Random Acts of Kindness Week on College Campuses Feb 11th – 17th

February 5th, 2008 | Posted by The SA Team in Event Ideas | Low Cost Programming | Themed Weeks - (0 Comments)

In case you need to remind someone to do something nice for someone else, or if you are looking for a theme, there’s a week coming up dedicated to doing Random Acts of Kindness.
The official website  is filled with stories, ideas, and inspiration to get you started. Here are some of the many suggestions it gives for colleges:

  • Give another driver your parking spot.
  • Give an extra concert or ball game ticket to a stranger. (Hand out free movie tickets)
  • Help someone struggling with heavy bags.
  • Invite someone new to lunch. (hand out free lunch cards) 
  • Compliment a stranger about something he or she is wearing.
  • Smile at people you pass on your way to class.
  • Bring coffee, donuts, or chocolate kisses/hugs to campus workers who don’t usually get thanked.
  • Form a group to help the school staff with activities like clearing cafeteria lunch trays, picking up trash, or cleaning up classrooms for the evening custodian.
  • Write anonymous positive notes to one another, saying what makes the recipient special.
  • Hand out coffee and hot chocolate to passersby on a cold, wintry morning, or lemonade and water during warm weather.
  • Hold a campus-wide kindness story contest.
  • Put up blank banners in public areas and invite students and faculty to write their kindness stories for all to enjoy.
  • If you have a radio station, ask the radio staff to create Random Acts of Kindness programming, such as listeners calling in their stories of kindness, or the ANNOUNCER reading submitted stories or selected readings from kindness books.
  • Hold a campus kindness rally and invite speakers and musicians to give awards to kind students, professors and staff members.
  • Hold a teddy bear drive. Deliver the bears to police and firefighters to give to traumatized children.
  • Collect kindness stories and create a customized campus kindness book for distribution.
  • Post banners with kindness slogans.



Here are some for the staff:

  • Praise the work or attitude of a teacher.
  • Bring someone a cup of coffee, hot cocoa, or a soft drink.
  • At a faculty meeting, talk with teachers about acts of kindness you all have given or received.
  • Leave a kind note in the faculty lunchroom with suggestions like, “Take a deep breath and move peacefully through your day.” 
  • Post copies of inspirational poems or thoughts for all to enjoy.
  • Put a supportive note on teacher’s desk or in his/her mailbox.
  • Carry small wrapped candies in your pocket to give as “angel kisses” to someone who needs a lift.
  • Attach suggestions for acts of kindness to Hershey Kisses and Hugs. Each administrator, teacher, or staff member takes a candy and then performs the RAK suggested to benefit another administrator, teacher, or staff member.
  • Sponsor a kindness drawing or coloring campaign for your staff’s children.
  • Put plants in your facility. A study at Washington State University indicates that living indoor plants may increase productivity and reduce stress for employees.
  • Boost morale on campus by having your staff submit stories about kindness in the workplace. Start with a memo giving them information about the RAK movement and asking them to submit their stories. When the week is over, distribute the stories as a collection, post them on a Kindness Bulletin Board, or include one or more in each school newsletter. If you don’t have a newsletter, create a weekly or monthly Kindness Bulletin and keep it going throughout the year!
  • Create a “good news” bulletin board to fill with upbeat news about teachers (such as write-ups about the teachers’ accomplishments and ideas, or photos of their families or newborn babies).
  • Invite someone new to lunch.
  • Welcome and get to know new hires.
  • Tell a fellow teacher or a principal why you appreciate him or her.
  • Walk a colleague to the car or bus at nighttime for safety.
  • Leave a treat on the desk of a teacher with whom you normally don’t get along.
  • Write, draw, make, or buy something encouraging for a colleague who is experiencing difficulties.
  • Place a flower on the desk of each of your team members or fellow teachers.
  • Surprise a colleague with a soft drink, coffee, or bottled water.
  • Keep a Kindness Journal of kind acts you observe among your students. Read it aloud and discuss it with your students once a week. This will help raise students’ awareness of the impact of their daily actions, and it may encourage you as well.
  • Give a compliment.
  • Allow a colleague’s teenager to shadow you for a day and learn about your job
  • Write a letter commending a colleague who helped you, and address it to your principal.

