Bluffton University Campus Visit Coordinator Amy Tabler (right) says the university’s core value of community inspires the tone she sets for hospitality shown to campus visitors. She also works with student ambassadors (from left) Rachel Keske and Alexis Edenfield. Photo by Alyssa Eby
Bluffton University students interact with professors on a daily basis, and they regularly spot of President James Harder, yet the majority of students aren’t aware of the important staff behind the scenes who keep the campus running. From Admissions to the bookstore and Buildings and Grounds, this campus would not be able to function without many key individuals. It’s possible to attend Bluffton for all four years and never interact with some of these friendly, approachable people who have served this campus and community in ways that embody the university’s enduring values of discovery, community, respect and service. This is the second in a series of profiles on some of Bluffton University’s unsung heroes.
By Alyssa Eby
Amy Tabler recalls being thrown into Admissions festivities right before one of the biggest visit days of the year in August 2011. Since then, none of the chaos that goes with the myriad details of planning campus visits has been able to scare her away from Bluffton University.
Her official title is campus visit coordinator. She leads Bluffton University’s visit program and primarily works with group visits to the campus and the student ambassador team. She also is heavily involved with special event days and sets the tone for hospitality for visitors.
Tabler’s road to working at Bluffton begins with her husband who is an alumnus. Before she took her current role in admissions, she worked at Bluffton in the 1990s in Academic Affairs. Although she enjoyed that role, she and her husband began having children and she took the opportunity to stay home with their growing family. The Admissions position became available at a time when Tabler’s family was ready for her to go back to work.
“Whether you’re talking about faculty and staff, meeting students when they first come to campus, there are so many people with such great stories here,” Tabler said.
She loves meeting and getting to know so many varieties of people and personalities in her job. People are her favorite aspect of working at Bluffton. She finds it rewarding to get to know students at an time exciting time in their lives.
Tabler’s personal favorite of Bluffton’s core values is community. She loves the feeling of community in every aspect of Bluffton. Whether on campus or off, it’s easy to recognize the importance of community that will follow students throughout their lives, Tabler said.
Read about other unsung heroes of Bluffton University featured in this series:
