The student ambassador programme for prospective international students at TU Delft began two years ago, and due to success and growth a board has now been appointed.
The programme kicked-off in February 2014 to enable international students at TU Delft to share their experiences with prospective international students, so that they could be well informed before applying for courses and moving to Delft. What started out as a small-scale operation has grown into a network of 32 ambassadors spread all over the world, including both alumni and current students. The new board was set up in April 2016 and includes: Anandro Amellonado, chairperson from Indonesia, Joanna Kregiel, external affairs from Poland, Nga Phung, internal affairs from Vietnam, Edgard Zuñiga, regional coordinator from Nicaragua, and Leslie Che, online coordinator from Suriname. “We’re now more organised with a sense of direction and we’re gaining a profile,” said Zuñiga. “We want to make sure that all ambassadors feel a sense of responsibility for what they are doing.”
The board works closely with TU Delft’s Student Communications department, and serves as an information and contact point for potential students via their Facebook page. “If someone has a lot of questions we arrange a call to talk things through,” said Phung. Queries about scholarships, housing, applications and job opportunities are common. Another important part of their work is building up networks in their own countries, and here in Delft. The ambassadors give presentations at universities overseas to spread the word about TU Delft. This summer they’ll be visiting Colombia, Brazil, Korea and Taiwan. On campus, Zuñiga initiated the Latin American Student Association, for example. The enthusiastic board has a number of plans for boosting their profile too, including a programme during introduction week for new international students. “We also have an idea for a video portfolio to show what it’s like to live and study here covering different subjects like housing, eating habits or going to the supermarket,” said Zuñiga.
Whilst the concept of ambassadors isn’t unique, what makes the programme at TU Delft different is that it’s student run, rather than staff run. “We know our own cultures, so it’s easier for us to reach prospective students in our home countries, we know what they are looking for and how to inform them,” explained Phung.
See ambassadors.tudelft.nl and facebook.com/TUDelftStudentAmbassadors to find out more.
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