Empowering Others to LeadHelp Sustain Your Organization

Michelle M. López, M.Ed.Associate Director, Student Development & Retention

Campus Activities and Student Organizations

Introductions

• Name

• Position(s) you hold

• Organization(s) you represent

• Why you are attending this session

Session Goals

• What do successful student organizations do?

• How does your organization build people?

• What legacy does your organization leave for future members?

Growing Organizations

Organizational AssessmentNew Beginnings

• State your organization’s mission/purpose in your own words.

• List the strengths of your organization.

• List your organization’s areas for development (weaknesses).

• What are the reasons you initially joined the organization?

• Why do you continue your involvement in the organization?

• The emerging leaders within my organization are…

• In what ways have you been rewarded, recognized or valued by the organization and/or its members?

• What are the organization’s future plans and goals?

Take a few minutes to answer these questions.

Evaluating the Organizational Assessment

• Which questions were easy to answer?

• Which questions made you stop and think about how to answer them?

• What does this tell you about the organization overall?

Common Factors Among Successful Organizations

• Administrative Duties: on time, correct forms, exceed performance standards

• Advisors: advisor(s) and officers work as a team; advisor(s) aware of organization’s activities

• Programming: a variety of educational programs are provided to develop members

• Committees: team approach to organization responsibilities

• Activities: focus activities that support the mission and development of the “team”

• Leaders: members are leaders on campus

• Networks: members and officers interact with other organizations for support and idea exchange

• Community: organization is involved in community service

• Education: opportunities for education and membership development are regularly offered

• Recruitment: market your organization’s benefits through its programs, not its social activities

• Marketing: positive public relations

• “One of the biggest challenges for a student organization is to recruit and retain an adequate membership base. Recruiting is less of a concern for some organizations because of the nature of their activities. For example, military or recognition organizations have a direct academic linage that serves as an organization’s entry point. Others, such as intramural sports groups, experience substantial student interest and may have to limit the number of participants. Still other organizations, such as fraternities and sororities, have an elaborate process of rushing, tapping, and being oriented into the organization.”

-Dunkel & Schuh

Advising Student Groups and Organizations (p. 6)

Members need…Cultivating and Harvesting

• A sense of belonging

• A sense of sharing in planning the organization’s objectives

• To feel that goals and objectives are reasonable and achievable

• To feel that what they are doing has real purpose

• To share in making the ground rules

• To know what is expected of them

• To have responsibilities that challenge

• To see that progress is being made toward goals

• To be kept informed

• To have confidence in the organization’s leadership

Mattering & Marginality

• MatteringOthers are interested in what happens to you, empathize with you, and/or appreciates you.

• MarginalityNot belonging to the group: characterized by feeling unnoticed, ignored, unrecognized, and disconnected from others.

- Scholssberg

How does your organization cultivate and harvest its members?

Become a Builder of People

Strengthen your organization’s members through:• Encouraging them to grow as individuals• Rewarding them for work well done• Fair mediation of their disputes• Seeking solutions to problems as they arise• Actively listening• Creating tolerant and tolerable working conditions• Accepting input and ideas from everyone• Communicating clearly• Using guidelines rather than regulations• Training and coaching for excellence• Settling differences rather than stifling opposition• Expanding the group to involve others as necessary• Leading by example, mutual respect, motivation• Avoiding leading by intimidation and punishment

Become a Builder of People

Avoid:

• Blaming

• Passing the buck

• Tantrums

• Chewing members/officers out in public

• Unreasonable demands

• Encroaching on personal time when it is not absolutely necessary

• Not asking members/officers to do a job you wouldn’t be willing to do yourself

Your Organization’s LegacyReflecting

• What goals did the organization accomplish?

• Which goals and priorities will the organization have for the following year?

• Whose talents/skills/abilities match the needs of the organization?

• Is the organization’s transition of leadership effective?

• Who will the organization recruit this coming year to join?

Suggestions on how to live a happy and rewarding life

YOU make the difference!

References

• Astin, A. W. (1984). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education. Journal of College Student Personnel, 25, 297-308.

• Chickering, A. W., & Schlossberg, N. K. (1995). How to get the most out of college. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

• Dunkel, N.W., & Shuh, J.H. (1998). Advising student groups and organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

• Schlossberg, N. K. (1989). Marginality and mattering: Key issues in building community. In D.R. Roberts (Ed.), Designing campus activities to foster a sense of community (New Directions for Student Services, No. 48, pp. 5-15). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.