Monday, December 8, 2008

Best Week Ever!

Brrrrrr!!! It is so cold outside!! Its a good day to stay in with some hot coco!
However, I hope you didn't stay in all weekend because you would have missed a bunch of awesome events!

Friday, Casey Winner played guitar and sang in crimson dining hall for the student spotlight. What a great start to the weekend!
Saturday, there was karaoke sponsored by the Program Committee. Alot of people came out to sing, relieve some of that finals stress and have a great time.
Saturday night there was a ginger bread house building competition. Over 50 people came out to show there skills and their holiday spirit. First place received a $25 american express gift card. Second place recieved a $15 blockbuster gift Certificate. Third Place received a $15 gift certificate to itunes.

So make sure you read your student announcements so you don't miss out on any more fun events!!!

Good luck with finals!!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Best Week Ever!

Last Tuesday was the annual Midnight Madness! The night started at 7 p.m. with the Men’s basketball team, and the madness ensued after with games of tug-of-war, limbo, pie-eating contest, free stuff and lots of loud music! The event seems to have been a hit since the gym was full of excited people! Although, I don’t think the midnight hour was reached.

Last week was also the annual Caribbean awareness week. Events such as, cooking, pot-luck and game nights were featured in hopes to help people better understand the Caribbean culture. To me, this means lots of GOOD food! The week ended off with the “Wave your Flag” party on Friday. At this event, all are welcome to come celebrate their own nationalities together. This week is always a big hit! And if you missed out this year, stay tuned for next year.

These Caribbean Awareness Week events were all sponsored by SGA, and I highly recommend that if you are a member of any SGA recognized club on campus that you make use of all the money SGA has to give out! And that is A LOT of money, so get those requests in!

As always, read your student announcements! There is always something going on around campus.

Have a Happy TURKEY DAY!!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Weekend's Almost Here... Don't Miss Out!

Hey Guys!
Just stoppin' by to give you your weekly dose of the weekend events.

Friday night sit back and enjoy the Student Spotlight in Crimson Dining Hall at 9pm. Same Place, Same Time, Still tons of fun!

Saturday don't miss out on Refined Movement's Take It To The Floor, dance off competition. Schools from all over will be competing to see who is the BEST. The winner gets lots of great prizes for their team, and you've gotta be there to help decide! So don't forget to check that out... 7pm in Horace Mann Auditorium! and you can bring guests to this event, just make sure they bring $3, with a donation of a canned good, or $5 without a donation.

That's it for this weekend, make sure you stick around!

-Rachel

Monday, November 3, 2008

Best Week Ever

BOO!

I hope everyone had a safe and FUN Halloween! This weekend kind of kicked off with Fresh Society’s Halloween “Scary Sexy Silly” Fashion Show last Thursday night. MC for the night was Devan Carrington and the event was co-sponsored with Afro-Am and funded by SGA. Many of Bridgewater’s wonderful students got up on stage to strut their stuff dressed in many different kinds of costumes. Segments included superheroes, sexy nurses, and the things that go BUMP in the night! The audience certainly seemed to enjoy the show; I have to admit I did scream a little when one of the participants jumped out at me. During the short downtimes between sets, dancing was encouraged and some members of the audience took full advantage of that.

Overall, the atmosphere of this event was fun and exciting. If you weren’t there, I’ve heard tell of a Valentine’s Day show so I strongly suggest you check that out!

Friday night also hosted the ASU and MIB Blasian Halloween party. This event was held on campus in the Large Ballroom and was open to all BSC students as well as their friends. From what I hear this was a great event! And there was even a prize awarded to the best costume.

