The Trips program notified students of their application status via e-mail Monday evening, Trips director Dan Susman '10 said.
The selection rates for trip leaders and Croo members were similar to those over the past two years. In 2009, the Trips program accepted approximately 270 trip leaders of more than 615 applicants and 44 of over 175 Croo applicants. Similarly, in 2008, 271 of 645 trip leader applicants and 44 of 170 Croo applicants were chosen, The Dartmouth previously reported.
There are approximately 30 different trips available to members of the Class of 2014, according to Breit.
"They're intended to appeal to a variety of interests, [skill] levels and outdoor experience," Breit said.
This year, organizers created four new trips community service, yoga and hiking, farm-living and a natural history trip. A certified ecologist will accompany students on the natural history trip during their hike to help them learn about their surroundings.
During the months leading up to the application deadline, Trips coordinators focused on outreach programs that would "inform all facets of campus" about the available opportunities to participate in Trips, Breit said.
"We ran various information sessions, we had a discussion at Cutter Shabazz [Hall] and we had info sessions on various freshmen floors," Breit said. "We did a lot to try to dispel the myth that there are certain Trips people' and tried to make sure we appealed to a wide range of students."
The Trips program also created an inclusivity and outreach intern position for the first time and collaborated with the Office of Pluralism and Leadership, according to Breit.
This collaboration enabled the Trips program to target minority groups that have traditionally been "under-represented" among trip leaders, according to Susman.
"We recognize that it's really important for people from all over campus to be involved in Trips, because these are the first faces freshmen see when they arrive on campus," he said. "We've made a pretty big effort to get information on trip leading out to different organizations and affinity groups on campus."
While the Trips program directorate does not aim to fulfill certain quotas from various campus organizations, the effort to recruit a more diverse group of students is an "ongoing project," Susman said.
"I think it's a work in progress, and obviously you can't change an entire program overnight, but I think over the last four years, Trips has changed its face a lot," he said.
When evaluating applicants, readers search for people who are passionate about making Trips "all about the prospective students," Breit said.
"We're looking for individuals who really care about the incoming class and want to be ambassadors to freshmen to welcome them to Dartmouth," she said.
Breit said that evaluators first read applications on an "individual basis."
"We first look at how strong the application is individually," she said. "Then, when we go to put together a section, pair or overall Croo, you don't want everyone to be in the same year or involved in the same activities, so you have to consider the overall picture."
When applications are initially read, all identifying information, including name, year and gender, is removed to ensure objectivity, Breit added.
Each trip leader application is read by three trip leader trainers and a group of students who have been involved with the Trips program for three years, according to Breit. Croo applications are evaluated by the eight Croo chiefs who were selected earlier this year.
Trips program organizers also decided that they will no longer instruct new Croo members to keep their appointment a secret from the rest of the student body, a policy that was followed in previous years, Breit said.
"This year, we told them that they should do whatever they feel comfortable doing," she said. "We don't want them to have to mislead friends and peers, because that just seems unnecessary and wrong."
She emphasized, however, that the past policy of secrecy was not arbitrary and existed for the benefit of the Croos and incoming students.
"[The policy] has always existed because it stops people from forming judgments about people they're going to work with before they get there and prevents them from making false presumptions that may harm the group dynamic," Breit said.
For this reason, the Trips program has encouraged students to keep in mind "the reasoning behind a certain level of anonymity" and to consider not revealing their specific Croo to others so that a certain element of surprise remains, according to Breit.
Breit also said that the Trips program is exploring ways in which it can be "more sustainable."
"We have a sustainability team working on things such as the use of biodiesel and using local food at [Moosilauke Ravine] Lodge," she said. "We're really enthusiastic about these efforts."
Sustainability efforts might lead to a "slight increase" in the cost of Trips for each student, according to Breit.
Susman explained, however, that cost should never preclude students from participating and that students who cannot afford to go on trips are eligible for financial aid.
"Students are classified as low-, medium- or high-need," he said. "Students inform us about their financial situation and we verify this with the Financial Aid Office."
Last year, 95 percent of incoming freshmen participated in Trips, according to Breit, who added that this year, "were aiming for 100 percent."
Registration for Trips will begin in June. As in previous years, trip organizers plan to call incoming students who do not register to try to convince them to participate, Breit said.
All trip leaders and Croo members must complete a risk assessment and a group dynamics seminar during the Spring or Summer, she said. First-time leaders also complete wilderness skills training. The night before leading a trip, leaders retreat to Gilman Island to review what they learned and bond with other leaders on their sections, she said.
Both Breit and Susman said they are always investigating ways to improve Trips for the future.
"We're constantly evaluating whether the existing trips are the best things we can offer, and I'm very excited for this year's group," Susman said. "I think we're going to have the best program ever. We have people from all over campus who will do a great job welcoming new students to campus."
