Ryan Blitzer, 18, was nervous the first time he stepped on the SMU campus as a prospective film major from Florida. However, after seeing the film department, meeting film professors and interacting with other film majors, he left feeling a little less nervous. When the Blitzer started classes in the fall, he walked not like a lost wide-eyed freshmen but like a seasoned Mustang.

Blitzer was one of many soon-to-be students that interacted with M.A.P.S., an acronym for Meadows Ambassadors for Prospective Students. M.A.P.S. is an organization comprised of students who are majors in the Meadows School of Arts who are dedicated to showing potential students what it is like to study in the school of arts.

“The personal interaction with current students made the experience a lot more intimate and relatable to me,” Blitzer said. “I was a little nervous, but I made friends really fast and really enjoyed meeting so many new people.”

Tommy Newton, former director of recruitment for Meadows and current director of admission for Centenary College of Louisiana, founded M.A.P.S. in 2004, because he wanted students to be personally involved in the recruiting process.

“The best recruiters are the students living in it right then and there,” Newton said. He wanted the students to be the face of M.A.P.S. They were the ones who led the meetings, not him.

The students involved in M.A.P.S. get to experience what it’s like to be a leader. And according to Newton, leadership opportunities lead to retention. Once students become involved, they are more likely to remain involved throughout their college experience.

According to Newton, SMU needs an organization like M.A.P.S., because students learn how to be selfless by giving their time and energy to others.

“It’s like the Peace Corps,” Newton said.

Assistant Director of Recruitment for the Meadows School of Arts Marlonda Taylor said, prior to students being admitted, they are encouraged by Dean Jose Bowen to get involved in M.A.P.S. and attend the “kick-off” M.A.P.S. meeting of the semester.

According to Taylor, once students attend the meeting, they are encouraged to sign up with assisting in Meadows recruitment with events such as Meadows tours, college fairs, SMU events for prospective students and Homecoming.

M.A.P.S. hosts student panels and overnight stays for prospective students. M.A.P.S. also “calls most prospectives, asks them about their decisions and if they have any questions or concerns,” theater major and former M.A.P.S. member Ryan-Patrick McLaughlin said.

“SMU Meadows was the only school that facilitated such direct access to current students,” McLaughlin said.

Amanda Presmyk, former M.A.P.S. president, recalled her experience with M.A.P.S. when she was a prospective student.

Newton spent over two hours showing her the ins and outs of Meadows. He showed her where his office was and the unique places there are to study in Meadows. She was able to see the Meadows experience “without a filter”.

According to Presmyk, her experience with M.A.P.S. played a major role in her decision to come to SMU as a journalism and film major about four years ago and eventually become a Meadows ambassador.

“M.A.P.S. is an extension of what SMU and Meadows are good at,” Presmyk said, “which is being personable and available to students.”

Since Newton left SMU, however, M.A.P.S. has been in a period of transition.

“[It’s] weakening as far as student involvement,” Presmyk said.

According to Taylor, however, M.A.P.S. continues to be a great organization in its rebuilding stage as new students are coming and some M.A.P.S. leaders are graduating and moving on. As M.A.P.S. influenced many current Mustangs to decide to attend SMU, Meadows students want to see M.A.P.S. continue to play a role in recruitment for Meadows.

“It allows Meadows to actively represent itself via its student body, which we all know is the real fabric of any academic or artistic institution,” McLaughlin said.

Any Mustangs who want to get involved in M.A.P.S. can contact Marlonda Taylor or visit http://www.smu.edu/Meadows/Admissions/Undergraduate/Ambassadors.