Trinity College Admissions Volunteer Program Portal and Interview Manual Accessing the AVP Portal..2 AVP Dashboard..3 Claiming Process.4 Interview Report Submission 5 Interview Resources.. 7 Sample Interview Write-Up 10
2 Accessing the AVP Portal The URL for the portal is: https://connect.trincoll.edu/portal/alumni. Your username and temporary password will be sent electronically to your email address on file. Enter your username and temporary password, followed by the Login button to gain access to the site. Once you enter the site, you will be prompted to change your temporary password after your initial login. Tips/Notes: Do not copy and paste your password into the field, rather type it into the required field. Please use Google Chrome as your web browser. Please verify that you are using the correct email that is associated with your account. If you forget your password, you can select the Forgot Your Password link to reset. An email will be sent with your new password. Any issues with access into the portal please contact the Admissions Office at admissions-volunteer@trincoll.edu or 860-297-2186.
3 AVP Dashboard After logging in, the landing page will show the following: Your preferred address that we will be using to show available interview requests within a 60-mile radius. Available interviews for you to claim. Interviews assigned to you or claimed. Links to Admissions Volunteer Program resources. Tips/Notes: We will email notices when we receive interview requests in your area. Interview requests will be received throughout the fall. Please check back regularly for updates to the available interviews in your area.
4 Claiming Process To get additional information about the prospective interviews you will be required to click each name. Various demographic information will be displayed in a pop-up window. Once you have decided on a student to interview, select the Claim button at the bottom of the pop-window. This will then move them into the My Interview Assignments section. This is where you will be able to access their contact information. Tips/Notes: You can sort the available interviews by name, location, or distance. Claimed interview requests will be removed from the Available Interviewees section for all volunteers.
5 Interview Report Submission After the interview takes place, you will need to file a report via the portal, so we can attach it to their application. You will select File Report under the assigned interviewee to bring up the report form. In the event that you will be not be able to interview your assigned/claimed student, please unclaim them, which will move them back into the Available Interviewees section making them available to other volunteers in the area. Tips/Note: Prospective interviewees have placed their requests several days before you may have logged into the portal. Please plan to contact your claimed/assigned interviewees within three days of claiming them.
6 Interview Report Submission Please submit your interview evaluation within two weeks of your interview. This will allow us enough time to include your evaluation in our committee discussion. Sample interview write-ups are available at the end of this manual to help guide your report. Tips/Note: We will periodically send out reminders for the evaluation from your interview throughout the fall
7 Interview Resources Admissions Volunteer Interviews Thank you for taking the time to interview prospective students for the Trinity College Admissions Office. With your help, we are able to reach more students and promote Trinity in a meaningful way. In the following pages, you will find helpful tips on how to conduct an interview. Setting Up the Interview After claiming your interviewee, plan to contact within three days. If you are unable to conduct an interview, please log back into the system and unclaim the request, so they can be moved back into other volunteers available interview area. When scheduling the interview, please note that it should be conducted in a public place (i.e. coffee shop, restaurant, etc.). While each interview will be unique, an interview should range in time from 30-45 minutes. Interviewing Prospective Students A successful interview should not be a series of questions and answers, but instead a conversation that yields information that may not be found elsewhere in the applicant s file. It is one of the few means by which readers can gain a personal sense of the interviewees and it gives the candidates an opportunity to explain unusual circumstances that may have affected their secondary school years. Students should leave their interviews feeling like they have been welcomed, heard, valued, and given the opportunity to share the information that is most important to them. Below you will find a list of questions that will help you get started with your interview. Keep in mind that often it is not the question, but the way you follow up a student s response, that elicits the best information. Academic: Do not expect your interviewee to bring a resume. This is an opportunity to find out what the student is passionate about and where they think their strengths are without having their grades in front of you. Tell me about a favorite course and why. Tell me about a course, paper, or project that has been difficult or very challenging for you. How did you deal with this challenge? Tell me about a writing assignment or project you ve completed and enjoyed. What are you looking forward to studying in college? If I were talking to your teachers how would they describe you in the classroom? Extracurricular: Much like that academic section, this is a time to get to know the student and what they are passionate about when they are not in school. How do you like to spend your time outside of the classroom? What activity would you say is the most meaningful to you? Why?
8 What activity has caused you to step outside of your comfort zone? What would you find yourself doing if everything in your schedule was cancelled for the day? What would you be interested in getting involved with on campus? Personal: This is an opportunity to learn more about the student s character and personality. How would you handle it if you and your roommate could not get along or had nothing in common? Tell me about one of the hardest things you ever have had to do. How did you go about doing it? As you ve thought about starting fresh, without anyone knowing you, is there something that you d like to change about yourself? If you could place a post-it note anywhere on your application to highlight, elaborate on, explain, or clarify something in your file, where would it be placed and why? Please finish every interview by asking if there s anything that the candidate would like to add to the information he or she has provided. Leave time for them to ask you any questions that were not previously answered. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS TO AVOID When interviewing prospective students do not ask questions regarding: Race or ethnicity Religion Socioeconomic status Sexuality Learning issues or any type of handicap Political affiliation Recruitment for sports* * Trinity follows strict recruiting guidelines through NESCAC and NCAA. The Athletics Department has instructed us not to talk about athletic recruiting in any capacity. Recruiting contact means representing or promoting a specific sport or athletics in general, so if volunteers are visiting a high school or a student s home or the student meets them somewhere, they cannot talk athletics. If the student mentions interest in a sport, you can note that, and tell the student to contact the coach directly. They can explain that you cannot represent Athletics from a recruiting perspective, since it violates conference rules around off-campus contact. You may certainly talk about the student s current involvement and what they find meaningful out of it, but do not promote Trinity Athletics. In addition, please do not ask: What are your grades/scores? Where else are you applying? How high is Trinity on your list?
