1 Department of Cadet Activities Revised 8/18/2011

2 Cadet Activities pair out-of-state freshman cadets with local hosts families Effort to provide a safe “home environment” for cadets with no local ties Gives our cadets the opportunity to practice their social development skills and interact with new people in a new environment Gets the community involved with The Citadel in promoting principled leaders by teaching our cadets the importance of giving back to their local communities Citadel Sponsor Program

3 Out of State Freshman are mailed a form home in early June detailing their wishes Form includes: Gender Religious preference (optional) Ethnic background (optional) Major, Career goals Allergies Favorite Foods Hobbies Interests All freshmen are given a class on conduct and decorum with their host families

4 Citadel Sponsor Program Sponsor cards are updated and mailed out in early May Each form includes a letter outlining general guidelines and tips Form includes similar information as the Knobs form to ease pairing

5 Citadel Sponsor Program Update the requests for sponsors during the summer We pair incoming cadets with sponsors based on requests, hobbies, home states or home companies, religious requests. We pair at least two cadets with each sponsor family After the pairing is complete we mail each sponsor a card with the name of their cadet and contact information We ask that each sponsor contact the cadet’s family to let them know they are their child’s sponsor and they are also asked to contact their cadets We send each cadet the name of their sponsor and their contact information

6 Citadel Sponsor Program We receive requests throughout the year for sponsors and we sponsor families with similar interests and preferences are then contacted for their assistance in filling these requests CHALLENGES: We always have more requests than sponsors available This results in many qualifying cadets without sponsors We pair cadets who are farthest from home with qualifying sponsors to be as fair as possible. Foreign cadets West coast, Mid-West and Northern cadets are usually first paired unless there is a special request

7 Citadel Sponsor Program We search out potential sponsor candidates from various sources Local churches Alumni Previous sponsors Faculty and Staff

8 Citadel Sponsor Program What is left to do: Developing a new marketing plan to search out new sponsors Are we reaching all of our prospective families which would like to participate? Are we using all the media outlets available to us like Facebook, local newspapers, etc. Create a short survey for sponsor families to help us identify problem areas and build upon our successes Survey our cadets to see if the program is meeting their needs and where we can improve

9 Citadel Sponsor Program Our sponsor program is successful for most of those cadets we are able to pair with families We need to do more in getting the word out in our community to better meet the needs of more of our out-of-state students THE CITADEL AND OUR LOCAL COMMUNTIY WORKING TOGETHER TO DEVELOP PRINCIPLED LEADERS

10 Citadel Sponsor Program QUESTIONS?