Week of Welcome Volunteer

Thank you so much for signing up to be a Week of Welcome Volunteer! We can't do this without you! 

As a way to show "We Care" and are "Better Together" UNT faculty and staff volunteer to help students on the first class day of the semester navigate the university environment. 

Volunteers provide students with directions if lost, refer them to campus resources and information, and answer any questions they may have to help ease the burden of transitioning into a new school year.

Date: Monday, January 13 - Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Time: 7:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m

Volunteer Sign up Form

All volunteers should have received an email with their volunteer time and location. If something has changed, please e-mail Brittany Landau or call 940-565-4198.

• Union Circle
• North of Union between Union and Sage Halls
• Fouts Parking Lot (Eagle Lot 20)
• Highland St. between BLB and Eagle Landing
• Discovery Park (between wings B and D)

Due to the cold weather that normally occurs during our spring Week of Welcome tents, all volunteers will be provided a green “Ask Me” button to wear on their coat. Please leave these at the table after your shift for the next volunteers.

For staff who are unable to volunteer due to traffic in your office during the first week of classes (e.g. Student Accounting, Financial Aid, etc.), you can request 2-inch “Ask Me” buttons by e-mailing Brittany Landau or calling 940-565-4198. These will be available while supplies last.

1. If you are the first to arrive in the morning at 7:30, I will be stopping by each tent to deliver supplies.
2. Each subsequent shift should wait until the volunteer for the next shift has arrived. 
3. Upon arriving at your tent, you can put on a button if you would like
4. Feel free to ask the volunteers before you how it has been going.
5. Be sure your radio is on and accessible and the volume is up you so can hear it, if needed. The station on the radio should not need to be changed by any volunteer but it is always good to double check.
6. Once you have located the radio, please radio me by clicking the button on the side of the radio and letting me know your tent location and that you have arrived. (I.e., 12:00 p.m. Union Circle Shift has arrived, or something like that) I only need to first person for that shift to radio me to let me know. I just want to be sure the table is covered.
7. Try your best to keep count of the students you engage with. There will be a sheet of paper and a pen available to tally the number of students you talk with. This is for us to estimate the engagement we have with folks.
8. Most students stop by the tent to ask for directions or with questions. You will have plenty of documents at your disposal at the table if students have questions. If you have a question you can't answer, try Google first. If that doesn't help, feel free to call me and I can try my best!
9. Our goal is to be as welcoming as possible to our students on campus. Many of these students may have never stepped foot on our campus and we want to make sure we are accessible and able to answer questions to the best of our abilities. Friendliness is key to making sure we provide a welcoming environment to our students!
10. Once your shift is over, please wait until the next shift has arrived before you leave. If no one has arrived and you need to leave, please radio me and I will do my best to run over to cover until someone arrives.
11. Our last shift ends at 2:30 p.m. Once the shift is over, please neatly pack up the materials and place them in the boxes provided. I will come by to pick up the materials around 2:30 p.m. If you can wait until I arrive to leave, that would be great! 

Emergency Procedures- Each tent will have a few items to help you in case an emergency arises. Each tent will have a radio. I will be available via the radio throughout the day. Additionally, Emergency Management folks have access to the radio as well. In an emergency, we will inform you using the radio at each tent. Additionally, each tent will have a laminated document of emergency procedures in case you or a student needs them.

Giveaways Available at Each Tent - There may be giveaway items available at the tents. Items are only available for students and once we run out, we will not replenish. If your department has items you would like to giveaway, you are welcome to bring them to your tent.

Other Information Available at Your Tent - At each tent will be additional information to help you answer student questions. Based upon what we learned in the past, most questions will be about bus routes, bus stop locations, and building locations. As such, the following will be available at your tent/table:

• Campus map for directional purposes. From a sustainability perspective, you will only have a few copies to keep at the table; please do not give away all of your copies. You can also encourage students to put in the specific building name in their Google Map and it will provide them with walking directions.
• Route Number Cheat Sheet for Buses
• “Follow Us” sheets that have QR codes corresponding with key services' social media accounts and websites. Almost all smartphones will automatically read QR codes so all the students need to do is open up their camera and take a photo of the QR code to connect to the accounts/websites they want to visit.