There’s even a PDF guide to start a RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) Club on your campus to keep the idea going throughout the year.
Acts of kindness do a lot more than just make someone smile. From their website:

Kindness activities teach students a lifelong interpersonal skill and affirm students who may not be recognized in other ways.

Bemidji State University Programming Board uses Sonicbids to find Coffeehouse Acts

January 23rd, 2008 | Posted by Tom Krieglstein in Low Cost Programming | Online Tools | Technology and Programming - (0 Comments)

The normal way of finding new artists to book is to attend a programming conference, watch several showcases, block book with other schools, and be done.

The programming board at Bemidji State University is trying a new method, well at least new to me. They are using Sonicbids, a sort of online showcase place for talent, to post an open casting call for artists to fill their coffeehouse performances.

Bemidji State University is currently accepting submissions for performances during the Fall 2008 semester. Located in Bemidji, MN and enrolling over 4,500 students, they typically book 2-3 artists for Coffeehouse performances each semester.

Performances will take place in the Lower Union on campus during lunch hours. Local, regional, and touring acoustic acts are welcome to submit for consideration. Specifically, the school in interested in smaller, acoustic alternative rock, indie, folk, R&B and pop acts.

Artists will be compensated for their performances with a negotiable amount ranging from $500-$800, all inclusive. The school will provide a PA system. Past performers include Julie Moffitt, Tyler James, Shevy Smith, and others.

I think this does several things for the artist booking process:

  1. Saves the school money and time of going to the conferences.
  2. Allows the school to set their budget and have the artist submit interest, instead of the artist setting their fee and the school submitting interest.
  3. Better organization and environmentally sound as it is all done electronically.
  4. More artists are given a shot at being booked as it is very cheap to use Sonicbids.

I’ll contact the Bemidji programming board and ask them to comment on this post to let us know how the process is going. Has anyone else used Sonicbids to book acts?

Fifty Low-Cost Program Ideas in Fifty-minutes

January 7th, 2008 | Posted by Del Suggs in Club/Org Recruitment | Community College | Commuter Schools | Creativity | Event Ideas | Low Cost Programming | University - (0 Comments)

It started out with the ambitious goal of soliciting 50 low-cost program ideas in a little less than an hour.  Fifty minutes later, the delegates at the APCA National Advisors’ Summit in Las Vegas had suggested 91 ideas!

Ashley captured these for you, and I wanted to make sure they got posted.  If you weren’t there, then some of the ideas may sound odd (or make no sense at all).  If that’s the case, drop me a note and I’ll explain it to you.

