Connecting students, administration in creating university goals
By: Laura Fellows
Posted: 3/10/08
If you happened to wander through Bailey Hall around lunchtime on
Friday, Feb. 29, you had to weave through a crowd of students (one of
them dressed as the Husky) lounging in the lobby with plates of Aramark
pasta salad and sandwiches.
These students - including the Husky - were gathered for "Change
'08," a day-long summit for student leaders to reflect on what's wrong
with their USM experiences, and what they might do to make them
better-for everyone. It proved to be an apt title: those involved
attest that it was a successful and fulfilling meeting.
The ultimate goal of the summit was to do something about the lack of student involvement at USM.
While geared toward student group leaders, registration was open
to any students who were interested in bringing positive change to the
university. In one of the first leadership training sessions of the
morning, Chris O'Connor, the assistant dean of student life, asked for
all the student leaders in the room to raise their hands.
Most hands around the room went up. But O'Connor wasn't satisfied:
he wanted everyone to be raising their hands-simply by attending the
summit, they had put themselves forward as leaders on campus.
Many individuals and groups were involved in planning the summit
sponsored and coordinated by the Leadership Development Board, and
their work paid off.
"I couldn't have been more pleased with the overall results of the day," said O'Connor.
As the student government's staff advisor, O'Connor was connected with
the group of students that organized the summit and said that the aim
in planning beforehand was to make certain that it covered issues that
students were most concerned about.
"We surveyed to ask what they like about USM, what they don't like, and what issues students are facing," he said.
After talking to students from many different campus
groups-student athletes, the Student Senate, Maine PIRG and Greek life,
among others, the planning committee came up with five major areas that
were to be the top focus of the day.
These were: the lack of student involvement, the lack of school
spirit and pride in USM, financial challenges, space and facilities
challenges, and the lack of community amongst students.
During the actual summit, these areas were used to divide the
attending students into more focused groups, and each was facilitated
by a student and a staff member.
Although the planners had hoped for a higher attendance, the
roughly 60 students who came "were truly dedicated and had some great
ideas by the end of the day," said Emily Fitch, the chair of the
Student Senate.
She spent part of the morning sweating in the Husky costume as she
worked with the school spirit and community groups, who decided to
combine because of the close relationship between the two issues-after
all, says Fitch, "if you don't feel you're part of the place, you're
not going to run out there and put on a Husky suit."
Overall, Fitch believed it was a fulfilling experience, and a great opportunity for students to develop practical goals.
In Fitch's group, one of the biggest problems they saw was that,
despite the good things going on amongst student groups on campus,
"people aren't reaching out to each other."
Developing more communication between the groups and individuals
could help events to be much bigger, and Fitch noted that the most
successful events that take place on campus are generally those that
are sponsored by more than one group.
One solution proposed for this issue was the creation of forums
for student leaders to connect with each other and advertise their
ideas.
USM sophomore Eric Favreau helped lead the space and facilities
group, which discussed the need for a more welcoming student center and
classrooms-many of the current facilities are run-down and this can
hinder the learning process.
Favreau was optimistic about the results of the summit.
"It was really successful," he said. "Action plans were implemented, and there were a lot of freshmen and sophomores."
Favreau hopes that these younger students will help to carry the momentum throughout the rest of their time at USM.
When the groups rejoined, the students worked in a skill-building
session, focusing on leadership. The summit leaders covered topics such
as goal-setting and action-planning to help students set realistic
goals for the rest of the semester.
At the end of the day, the students were given the chance to
present their ideas to a "listening panel" made up of 10 members of
USM's administration, including interim president Joe Wood.
Wood was happy to be a part of the summit, and spoke to the students about community after they had finished presenting.
Using the analogy of a New England village, Wood illustrated the
fact that community is made by people, not just the spaces they
inhabit, and that they were helping to create community just by being a
part of the summit.
He considered the day a success as well. "I was very impressed by
the initiative and the constructive tone with which students
recommended things and talked about ideas with us."
One of the biggest challenges for those involved with Change '08 will be to keep the momentum going.
"There were a lot of amazing ideas and really good work that came
out of that day," said O'Connor, "and we're working now with the groups
to help continue that energy."
Fitch also expressed the desire of the planners to keep Change '08
going long after the end of the day. "I think we got a lot of students
connected to each other. It was truly fulfilling to see everybody do
something and take charge."
© Copyright 2008 Free Press