Halloween can be a very fun time! But it’s also important to always stay safe.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Best Week Ever!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!! And more importantly, I hope you all found a new way to get involved on campus this past week!! If not, I have some news for you!
President Dana Mohler-Faria was the guest at the Student Government Association meeting this past Tuesday to speak about the states budget cuts and what it will mean for the school. Even though the school is being forced to make cuts, the administration is trying its hardest to make sure it doesn’t affect the students. They do not want to cut any of the teaching staff because they are essential to the learning process here at BSC. There will not be a freeze on hiring faculty, but there will be a freeze on hiring for any other staff positions that are not completely necessary for the college. There is also going to be a freeze on out of state travel that is not absolutly necessary.
So, with all these cuts, will we, the students, have to pay more to go to school? Hopefully we won’t have to. DMF stated at this past SGA meeting that raising student fees is the last option. And most of you have probably heard that the Science building has been destined for a 98 million dollar renovation. This is still going to happen because this money is bonded, not state appropriated.
I strongly suggest all of you to attend at least on SGA meeting during your stay here at BSC. I was on SGA last year and it is an amazing way to keep up to date on what’s going on here on campus. SGA meetings are every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Council Chambers (top floor of the Campus Center).

Last Wednesday the event, ‘Karaoke for a Cure”, was held. This event was co-hosted by PC and Sigma Chi to held raise money to benefit the family of a Sigma Chi brother, whose mother passed away recently. First, there was Karaoke, where many people got up on stage to sing, a few people were even brave enough to get up there alone and sing! I watched from the sidelines, the world isn’t quite ready yet for what I have to offer.
After an hour of Karaoke, a comedian got up on stage. I’m not going to say he wasn’t funny, he was at times, but he also didn’t quite know when to stop talking. Right in the beginning he offended a poor girl who had sung her heart out to “Survivor” and after that moment, the audience wasn’t too thrilled with him. He recovered slightly from that downfall and gave us a few more good laughs before falling back into a dark abyss of the unfunny.
All together, though, the event was a hit! People had fun and I hope Sigma Chi was able to raise a lot of money to help their brother in his time of need.
Lastly, this past weekend I hope some of you got out of your rooms and went on the Haunted Tour! I wasn't there, unfortunatly, but I heard it was quite a fright! The tour was of all the haunted spots on campus, and of course Saturday night was a dark and stormy night. So, when you hear bumps coming from your next door neightbor's dorm room, or you think you hear footsteps in the bathroom you thought was empty... you're gunna be wishing you were at that tour so you knew what places are haunted, and what places to stay away from.

Remeber, no matter what your interests are, you can always find something to do on campus! So, stop by OSIL to find out when and where clubs meet. And read your campus announcements to find out what events are happening!

peace out!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Best Week Ever- Homecoming Edition

It's Monday and you know what that means.... everyone is still half asleep? NO! Its means best week ever!!!

Last week was an amazing week, it was BSC's Homecoming!
There were so many PC sponsored events and fun things to do. I was given the idea that because I was a part of the homecoming court, this week I could write about my experience with homecoming.
Myself and the rest of the homecoming court have been practicing for weeks and it came and went in a flash! Thursday night was the big event- the homecoming pageant and I hope everyone got a chance to attend because it was absolutely hilarious. The talents were everythng from Sarah Palin impressions, to crazy dances, to rapping, to TV show spoofs. I personally have never had more fun in my entire life. It was such a rush to be on stage in front of peers and faculty and just have such a good time.
Then on friday night was float building behond Kelly gym. It was freezing but we were all out there from 8pm to midnight. It was alot of fun to watch what all the organizations were doing with thier floats.
Saturday morning was the homecoming parade. All the organizations that built floats Friday night got a chance to show them off in the parade. The homecoming court rode on a patriotic float and the Coast Guard Academy band played in the parade. There was a great turnout for the parade - even President Dana Mohler-Faria came to watch!
Later on in the afternoon was the homecoming football game vs Coast Guard Academy and BSC won 38 to 7! Nice jobs boys! Also at the game they announced the Homecoming King & Queen... Congrats to Chris OCampo and Kerry Fitzgerald!!!

Overall Homecoming was a blast and I hope everyone got a chance to go to some of the amazing events that went on last week.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

WOW is it the weekend yet!?

Hey guys it's that time of the week again!


So this week is looking like a good one, with all these Homecoming activities lined up, you should be staying busy. I won't give you a run down on everything that's going on, just the weekend things to keep you pumped for the next two days.