Fifty Ninety-One Ideas in Fifty Minutes

  1. Grocery
    Bingo

  2. Medallian
    Hunt

  3. Life-Size
    Monopoly

  4. Game
    Hunting

  5. Pot
    Luck Dinner

  6. Video
    Gaming

  7. Iron
    Chef Dorm Room/Ramen Noodle cook-off

  8. Game
    Show Contest

  9. Poetry
    Slam

  10. Day
    of the Dead

  11. Dark
    Side of Oz (Pink Floyd & film)

  12. Walk-in
    movie

  13. Dive-in
    movie(pool)

  14. American
    Idol

  15. Talent
    Show

  16. Bed
    Race

  17. Bean
    Bag Toss

  18. Themed
    Dances

  19. Halloween
    Contests

  20. Live
    Haunted House

  21. Campus Ghost
    tours

  22. Halloween
    Casino

  23. Recycle
    plastic bottles into planters (Arbor day)

  24. Leadership
    retreats

  25. Water
    World  (slip ‘n slide)

  26. Movie
    on the Lawn

  27. Bonfire
    & S’mores

  28. Themed
    movies

  29. Stress-Free
    Spa Day

  30. Chair
    Massages

  31. Oreo
    Stacking (Guinness Records)

  32. Star
    Gazing (astronomy club)

  33. Leap
    Frog

  34. Twister

  35. Reflective
    Movies

  36. Commit a Random Act of Kindness

  37. Family
    Fest

  38. Canned
    Food  Sculptures

  39. Food
    Bank Drive

  40. Frozen
    turkey bowling

  41. Campus Fear
    Factor

  42. Photos
    with Christmas mascot

  43. Easter
    Bunny Pictures

  44. Dogoween (pet costume contest at Halloween)

  45. Scavenger
    Picture Hunt

  46. Campus
    Idol

  47. Parking
    space lottery

  48. Campus
    Safety (self-defense)

  49. Sleep-out

  50. T-Shirt
    relocation (collect rival school T-shirts and take to Salvation Army in another city!)

  51. Clothesline
    project

  52. Women’s
    forum

  53. Cultural
    showcases

  54. “Get Into Your Genes”;
    Too small Blue Jean give away

  55. Campaign
    for real beauty (acceptance of normal bodies)

  56. Mary
    Kay (or Avon) day

  57. Financial
    Education

  58. Monster.com
    (Free financial planning)

  59. “Girls”
    or “Guys” Night out

  60. $2
    Movies in town

  61. Mock
    weddings

  62. YouTube
    Contest

  63. Hillbilly
    Olympics

  64. Human
    auction

  65. Mentoring

  66. Study
    night with pizza

  67. Midnight
    Breakfast   

  68. President
    for a day

  69. Parking
    ticket raffle (pay your fines)

  70. Pre-release
    movies

  71. Unhomecoming
    Faculty King and Queen

  72. Kiss
    the Pig (Spam loaf)

  73. Pageant
    and formal dinner auction

  74. Pie
    a professor

  75. Hot
    topic lunch

  76. Glow
    in the dark easter egg hunt

  77. Pie
    your RA

  78. Recycle
    drive with prize

  79. “Big
    dog on Campus” Fun Olympics (Bulldog is school mascot…)

  80. Cinderella
    project (Prom Dresses for high school girls)

  81. Graffiti
    party

  82. Change
    drive into mosaic

  83. Car
    show

  84. Speed
    dating ideas

  85. Cow
    patty bingo

  86. Mardi
    Gras Sidewalk Parade

  87. Art
    festival/contest

  88. Nametag
    Day (everybody wears a name tag)

  89. Parking
    lot sale (like rummage sale)

  90. Pumpkin
    Carving Contest

  91. Holiday Window
    Decorating

The Best Free Software

December 13th, 2007 | Posted by Del Suggs in Campus Issues | Creativity | Low Cost Programming | Online Tools | Technology and Programming - (0 Comments)

I’m a enthusiastic practitioner of "freeware," free software that is available for use without payment of any kind.  I find that freeware is often created away from the "corporate culture" and is often more efficient and effective than it’s commercial counterparts.

I use Firefox for my browser, and Thunderbird for my email.  I use Open Office instead of Microsoft Office– which includes the Open Office equivalents for word processing, data base, spreadsheets, and more.  All of my college presentations and lectures have developed on "Impress" which is the Open Office version of PowerPoint.

I rip my MP3s with AudioGrabber.  I have a multi-track digital recording system on my notebook computer called Kristal, which I’ve used to produce not just demos but at least one song currently getting radio play.  I use CDBurner to burn CDs. 

I view my digital photos with IrfanView.   If the photos need to be touched up, I use Gimp (nearly as good as Photoshop, in my opinion).   

I create my PDF files with a program called CutePDF– it installs like a printer, and when I want to create a PDF I simply choose it as my printer and Voila!  It works with any program, whether its word processing, desktop publishing, database, spreadsheet, etc.  And, as you might imagine, I read PDF files with Foxit, which I find much more useful and quicker than Acrobat

When I want to rip a DVD to my hard drive, I use DVDShrink. I use AnyVideoConverter to convert the DVD video to files I can upload to YouTube.

You get the idea.  There is really a lot of wonderful free software available online.  You can always do a Google search, but I generally start Here and Here.

