You have probably driven by it numerous times, or if you are from around here, caught yourself staring at it and wondering what ever happened to the bank that used to be there. If you were to stop, you would find a group of smiling faces waiting to greet you and assist you in whatever way they can.

From giving lost drivers directions to leading tours for future students, the Jacksonville State University Visitor's Center plays a larger role in the community than the tiny building shows.

Tracy Phillips, a senor admissions counselor, oversees the JSU Visitor's Center, constantly booking tours and giving out information about the University.

In a way, the enrollment of future students partly rests on the shoulders of the Visitor's Center personnel, made up of only a few student workers and Phillips, who are often the very first impression potential students receive of the University.

"I have three student workers who give the tours," Phillips says. "We feel like it's important that students lead the tours in order to provide their perspective on college life at JSU."

Phillips received her Bachelor's degree from JSU in the field of Elementary Education. Though Phillips may not be teaching children like she originally planned to do, she feels her energy is spent serving and teaching prospective students about the great opportunities at JSU.

"It's important for me to feel like I'm making a difference and with being an education major, that's all I've ever wanted to do," Phillips says. "Although I'm not working as a teacher, I still feel like I'm making a difference and teaching people that come in every day. I feel like it's a calling that I'm put here."

Weslee Ward is a junior at JSU majoring in Secondary Education and a member of Delta Chi fraternity. He is one of the three student workers responsible for giving tours and informing incoming students of the possibilities at JSU.

"I feel like this job will help me later on when it comes to talking to people, because we get all different types of people that come in," Ward says. "Another part that is rewarding about this job is that a lot of the future students you give a tour to will remember you, and then when they get here they feel like they have a friend."

The campus tours at JSU are a little different than many tours given at other colleges. Instead of giving large group tours, the Visitor's Center gives tours in a van that seats only seven.

"The tour is a one-on-one with the visitor and their family," Phillips says. "It's a smaller setting, and we feel like it gives the visitor the opportunity to ask questions that they may not ask in a larger group."

Phillips and her staff ask basic questions regarding the visitor's address, attended high school and specific interests when they call to book a tour. This way, the Visitor's Center can customize a packet for each person with information regarding his or her interests such as activities and majors. Phillips says that the Visitor's Center tries to make the tour well-rounded, touching on anything the student may wish to know and giving out only the most up-to-date information about JSU. On the actual tour, it is the student worker's job to drive the van and lead the tour.

"All of my tour guides are full-time students who work around their class schedule," Phillips says. "I put a lot of responsibility on them. They know the information they give out has to be correct and updated because visitors are looking to them for that information."

Along with giving the tours and answering questions, the student workers are also responsible for the hand-written postcards that a student receives when they have been accepted by JSU. According to Ward, an average of 50 postcards can be written during any given week.

The Visitor's Center offers three tours in the morning at 9:00, 10:00 and 11:00 a.m., and three tours in the afternoon at 1:00, 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. To book a tour, someone simply has to call 782-5260. According to both Phillips and Ward, incoming students aren't the only ones to take tours. In fact, current students can take tours to become more familiar with the campus. Either way, the Visitor's Center goal is to inform the community about JSU and its benefits.

"I always try to point out that JSU is not too big and not too small," Phillips says. "You're not going to be just a number at JSU."

Julie Skinner is a student writer in the Office of Public Relations.