The Power of Student Government in Shaping the Campus Community

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* This post was originally featured on The Student Affairs Hub.

College students have long used the campus environment to work towards positive social change. The very nature of a university encourages this sort of intellectual discourse, and a common way for students to get involved in making a difference on campus is through student government. It allows for students to debate important campus topics, and provides a platform for the institution to directly hear the needs of the student body.

The beauty of student government is that it is typically accessible to all students. New incoming students can be encouraged to find a voice within this organization, meet fellow students, and start making their legacy known at their institution (Trust me, they'll thank you for the legacy stuff come graduation time).

I found out about the power of student government far too late into my undergraduate career. In my final year, I was passionate about getting hydration stations installed on campus, to provide cold, clean and filtered water in a sustainable way that would reduce the use of plastic water bottles while encouraging healthier habits in students. I realized a way to start to make this change possible was to lobby the student government to accept a stance of advocating for these to become a part of the community. Once they accepted, within months there were a few of these stations popping up around campus. This felt so inspiring to accomplish in such a short amount of time!

Perhaps they were already planning on doing this, but at the very least, through my efforts, the student body representatives let their voice be heard and for the future, the administration would know that students wanted to have the hydration stations and would feel more accountable to do so.

Especially for new, incoming students, building confidence, connections, and communication skills are all pretty valuable goals for student affairs professionals. So I encourage you to empower your students to get involved in student government. Even more importantly, I encourage you to bring students to the table and let them be heard when it comes to decision making. They'll have some important insights and they are the ones who it will affect, so I think it is only fair to hear them out. At the very least, they'll benefit from the experience.

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 09/11/15

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Geek-and-proud

Greetings!

Here's what is going on in my world this week:

I began checking out this show on Amazon Prime recently after I got some nods of support from friends and folks on social media. I just finished the first season and I'm definitely enjoying it. The show is mostly carried by Jeff Daniels as the newscaster Will McAvoy but it also has a wonderful ensemble cast to support him. It is essentially West Wing meets cable news. I haven't watched West Wing (I'm getting to it) but I know Sorkin's style and it embodies a lot of his usual tropes. Nevertheless, I find the optimism refreshing when compared to some of the other stuff I've been watching lately. I'm looking forward to continuing on with this series, since I know it is a bit short-lived and is a sort of love it or hate it kind of show.

My partner finished watching all of the series Friday Night Lights recently (which I came in and out for) so she was looking for a new show to dive into. Parenthood jumped out to her since it comes from the same creator as FNL. We've only watched a few episodes together (it's available on Netflix) but I can already tell it is going to be a great emotional journey with the large ensemble cast. These sort of shows work best when they hook you in to be invested in the characters early (which this one did) so I'm in unless the show somehow drops off. I look forward to sharing the experience of watching Parenthood with my partner as a way to relax whenever we have time to sit down together for it.

  • Patience

I'm usually a patient person. I'm content with waiting for stuff (especially since I usually arrive places way too early for my own good) but for some reason, lately I've been getting antsy. I mentioned last week that I've been thinking up some ideas of where to take this site. I'm also thinking of ideas for improving and expanding some of my other ventures as well as possible next steps for my job. When I get all excited for these ideas (I love coming up with stuff), I just want to get going on them immediately. I think I need to take a step back and calm down, since anything good is going to take time, and I also want to do it the best that I can.

Thanks for stopping by!

Reflections on My Chat with ACPA President Gavin Henning

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SAC Podcast I recently interviewed ACPA President Gavin Henning for The Student Affairs Spectacular Podcast which went out as a quick bonus episode in addition to our usual offerings. It was a great opportunity that I am grateful to have had.

Gavin has been making himself very accessible recently, which is very refreshing in my opinion. Usually, someone in his position would seem to be very out of reach, but Gavin has been giving much of time to do interviews, Twitter chats, and even the podcast! I hope that student affairs folks have been engaging with all of this great content, since it allows for the veil to be lifted on how someone gets to be ACPA President in the first place, and humanizes the whole organization. Accessibility and transparency are big for me, and I appreciate when leadership embodies these values.

I think more organizations should take a cue from ACPA and their recent efforts. You can engage a community a lot more by being free and open with communication versus having everything tightly controlled and infrequent. ACPA has been my professional home of choice for the past few years as I've entered the field, and while I think no one is perfect, they've done a lot of great work recently that I know has benefited the field.

While I don't think I'll be pursuing the ACPA presidency any time soon, it is nice to know more of Gavin's story and that if you work hard and commit to something, good things will come out of it. Things like that are reassuring to hear for a young professional like myself.

Check out some of the other interviews Gavin has done with some fine colleagues, Kimberly White and Brian Proffer (also both are past guests of the podcast!).

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 09/04/15

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Geek-and-proud

Greetings!

I haven't written a new post in a little while, but I'm happy to be back to the regular flow now after starting the new academic year!