Of course, much of the freeware in the computer world is like most of the computers in the computer world:  it’s Windows based.  But don’t assume that without checking, because many of these programs are also available for Mac.  I know a number of you are Mac zealots (even beyond fanatics!).   I even have a free software site for you:  Mac Recon.

So the next time you need to do something with your computer that calls for new software, check for freeware before you spend a fortune at the software vendor.  You might find something that works for you.   

Unique AIDS Awarness Student Program

November 29th, 2007 | Posted by Tom Krieglstein in Creativity | Diversity | Event Ideas | Low Cost Programming - (0 Comments)

Westmont college hosted an interesting demonstration this week as part of World AIDS Week which runs from Nov 26 2007 – Dec 2 2007.

"A group of Westmont students brought attention to World AIDS Week by placing hundreds of small signs depicting children on Kerrwood Lawn, Monday and Tuesday Nov. 26-27. The placards represented the 600 children orphaned by AIDS every day."

What I like about this and similar demonstrations, is it’s impossible for someone to not pay attention or be curious. It interacts with the "car-to-class" apathetic students who never show up at any campus event. It’s also cost effective and easy to host.

Is anyone else doing anything interesting for AIDS Week? Did you know it was AIDS Week?

Two Great and Cheap Programs

October 9th, 2007 | Posted by Del Suggs in Low Cost Programming - (0 Comments)

I’ve run across two really fun and inexpensive program ideas that I wanted to share.  I know that everyone is searching for those supplemental programs– those events that fill up the holes in the program calendar after the budget is spent.  Perhaps these will help.

A Car Show:  Host a car show on campus.  You can choose an Antique Car Show, a Classic Hot Rod Show, or a combination.  There is likely local car club with whom you could co-sponsor, or just do it yourself. 

It may sound hard to believe, but the owners of these special cars will actually pay a fee to put their car on display.  You could include a competition– because every car owner wants to win a "Gold Medal" or "Best In Show."  If you’re not familiar with the categories, you’ve likely got some "motorheads" on your program board or in your community to help with categories and judging.

I won’t go into all the details, because you know them already from other shows and events.  Reserve a parking lot or green space for your car show, create the signs, to direct people there, and publicize both on and off campus.  It’s a great family-oriented weekend event, and a great community outreach.  You will be amazed at how many people will come and look at cars!

Of course, don’t forget to sell refreshments– hot dogs, burger, soft drinks, and popcorn.   You might provide some "kid activities" too, like face painting.

A Spa Day:  You can host a Spa Day on your campus.  While this initial concept is targeted at women, you could certainly modify it for your men students, too.

You can contact your local Mary Kay dealers, or Avon, and they will send out associates to do make up and "make overs."  Of course, they will likely want to sell their products.

If your campus has majors in physical therapy or sports medicine, you may be able to get students to offer chair massage as a part of spa day.  Find a source for nails, and you’ve got most of a full Spa Experience.  And you can do it in the ballroom of your student center for next-to-nothing.

Marykay_2

Small School? Small Budget? Small Problem!!

July 30th, 2007 | Posted by Steve Snedeker in Low Cost Programming - (0 Comments)

I spent four years at the State University of New York at Cobleskill in a village with less than 5000 people.  The college had around 2500 students of which approximately 500 are commuters. 

I know what it is like attending a small school in a small town.  In a small town you can have large turnouts to multiple events each week.  No you don’t have to reread that, I said we would get large turnouts and we would put on at least 2 events weekly.

Of course not all of our events turn out to be a hit, but you can’t let that get you down.  In a small campus environment with a minimal budget you have to learn to accept that some events aren’t going to draw the attendance you hoped for.

Now you might ask, how can I pack my schedule full of quality events without spending the entire clubs budget in the first month? 

Creativity and “homegrown” events have been the backbone of our activities board at SUNY Cobleskill.  Creating your own events such as game shows, and theme nights is a very affordable way to pack your schedule.  Put a lot of thought into your homegrown events, they won’t work if you throw them together at the last minute.

