs Speaker:

  • Check your email often
  • Represent Vanderbilt in the best possible light
  • Treat every prospective student and their family with respect and sensitivity
  • Take the time to review the latest Vanderbilt information
  • Arrive to the event 15-30 minutes early in order to meet with the representatives from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions
  • Be encouraging and resourceful, but always refrain from making comments regarding the likelihood of admission

> IMPORTANT DATES AND GUIDELINES

Important Dates and Deadlines:

In order for alumni interviews to be useful in the admissions process, it is critical that both prospective students and CoRPs volunteers adhere to published deadlines. Please be aware that if the Undergraduate Admissions Office does not receive interview reports by the published deadline, we cannot guarantee that information will be used during the review process. As you are accepting interview requests, be sure that you will have the time to complete and submit a report by the deadline.

Students must submit applications for admission by the following dates:

  • Early Decision I: November 1, 2009
  • Early Decision II: January 3, 2010
  • Regular Decision: January 3, 2010

Students must request an interview by the following dates:

  • Early Decision I applicants: November 6, 2009
  • Early Decision II applicants: January 8, 2010
  • Regular Decision applicants: January 15, 2010

CoRPs Interviewers must submit reports by the following dates:

  • For Early Decision I applicants: November 20, 2009
  • For Early Decision II applicants: January 22, 2010
  • For Regular Decision applicants: February 12, 2010

> INTERVIEWER REPORT FORM

> TROUBLESHOOTING

If you are experiencing any issues with the interviewer form, we advise you to try some of the troubleshooting options listed below:

If you are experiencing trouble accessing the report form through links on this site:

  1. Use and complete the embedded form in the "Interviewer Report Form" Section.
  2. Copy and paste https://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/form/exscvu on your browser of choice. Do not click on the link.
  3. If a window pops up that asks you to "display the nonsecure itmes," please click YES.

If you are experiencing trouble submitting the form:

  1. You may have pop-up blockers in your browser that is preventing your submission. Disable your pop-up blockers in your browser before submitting.

If you are experiencing trouble receiving an email confirmation after submitting the form:

  1. Please ensure that the email you included in the form is correct, accurate, and active.
  2. Your mail account and/or server may be blocking the confirmation email from being received in your inbox. If you believe that our confirmation emails are being blocked, please do the following:
    • Actively check your spam inbox for any emails coming from corps@vanderbilt.edu.
    • For corporate emails: Please see your email account administrator to unblock any spam filters from corps@vanderbilt.edu from your servers. Then add this email to your email safe list. You can also add the whole @vanderbilt.edu domain to your safe list.
    • For web mail users (Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, et. al.): Please add corps@vanderbilt.edu to your email safe list.

For more information on how to receive emails from Vanderbilt, please visit http://www.vanderbilt.edu/admissions/stay-in-contact.php.

If you are still experiencing issues with the form:

Please provide the following information and send it to david.abling@vanderbilt.edu and CC corps@vanderbilt.edu.

  1. What internet browser and browser version are you using? (for example, Internet Explorer version 7)
  2. Steps you took that got you to your issue. For example:
    • Went to main CoRPs page
    • Clicked on interviewer form link
    • Received page error after clicking on link (and please provide a screenshot of this error page)
  3. What operating system you are using (OSX, Windows Vista, XP, etc.)
  4. Specify whether you are having issues accessing or submitting the form, or whether you did not receive a confirmation email after submission.

> RESOURCES AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Internal Resources

For assistance with CoRPs interviewing, please contact the CoRPs team at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions:

  • CoRPs team: Joy Beth Bodie, Alex Gano, Kylie Stanley and Julianna Staples
  • CoRPs email: corps@vanderbilt.edu
  • CoRPS phone: (615) 343-8286

External Resources

Interviewer Documentation

Helpful Links

Schools

CoRPs Training and Preparation Materials

PowerPoint Documents

NOTE: All PowerPoint materials are version 2007. You may be required to download a converter to view this in PowerPoint 2003.

Word Documents

 

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