March 2010 - Campus Activities Network Blog

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  • Leadership Roles and The "Real World"

    So, the whole point for getting involved on campus as a student leader is to gain life experiences and essential skills that will serve you in the "real world," right? Well how about higher ed. professionals? Do they not qualify as "real world" professionals? As you and I both know, of course they do! Coming to this realization has been my guiding star in setting career goals for myself. The work campus activities produces is essential to the well-rounded growth of college students and through my involvement, I have come full circle in realizing how I can use the skills I've...

  • It's Not Easy Being Green...Or Is It?

    If you're like me, you visibly cringe when you see a mom hand her little three-year-old daughter FOUR paper towels to dry her tiny hands rather than using the hand dryer. Your heart sinks a little when you see lawn sprinklers spewing water like mad during a torrential downpour, and you find yourself picking 20 ounce coke bottles out of the trash in a classroom only to carry them to the recycling container in the hallway. You'd consider yourself a eco-concious guy or gal. But you look around (your office, your neighborhood, your campus community) and you know we all could be doing more....

  • So, You Want to Hold Your Event Outdoors? 5 Things to Consider When Planning

    Picture this: a bright blue sky, glowing golden sun, light breeze, temps at an even 74 degrees, not a mosquito in sight. Isn't that how we all would like our outdoor events to occur? Reality tells us that on any given day, our outdoor event can be a seamless accomplishment or a day riddled with stressful situations. Through first hand experience and some research, I have learned a few things along the way about planning successful outdoor programs. Here are some points of consideration to work through as you plan an outdoor program. The initial steps in planning an outdoor event are like unto...

  • Helping Troubled Students through Student Involvement

    I just got done reading an article on InsideHigherEd.com about the recent college student suicides at Cornell University (you can read the full article here ) and obviously my first reaction is to be sad, about the desperation that some people go through and the results of that desperation, especially for those at the student level. My second reaction is to wonder if there was anything that could have been done about these tragedies before they happened. I know that's a common response to have, and we all look back on instances like this and wonder what could have been done differently. Looking...
    Published 03-16-2010 11:03 AM by Chris

  • Orientation leader selection...we're done!

    Today was our "OL Draft" meeting where we reviewed everything that was good, bad and ugly about our orientation leader selection process. At my campus, we hire 31 orientation leaders and work with about 2000 incoming freshmen and transfers each year. We do a group interview that encompasses 2 group activities and a group interview. Our application numbers are growing each year and our staff is not. So, we are on a constant search to perfect our process, manage our workload, and be sure that we aren't consumed by this hiring task for the entire Spring. Meet some of our Orientation...
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  • April Showers Bring More Than May Flowers

    Spring [semester] is here! On most college campuses, Spring not only means SGA elections and more outdoor programming opportunities, it also means back to back activities, spring break, mid-terms, end of the year celebrations, and before you know it--finals and graduation. With all of our upcoming events, it's important for us as student affairs staff to be cognizant of what we are asking of our students. How do we help our students finish the myriad of tasks they have in April and May so that they may maintain their sanity and a decent sleep schedule? Here are three tips to get our students...

  • Here's to you Mrs. Robinson...

    I love Simon & Garfunkel and as I was listening to their "Live in Central Park" album I was struck by the words of a song I've heard hundreds of times before. This is the second verse from "Mrs. Robinson:" We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files We'd like to help you learn to help yourself Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home This might be the student affairs nerd coming out but I think this is pretty close to what we try to achieve during our orientation programming. Bear with me for...
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