SUNY Cobleskill won a national award at the 2007 APCA Nationals in Atlanta Georgia for a homegrown event called “Big Man On Campus”.  This event was modeled after “The Apprentice”, and took many hours of just sitting down and talking out the details with other students, and our advisor.  I would say it was worth the time we put into it, we put on a quality event which won a national award, all for a fairly cheap price.

I would have to say one of our biggest budget saviors would have to be APCA, The Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities.  We get Most if not all of our stage shows from APCA.  For those of you who do not already know what APCA is, it is an organization that promotes quality yet affordable programming for campuses.

Don’t expect your numbers to jump up instantly, your activities board needs to build a reputation among your students.  Cheap promotion is another hurdle you may have to overcome before you have a successful calendar of events. 

With your budget you can’t exactly have sky writers promote your campuses events, so you have to come up with creative ways to get your name out there.  There are plenty of blogs out there that you can get cheap promotion ideas from

http://swiftkick.typepad.com/activities_affairs/marketing/index.html

It is not impossible to pack your house with whatever budget you have, you may just have to be a little more creative with the way you plan your events.

The Why Behind FREE HUGS

July 18th, 2007 | Posted by Tom Krieglstein in Club/Org Recruitment | Creativity | Low Cost Programming | Marketing - (0 Comments)

Like Joseph Campbell’s famous Hero’s Journey philosophy, we like to divide college students into 5 different stages of engagement based on the Engagement Pyramid below…

Each stage is defined by a different set of characteristics of an individual. Fully engaged individuals display a different set of characteristics than apathetic/uninvolved individuals. Thus, the way we interact with individuals in each stage should be different. A “5″ doesn’t want to be treated like a “Neutral.” And treating a “Neutral” like a “5″ might be too much too soon and thus demotivating.

Once we’ve recognized an individual’s stage, then the next step is to move them gradually up the Engagement Pyramid step-by-step. In our Dance Floor Theory program, we call this X+1. “X” being the stage an individual currently is in and “+1″ being the next step that is challenging enough for that indivdual, but not too challenging (e.g. +3) which might be demotivating. If you think of it like a video game, video games do an amazing job of knowing your current level and knowing what the next motivating challenge is for you. That’s the same thing as X+1.

The hardest step on the Engagement Pyramid is moving someone from a “Neutral” to a “1.” Where a Neutral is someone who doesn’t care and is indifferent to anything you do and a “1″ is someone who actually pays attention and is curious. Once someone is a “1,” it’s much easier to continue to move them towards a “5.”

Ask most educators and they will tell you student apathy is huge on college campuses. Campuses are filled with “Neutrals,” however most of the activities we do on campuses are geared towards “1″ through “5″ people because they are the ones who will pay attention to our flyers, emails, and Facebook invites and take the extra effort to actually show up to an event. But what about the larger percentage of our campus that are “Neutrals?” What can we do to engagement them? To give them their X+1 moment? To move them from a “Neutral” to a “1?”

Enter Free Hugs…

Well actually, Free Hugs is just one example of thousands of examples of events we call Blender Events. Blender Events serve two purposes…

  1. Cause people to have a pattern interrupt throughout their day. Or as we say in Dance Floor Theory, get people to go from “Meh” to “Hmmm.”
  2. Build peer-to-peer relationships by mixing people together with near-peers. Near-peers are people who are models of success that are just a stage or two ahead. In the Engagement Pyramid, a near-peer to an “X” would be a “1.”

Every time we host a Blender Event on campus and cause a “Neutral” to have a pattern interrupt in their day, or get them to go  from “Meh” to “hmmm,” or connect them with a “1,” then we are supplying them with an X+1 Moment. The more X+1 Moments they have, the harder it will be for them to stay a “Neutral” as they will start to display characteristics of a “1″ whether they want to or not. And once they are a “1,” then we can work on getting them to become a “2.”

So there you have it, That’s the ‘why’ behind Free Hugs. As you may have noticed, it has very little to do with the actual Free Hugs event and more to do with the introductions/connections/relationships that happen from the Free Hugs event.

