Award: Bronze

Institution: Bucknell University

Title of Entry: Bucknell University Driving Tour

About this Entry: Even the highest-resolution videos, images or virtual reality experiences can’t quite replicate the feeling of exploring a college campus in person.

But with visit options severely limited by the pandemic, Bucknell University quickly launched the Bucknell Driving Tour, helping families learn more about campus from the comfort and safety of their vehicles. Even after student-led tours resumed on a limited basis, the Bucknell Driving Tour has remained an attractive option for families wanting to explore Bucknell on evenings, weekends or when the campus is closed over holiday breaks.

Driving Tour users start at a helpful website that helps them navigate to each of the seven stops. When they arrive at a stop, visitors can pull over and press play on the corresponding audio narration. They’ll hear the voice of Carolyn, a Bucknell student from New York, who shares details about what visitors can see from their current vantage point.

Carolyn also adds a few anecdotes about her experience as a Bucknell student, a touch of personalization meant to replicate what visitors might hear on a traditional student-led tour.

The tour, which was created with a budget of less than $150, went live on July 17 — just six weeks after the concept was first introduced at a meeting involving Bucknell’s Office of Communications and Office of Admissions. In its first three months on the University’s website, the Bucknell Driving Tour has recorded more than 10,000 page views.