Friday is gonna be crazy!
  • The day is getting started with a Safety Expo, which will be going on from 11:00am-3:00pm in the Campus Center Lower Foyer. Not only do you get to learn about campus safety, the judical process, and sign up for RAD classes AND enter to WIN PRIZES!!
  • We've got float building going on from 8-Midnight, so if you're a part of any club or organization make sure you check that out to see if you guys are working on a float, and to lend a hand if you are. If you are working on the floats make sure you wander around at midnight and grab some free snacks!
  • Student Spotlight will be in Crimson Dining Hall from 9-10, featuring the Comedic Stylings of Sean Connelly, he's super funny and sure to draw a crowd so make sure you get there early to get a good seat! You won't want to miss out on this one!

Saturday we're gettin' wild!
  • Start you morning off by watching the floats cruise by in our annual Homecoming Parade!
  • Cheer on your friends and follow the crew down to the Football field after to watch a Battle of the Bears, as Bridgewater puts the Coast Guard Academy into hibernation!
  • Don't forget to stick around for Half-Time when the Homecoming Court is crowned!

Or if you're not into football, come support our other teams;

  • Women's Soccer will be taking on Salem State, at 11:00am
  • Field Hockey will be hosting Western Connecticut State, at 1:00pm
  • Women's Tennis will be playing in the Little East Conference Tournament, Semifinals against Rhode Island College at 1:00
Don't miss out on the Homecoming Dance, it's going on Saturday night in the Ballroom from 8:00pm - 11:45! It's a semi-formal, so dress in your best and put on your dancing shoes!



I better see you around this weekend!

<3rachel

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Just because it is a long weekend doesn't mean you should go home!

Hey guys, its Wednesday again and that means I get to drop some knowledge on you about this weekends events.

First we have the very fun and entertaining Student Spotlight on Friday night in Crimson Cafe (9pm). Come grab a smoothy, plop a seat and take in the good vibrations of the performer. It is sure to be someone who will rock your socks off!

Then come back to the Crimson Cafe on Saturday night for the Program Committee Karaoke Night. This gives all you guys who think you should be on American Idol a chance to shine on the big stage... The stage in Crimson that is! If Karaoke isn't enough of a treat, then you should totally come out for the FREE caramel apples that they will be giving out. Well, actually its a caramel apple station.... They will have a basket of apples set up and a bucket of hot caramel for everyone to dip their apple in. This is something that everyone should come to.

Please remember that the caramel apples are on a first come first serve basis, so get there early and stay late!

Have a safe and healthy long weekend!

(Yay for no classes on Monday!)

-Brian

Monday, October 6, 2008

Best Week Ever

Ever wonder what happens to that line item on your Bridgewater State College bill labeled ‘Student Government Fee’? If you are a resident like I am, that item is a whole fifty dollars! That’s a lot of money. Well, I have some great news for you! Whenever you see a flier advertising an event hosted by one of the many SGA recognized clubs, well, there’s your money at work. That fifty dollars I pay every year goes towards helping clubs hold many events throughout the year. All that ‘free’ food, we all paid for that! When a club hosts a speaker on campus, we all paid for that too! So, if you are looking for something to do on a Wednesday night, I suggest you make sure your money is being put towards good use, get out of your room and attend some of these events!!

Oh, and one other thing. There’s a water bubbler, full of fresh, crisp water located in the SGA office on the main floor of the Campus Center… You paid for that too! Go fill up your water bottle in the SGA office, instead of using an extra $1.50 to purchase a water bottle in the cafeteria. It’s a great way to not just check out what the SGA office has to offer, but to also help save the environment!

That $1.50 could go to better use, like chocolate! Or you could save it, small amounts of money add up very quickly. I know this all too well, my budgeting abilities are not too sharp. But this past Friday, Freshman Focus had a session dedicated to budgeting in college. I surely could have used that information! I get a check every other Friday from the school, as soon as it’s in my bank account back home; somehow it ends up right back in circulation. I’m sure I really didn’t need to order that pizza from Chessman’s, especially when I could have walked over to the Crimson cafeteria and used my points to get a pizza, you know, those points I already paid for!!