So with that, here's what is going on in my world this week:

Almost by accident, I've pretty much caught up on this show through Netflix and Hulu. It's a silly show that is different than a lot of other comedies and is nice to just have on in the background while I do other stuff. I'm sure I won't keep up with the show week to week, but it will definitely be something I check out and watch a bunch of episodes at a time. I recommend checking it out for sure!

  • Planning

I had some time over the summer to think about where I might want to take this blog (and honestly my life) in the next several months. I've done a lot for my own life in these past few weeks, through getting involved in some marketing work as well as looking into online courses to continue to grow and learn. I also have some great ideas for Higher Ed Geek and I'll need you to help make it happen. Stay tuned for more details!

  • New Jersey & New York!

I've been wanting to get back down to the NJ/NY area again since I left the last time I was there back in May. I'll be spending a few days with my lovely partner in the area next month when we both have fall break. I just booked our flight down there so I look forward to seeing some old friends and checking out the old haunts too! Let me know if you want to connect if you're in the area.

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 08/21/15

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Geek-and-proud

Greetings!

Here's what was going on in my world this week:

I've been dragging my feet checking out the past season of the much beloved Doctor Who, and recently checked out the first couple episodes of season 8 (now on Netflix), which are the first episodes with the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi. I've already been experiencing Doctor Who fatigue last season. While the special episodes with Matt Smith were enjoyable, the show as a whole had been frustrating for me. I think I've grown tired of Steven Moffat's storytelling and am still preferring the David Tennant era above all else. These new episodes haven't done too much to impress me yet, which is sad since I do love the premise and universe, but it is just getting to be a tad boring and shallow to me now. I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for from the show, but what I'm getting now isn't it. Perhaps smaller stories would be better than the bombastic, huge scale plots that seem to be every episode nowadays. I'll keep with it for this season I think but I may put Doctor Who behind me to venture off with some new shows.

I recently finished the entire nine seasons (!) of Seinfeld on Hulu, which took me several weeks. Only a few episodes of the series were completely new to me. I had seen many of them in syndication somewhere but it was still cool to watch this classic sitcom from start to finish to further appreciate it and it's impact. If you have never seen an episode, I highly recommend you check some of it out on Hulu. They've curated some of the classic episodes of the series as well so you can view the series strategically.

  • Fall Move In

Much of my time currently has been (and will be) consumed with trainings, building prep, and opening at my institution. It's a stressful yet exciting time to welcome new and returning students as well as their families to campus for the start of a new academic year. I may need a break from blogging next week with everything going on, but I hope to meet you back here again once things settle down.

Thanks for stopping by!

Podcasts and New Media Advertising

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*This post is edited from the original, which was featured on Socialnomics.

I can personally say the way I consume media has drastically changed. I watch TV on Netflix or Hulu and don’t have cable. I enjoy original shows, clips, and programs on YouTube, listen to music on Spotify or Songza as well as one of the most unique new forms of entertainment; podcasts.

The podcasts I enjoy are simply digital copies of audio/radio broadcasts and interviews. My constant favorite for the past few years is the Nerdist Podcast which is great for entertainment purposes as well as stuff like the Smart People Podcast, Reply All, or Nerdette, which all have some great thought provoking content. What I think is the distinguishing feature of podcasts is how I am able to consume them. I can download them onto my smartphone, listen to them in the car or on the go with headphones while I work out for example. It’s awesome, original content coming out all year that is experiencing a boom recently, which in turn is a great opportunity for advertisers to create a unique relationship with their audience.

According to recent findings, at least 29% of Americans listen to audio podcasts (clumping in video bumps this number up), which is a sizable chunk consuming podcasts of all varieties on an array of topics. This means that consumers are getting on demand entertainment, news, and discussion on what they want most, creating a unique experience for them every time they listen. I know with the Nerdist Podcast, I feel like I’m catching up with friends when I listen to the podcast so whenever they talk about something, I follow up and heed their opinions. Check out these recent metrics that back up that sentiment:

  • 67% of podcast listeners don’t mind sponsorship messages and occasionally find them useful, compared to only 6% positive sentiment expressed for the advertising approaches of television or commercial radio.
  • Nearly 80% of podcast consumers (responding to the survey), agreed that “when price and quality is equal,” they “prefer to buy products from companies that advertise on or sponsor” the podcasts they regularly enjoy.
  • Ninety percent of these respondents indicated that they had taken some kind of action as a result of podcast advertising or sponsorship, and over 40% reported purchasing behaviors, which indicates that they are receptive to the right message, in the right context. (For the rest of the findings, click here)
Although I’m mostly highlighting podcasts here, it is clear that with this being a huge "new media" format, other mediums like music streaming sites and video streaming sites cater to the same sensibilities. We don’t want to be fed phony ads any longer. If I’m looking to buy a camera, I’m going to ask my friend who knows about cameras or reference customer reviews at the very least. Consuming is social and the advent of on-demand entertainment is linked with that. Advertisers should take notice and start to take advantage of this new possibility to create a more authentic, genuine connection with their customers.

Thanks for stopping by!