Earlier this month, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions made the position of tour guide a paid position, in the midst of a transition to virtual programming and in an effort to foster greater representation. Previously, it was only considered a volunteer position.
Jason Rathman, assistant director of admissions, explained that the change was made to eliminate barriers for students who had to choose between volunteering with the admissions office and acquiring a paid job elsewhere.
He added that by making it a paid position, there would be increased access to the role and, in turn, a group that is more representative of the university's student population.
“With current students being one of the most cited reasons for prospective students applying and eventually enrolling at Tufts, we decided to start compensating our tour guides as a means to expand access to the position, and, in turn, who is represented,” Rathman wrote in an email to the Daily.
Emily Lazorchak, chair of Tufts Tour Guides, stressed the goal of increasing representation among the group.
“The goal of changing tour guiding to a paid position is to make it a more accessible opportunity for students and help our program be more representative and inclusive of the many identities and backgrounds that make up the Tufts community,” Lazorchak, a senior, wrote in an email to the Daily.
Curry Brinson, the diversity and recruitment co-chair of Tufts Tour Guides, spoke highly of the development. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, resulting travel restrictions and university policies, tour guides haveshifted their tours to an online format.
“It’s really nice that tour guides can be compensated for the invaluable work that they do for the University and I’m personally really happy that we’re getting compensated for our efforts,” Brinson, a junior, said.
According to Rathman, the admissions office’s decision to begin compensating tour guides is not related to its shift to virtual programming.
“While the shift to virtual programming coincided with the decision to start paying tour guides, the decisions were made separately,” Rathman said. “We had decided to implement tour guiding as a paid program before we finalized our fall programming plans.”
However, the move to an online format did lead to a reduction in active tour guides this semester, according to Rathman.
“The need to decrease the amount of active tour guides was a logistical necessity in our virtual space,” Rathman said. “We are offering fewer tours than we would during a typical fall semester, with only two tours per day Monday through Saturday.”
Lazorchak echoed Rathman's statements, emphasizing that when tours were in person and on campus, it was necessary to have a large number of tour guides, in order to keep each tour group small.
“When tours were given in-person, it was possible to have several tour guides giving a tour at each of those times, which helped keep groups small,” she said. “With virtual tours, we have a higher visitor-to-guide ratio ... there are now only two tour guides assigned to each tour time.”
Lazorchak added that there were roughly120 active tour guides last semester. This semester there are only 40.
The admissions office is committed to continuing to pay tour guides through the return to on-campus tours and in-person visits, according to Rathman.
“The program structure may change again once we are able to safely accommodate in-person campus visits, but we are committed to continue paying guides through that transition,” he said.
Rathman also explained that the admissions office selected tour guides this semester through a video application process.
“These video applications featured each guide giving two tour stops, simulating an actual virtual tour,” Rathman said. “From there, the videos were reviewed by the admissions officers who oversee campus visits, and the strongest video applicants were invited to participate this fall.”
Some tour guides opted not to return this semester due to the change to a virtual format. The admissions office, however, plans to invite both tour guides who opted out of the semester and those who were not selected to participate in the virtual tour guide program, back, once in-person tours resume.
“Many tour guides chose not to submit an application and instead opted to be invited back once in-person tours resume,” Rathman said. “The tour guides who were not invited to give virtual tours this semester will also be invited back if any virtual positions open or once it is safe to restart in-person tours.”
In previous years, on-campus tours were typically led by only one guide. Now, since they are conducted online, there are two guides assigned to each virtual tour.
The times at which tours are held this semester have changed too, in an effort to accommodate those who are in different time zones.
“Our tour times have changed to accommodate more visitors from varied time zones,” Rathman said. “Most in-person tours occurred in the morning and early afternoon. Now, many guides are assigned to late afternoon and even evening tours, expanding our access to visitors from other parts of the world.”