9 If an interviewee mentions any of the above and seems to want to discuss concerns, experiences, or issues, it is fine to engage in conversation, showing sensitivity and empathy. Do not allow yourself to be drawn into uncomfortable conversations or answer in a way that might be interpreted as discriminatory. Always feel free to tell students that their question or concern might best be answered by an admissions counselor and encourage them to contact us at (860) 297-2186 or admissions-volunteer@trincoll.edu. THE INTERVIEW EVALUATION Once the interview is finished, please take a few minutes to write an evaluative narrative of the interview. The interview evaluation form is designed to highlight the three main areas of a student s life: academics, extracurricular activities, and personal attributes. The last section will ask you to give your overall impressions of your interviewee, please be candid with your response. As you are writing, remember that details are an important part of the interview and the evaluation should reflect that. Using quotes from the student is an effective way to tell the story in an informative way. The questions below are to guide you as you write the evaluation, but are not all encompassing for what you will talk about in an interview. These evaluations are very important as we read the applications, so please submit them as soon as possible and not later than February 1. Sample write-ups are available at the end of this manual. Things to think about as you write the evaluation for each section Academic What would our faculty think of this student? What classes does the student enjoy? Did the student have a favorite project? How did this student overcome adversity in the classroom? What is the student interested in studying in college? Extracurricular How do they fill their time? Will this student impact our campus? What kind of role(s) do you see this student playing here? Does this student have the makeup of a campus leader? Personal How do you think this student will fit in socially here? Will this student be a positive or negative presence here? Was there anything that was unique about the student? Overall Summarize the interview and give any final impressions that the admissions office should know.
10 Sample 1: Narrative format Sample Interview Write-ups In terms of academics, Anne showed interest in many different subjects, which she noted was surprising, since her interests lie within the arts. She started by talking about her English class, and took a lot of time to describe how fantastic her teacher is. When describing each class that she has loved, she always talked about how much she loved her teachers. She talked about how her English teacher assigned the best writing assignments. She elaborated on this and described the project, which included picking a random number between 1 and 500 and then going to the rolling stones top 500 albums of all time and writing a paper about the album that she selected. She ended up writing a poetry anthology based on John Lennon s Imagine album. She said that she had always struggled with writing before this project and now she is always excited to write. A class that Anne is looking forward to next year is AP psychology. She said that she is interested in it because she wants to understand the way that people work, specifically for her work as an actress. One way that Anne has kept busy outside of the classroom was being an assistant director for one of the drama productions at her school. She said that no student has ever been offered a position like that before and that it was one of the most amazing opportunities that she has ever been afforded. She said that it pushed her to learn many different leadership styles because each member of the cast and crew was very different from one another and she had to know how to interact with each person. She also takes voice lessons and acting lessons on the weekends. And finally she babysits, which she says is the most important to her, because she loves kids and taking care of people. When asked about a time that she stepped out of her comfort zone, she talked about her J-term trip to France, in which she had to go to the doctor, and the doctor did not speak any English. In college, she hopes to be involved in the theater program, and is really excited to try a lot of new things. When asked what she would do with unlimited time and money, Anne said that she would first buy her mom a house on the beach, because her mom has always wanted to live by the ocean. She then said she would pay for college, get a dog, go on a big vacation with her family and friends and donate a lot of money to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and to the Make a Wish Foundation. She said that the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is particularly important to her because she has it and would like to give money to find a cure for all the people that have it. When asked what she would do with a free day, she said that she would fly to LA to visit her uncle, because he has amazing stories and is interested in film like she is. Overall, Anne would be a fantastic fit a Trinity. She is enthusiastic about participating in all aspects of the theater dance department, and she is also interested in exploring other disciplines. She brought up multiple times how much she loves Trinity. Academics: Sample 2: Bullet point format Academic interests lie in many areas, but especially notes interest in the arts. Described an English project where she wrote a poetry anthology based on John Lennon s Imagine album.
11 She is excited for AP psychology in senior year because she wants to understand the way that people work, specifically for her work as an actress. Extracurricular: She was selected as an assistant director for one of the drama productions at her school. She learned valuable leadership skills as well as how to interact with others. She noted she is the first student to hold this position. She loves to babysit because she loves kids and taking care of people. She also takes voice and acting lessons. Personal: Anne has a caring personality and very enthusiastic. When asked what she would do if she had unlimited time and money she said she would get involved with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and to Make a Wish Foundation. CF is a cause close to her heart because she has CF and she wants to make a difference in other people who have it. Overall: After our conversation, I think Anne would be a good fit for the community. I could see her getting involved in theater and different community service opportunities.