What Would Emily Post Do?

Emily Post I am not.  I do not claim to be an expert on manners or etiquette however “my mamma raised me right” and there are certain behaviors that seem to be a matter of common sense to me.

I established and maintain the College’s summer interview program.  William & Mary is the only public college in Virginia that offers evaluative interviews as part of the application process.  Unfortunatey, the College does not own a scheduling program and therefore I am charged with scheduling each one of the 1500 summer interviews manually — no small task I assure you.  There are days when I do nothing for eight long hours other than schedule and reschedule on-campus interviews.  In the end, this is a burden I bare gladly as the interview program is my legacy at William & Mary; it is how I will leave my alma mater better than it was when I arrived.

I think of my master calendar of interviews as a work of art because it’s like a giant jigsaw puzzle I have to put together.  People give me a date for their visit and a morning or afternoon preference.  They also tell me whether or not they will be taking one of our campus tours during their visit.  With only that information, I schedule interviews for specific one-hour blocks of time.  Thus, after all my hard work, it is disappointment when prospective students fail to show up for their scheduled interview appointment.  I know that crises arise or something unexpected might come up and when that happens, all I ask is that someone make a quick phone call to the Admission Office to cancel the scheduled interview thus leaving the time available for another student who wishes to interview.  I am sure that Emily Post or Miss Manners or whomever is an expert on such matters would have plenty of advice to give as to the proper way to break a scheduled appointment.  All I ask is a quick phone call or email.  Help keep my jigsaw puzzle beautiful!!

– Wendy Livingston