Posted by: Del Suggs – Saltwatermusic.com
We all know that fun is absolutely essential on a college campus. College and university
life can be very demanding, with academic deadlines, work schedules, cocurricular and
civic obligations. Sometimes just finding a parking space can seem like a part-time job.
Entertainment–FUN– can be vital in releasing the stress of everyday college life.
Maybe that’s the reason some student activities personnel don’t seem to connect with the
teaching mission of their school. They may embrace the theory of cocurricular programs–
that is, programs that contribute to the educational goals of their institution. But in
reality, they tend to program entertainment for entertainment’s sake.
It’s perhaps the most common missed opportunity on any college campus. While campus
entertainment can be fun, it can also be culturally enriching, or have an educational slant.
But even more important, programs can serve to reach across campus and bring students,
faculty, and staff together.
You often hear those common buzz-words among the administration on campus, words
like “campus community,” and “experiential learning.” The programming staff on your
campus– whether it’s Student Activities, Student Life, Student Involvement, Student
Leadership– can truly be the key to campus collaboration in learning.
Start at the beginning
Some connections between programming and academics are easily apparent. When you
bring in lecturers and other speakers, their primary purpose is to educate. Speakers from
environmental and human rights groups aren’t there for fun– they’re there to teach your
students about the world.
But there are other, not so obvious cocurricular uses for your programs. Reach out to the
faculty on your campus. There are professors you already know who are supportive of
student activities. Meet with them and discuss how student activities can be supportive of
their teaching, too.
Some departments will have an distinct connection. The music department on your
campus produces graduates with great musical skills. Perhaps the students (and faculty)
could benefit from a master class presented by a performer you are bringing to campus.
Maybe the performer could speak to music majors about the “real world” of the music
business, and help them to create a career plan to follow after graduation.
The comedians that you bring to campus also have relevant skills and experiences to share.
They have appeared on stages all over the country, and they may have been featured in
films and on television. Wouldn’t the students in your theater or drama department love
to talk with a real live successful comedy star? See if you can’t set up a question and
answer session with theater majors. What valuable lessons your students could learn
about life in New York City or LA!
The human mind is an amazing thing, and your campus probably has a number of
psychology majors trying to understand it. Wouldn’t they learn from interacting with the
hypnotist or mentalist you’ve booked on your campus?
Broader Programs
Whether or not you’ve been successful in your outreach to these specific academic areas,
consider some of the other opportunities. Most humanities classes have a requirement for
students to attend a number of cultural events during the term, such as a concert, a play,
an art gallery, etc. Your humanities faculty could certainly select a number of programs
from your upcoming semester’s events for students to attend. Just imagine thirty or forty
(or more) students boosting your audience when an entire humanities class shows up.
Another very obvious connection is with spoken word performers. Poets practically live
for poetry, and would leap at the chance to speak to an English class. That might
jump-start a freshman’s appreciation for poetry, and produce a future Billy Collins or
Sylvia Plath.
The mass communications department on your campus may have a class in the history of
the cinema. By co-sponsoring with them, you could present a film series of classic motion
pictures that would serve the entire student body in addition to the film classes. Everyone
should have a chance to see “Citizen Kane” or “Casablanca,” not just film majors.
Even More Possibilities
If you don’t already, coordinate with your campus President’s office and assist with the
programs on other important events such as Convocations, ML King Day Celebrations,
Veterans’ Day and Memorial Day events. While you probably already do programs for
Black History Month, Women’s History Month, and Hispanic Heritage Month, reach out
and present programs with other departments which bring your campus together.
When you bring in dramatic presentations of historic figures, try to include some kind of
interaction with the history department. An actress playing Harriet Beecher Stowe will
truly have an enormous knowledge about the actual person. How many times will a
college history major get the chance to ask questions of a “real” historic person?
Develop programs which have a strong faculty-staff and student interaction. Some
campuses have a “midnight breakfast” as a study break during finals week, with professors
cooking and serving students in the cafeteria. How about tricycle races between faculty
and students during half-time of a basketball game? Consider a faculty-student volleyball
game during your Spring Fling week. These kinds of events break down the barriers
between the teacher and the student, and help your student body see the faculty as “real
people.”
You know your programs better than anyone else. Open your eyes, and envision how
those programs can reach out to the entire campus: students, faculty, and staff. Consider
the different ways that you can make your programs– or stretch your programs– to add
an educational component to the entertainment you are already providing.
Bring the Faculty to You
Ask any graduate who spent time on the campus program board, and they will tell you
how they value that experience. It’s a real life learning opportunity. Why not maximize it
with your campus experts– your faculty.
Can you think of a better use of a marketing professor than teaching your promotions
chair how to best advertise your programs? It would be an invaluable lesson to the
student, and one more opportunity for you to reach out and show the faculty how much
you contribute to the educational mission of your school.
Have a business professor come work with your program board, and help them to
understand budgets. It might help you out, too, and it definitely contributes to your
efforts to reach out to the entire campus community.
Expect Some Resistance
While these may be “perfect world” examples, you are certainly aware of the kinds of
problems you may encounter on your campus. But be prepared, and think through any
potential conflicts. If you are well-informed, you’ll have a better chance of succeeding in
your efforts.
We’re all familiar with the budget battles that go on. For example, it’s probably futile to
approach the music department and ask for funding assistance to bring in a musical act to
play for the school and speak to music majors. But if the student activities office makes it
happen the first time, or even a few times, the value of the program will become obvious.
At that point, it might be fruitful to approach the department chair about some joint or
shared funding for these programs.
There will also be philosophical differences, and occasionally a “turf war” over these sorts
of collaborative programs. The chair of the music department may want his students
studying Mozart, and see little value in having a contemporary musician speak to his
majors. The chair perhaps doesn’t realize (or doesn’t acknowledge) that music students
listen to a variety of music– not just the classical music they study in class.
Likewise, you may have some resistance with some professors over hypnotists and
mentalists, who may disdain their theatrical performances. Some may even condemn
mentalists and magicians as some kind of devil worshipers. Don’t sneer– while college
campuses seem broadminded, there can be problems with faculty and students who object
to program content. So be prepared for any objections you might face. You’ll find it
easier to correct misconceptions if you’re already expecting questions.
Your Collaborative Contribution
By going the extra mile and developing these collaborative programs, the student activities
office will have done some very important things.
First, you will have demonstrated your commitment to the educational purpose of the
college. When you are so obviously making a positive contribution to the instructional
mission of the campus, it will be easier for your office when that familiar budget crunch
hits. The administration always strives to keep academics funded, even if they have to cut
back on “discretionary” spending– which can be programming and activities. If you can
demonstrate that the activities office is making a substantial contribution to the education
of your students, it may be easier to forestall any budget cuts.
Second, your office will have contributed to the education of your students. Colleges
aren’t just trade schools. Colleges and universities exist to teach students to think, to
open their minds to new experiences, and to create well-rounded citizens. It’s not just
learning in the classroom and playing in the student center. It’s a cocurricular approach,
where students learn and have fun at the same time.
Finally, and most importantly, you will have fostered an ever-vital sense of campus
community, that feeling that we’re all part of one great whole. The buzz words aren’t
important– it’s the results that matter. You can generate a lasting accord and coherent
fellowship among your campus citizens. That is your contribution to collaborative
learning.
