Two years ago, tour guides began recieving compensation guides for the Office of Admissions tend to cite the fact that they get paid as low on their reasons for guiding. Though the change has affected the program in some ways, it has not changed the basic dynamics of the job.
Co-Head Tour Guide Molly Clements ’13 suggested the change was not requested by the guides themselves.
“Student Employment decided that we needed to be paid,” she said. “We were originally paid only for Special Tours, and Special Tours are arranged outside of the regular daily slots.”
She added, “two years ago they decided that we really ought to be paid for all of them.”
The other Co-Head Tour Guide, Andrew Klegman ’13, downplayed the importance of payment in guides’ motives. “I think people become tour guides because they love Bowdoin and they want to share how much they love Bowdoin during that hour long tour they have.”
Klegman also said that the amount of money guides receive simply does not add up to a particularly significant quantity. “When you look at it, you’re not getting paid that often. You’re giving a tour mostly once a week.”
He also suggested that Admissions staff originally anticipated that the change would have a larger impact than it has thus far. “I think that, since then, it’s a part of the tour guide process but I don’t think it’s something that’s mattered that much for guides,” he said.
One impact of the change, however, was tighter organization of the program as a whole. “We realized we had too many guides,” Klegman said.