Alter Ego Productions

June 29th, 2007 | Posted by Chuck Steele in Community College | Commuter Schools | Low Cost Programming | Marketing | Series Programming - (0 Comments)

Lower your costs. Increase your hipness. Who can argue w/ that?

We’ve been running our Alter Ego Series for about the last six years. It all started w/ the idea of supporting local music. This is the setup. Each show is themed – pop punk, metal, alt, etc. We do four bands per show, and charge $5 at the door. Each band gets 15% of door sales, but we also give the bands tickets to sell in advance. That’s where they can really make some money. For those tickets, we tell them we need to get $2 back for every ticket they sell. So they can keep up to 60% or they can discount the tickets (to motivate fans to buy in advance). We use a ticket consignment form, and settle up w/ them before the show starts. This setup works for us because the bands do a large share of the promotion, and we can’t lose money on the show.

Another important piece is the name/branding of the series. In the beginning, we created "Alter Ego Productions" to downplay the fact that this is a student group. We wanted to give the impression that we were an independent group who is renting out space at the college. Over the years, that has pretty much gone by the wayside, but we still don’t put "Student Activities Program Board" on any of the promotion. Alter Ego Productions maintains the reputation for being a cool place to play or see a show within the local music scene.

Our audience numbers range from 50 to 150, which we consider a sellout for that room. These shows also create a following for the Alter Ego brand, and really help when we do our bigger concerts which typically sell out at 600 people.

Another perk, especially for community colleges like us, is that we do get some high schoolers at our shows which is a great way to get them on your campus and leave them with a "cool" image of the school.

Alteregologo

Making the Case for Collaboration

June 12th, 2007 | Posted by Brian Root in Collaborative Learning | Fundraising | Low Cost Programming | Marketing - (0 Comments)

There’s a phrase floating around in the higher education profession right now that none of us professionals like hearing. It brings shivers to our spines and sometimes tears to our eyes.

 

OK, maybe it’s not quite that bad… but none of us like hearing the phrase “budget cuts.”

 

However, these so-called budget “cuts” (or what I call “shortages”) are a reality for many of us today, and those of us working on smaller campuses feel the pain more than anything. How do we as advisors and directors help our students battle these shortages?

 

This professional thinks collaboration is the key when it comes to battling budget shortcomings. Collaboration is becoming more and more accepted at institutions across the country. It is no longer a rarity to see an Admissions department and Student Activities office working together. The campuses who have embraced this approach will surely reap great benefits.

 

Personally, I’ve come to appreciate the value of collaboration between departments and student organizations. In fact, nothing makes me happier than to see two student organizations pull off an activity or event in which both groups played a significant role in making it a success.

 

There are so many benefits to collaboration – including higher attendance and response to your programs, less financial commitment from your office or organization, and a higher quality program or event, to name a few. Theoretically, when you co-sponsor or collaborate on a program, you have twice the people involved but only half of the finances from your department or office.

 

As a supervisor of Resident Assistants (RAs), I am constantly encouraging my staff members to consider the benefits of collaboration – both with other RAs and with other organizations, such as the Student Activities Board (SAB). When one of my RAs plans a typical program for his residents, he might reach an audience of 10 to 20 students, which seems just fine considering he only has $25-$30 to spend on this program. However, when he calls up the president of the SAB and gets this group on board, he has instantly multiplied his audience threefold simply by having the program discussed at the next SAB meeting.

 

From a residence life perspective, it can be especially beneficial for a campus programming board to partner with a representative (such as an RA) within a residential life office. One might argue – and some previous research would suggest – that students who live on campus are more invested and participate in campus events at a higher rate than commuters. Therefore, one might suggest that having someone from the residential life office involved would be a sure-fire way of reaching this population.

 

As the advisors to these various student organizations, we should be encouraging our student leaders to think about collaborating more often. I think we will find that our students will become less selfish and more apt to consider the “big picture”.  In addition, they will learn to appreciate collaboration as a concept long after earning their bachelor’s or associate’s degree.

 

Just as important are our own efforts to collaborate with other departments. Before we can encourage our students to embrace this concept of collaboration, we must embrace it. And why shouldn’t we?