Sometimes that money just has to go, like when I have to buy books in the beginning of the semester. But the rest of the school year, what do I really need to buy? An occasional order of the coveted breadsticks from Chessman’s isn’t a bad thing, but ordering out every week can become a drain on a money supply. And that really cute pair of sixty dollar bright red shoes might be JUST perfect for your favorite pair of jeans, but maybe the pink ones you already have, that are actually almost red, might work just as well? Budgeting requires a certain amount of sacrifice, but it certainly pays off in the end. Maybe there’d be a Spring Break trip in your future?

Of course, I just want to add in a few things about this weekend. I hope many of you stayed on campus this weekend, I did. Gary Peterson was the featured performer of this past Friday’s Student Spotlight series, and Refined Movement was the main attraction Saturday night as they tried to teach BSC students how to dance. If you’ve ever seen these girls dance, you’d know that one Saturday night of learning could not possibly bring anyone to their level!! But, it would definitely be fun to try!! I would totally recommend keeping up with those girls so you can see them perform sometime!!
Peace out!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

SWAT are you doing this weekend?!

Hey All!

Well it's Wednesday and I bet you all know what that means! Yup time for your weekend info.

So this weekend will start off just like every other Friday here at BSC: Student Spotlight! Spotlight will be in the Crimson Cafeteria at 9 PM. This week PC will be featuring a very talented young comedian named Gary Peterson. Gary is a senior here at Bridgewater and from what I hear, a funny guy. If I were you, I'd wait for dinner 'til 9 and grab some laughs while you grab some grub.

Saturday will be quite exciting! Refined Movement is going to join the SWAT team in the large ballroom at 7 and give us dancing lessons. All are welcome to show/learn your moves. No worries about embarassing yourself though, everyone is there for a good time. Refined Movement is cooking up a great choregraphed dance for all of us some come and join!

Well thats the incoming weekend! Be sure to stop by at least one of our events because its all free!!

If you have any questions feel free to call our extension at 2872

Thanks!

Laura

Monday, September 29, 2008

Best Week Ever

Good Morning BSC!!
It’s Monday morning and you know what that means… Best Week Ever!!!

Have you ever wanted to learn about The Cape Verdean Culture? Well last week would have been the perfect time!! The Cape Verdean Student Association and Program Committee held an event last Monday to honor Amilcar Cabral who helped Cape Verde gain independence. There was food from Sobabe and authentic Cape Verde dance lessons!

What’s on Wednesday held their first wellness walk and full body workout class in OSIL! This was a great way to relieve some of that mid-week stress!

What better way to spend a rainy Saturday then to come and play the board game Scene It, but on the X Box 360? On Saturday the SWAT team put together this event. The original event was suppose to be the Red Sox/Yankees game, but due to a rescheduling issue the game was moved from 7:05pm to 3:55 pm, and in the end the game was rescheduled for Sunday due to the rain. The Scene It game night didn’t turn out the way we wanted it, and I think it was due to the weather. Not too many people came out in the torrential down pours, but the ones that did had a great time. The Scene It is a very fun game to play with a bunch of people; it really tests ones knowledge of movies!

Not able to go home before the big election?? You can still rock the vote! Throughout all of last week and continuing through this week The Student Government Association Office has absentee ballots that you can fill out to receive your official ballot. All the postage is free!

Stop by OSIL and find out about events and you wont miss out this week!!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

SWAT are you doing this weekend?!

Hey guys! Hope you had a good weekend and enjoyed all of the events, I know I did!

So this weekend is looking pretty exciting as well, I know it's only Wednesday but you should start getting pumped now!

Friday night, September 26th, we're going to kick-off the weekend with the Student Spotlight Series, sponsered by Program Committee, in Crimson Cafè at 9pm, like always. This week we have Matthew Sowersby, who will be playing guitar and singing. He's a first-year student here at Bridgewater, and he has a great musical background with tons of awards, if you don't believe me you can google him! So you should stop by, grab a late dinner or snack... I personally enjoy the Caeser Salad on flatbread with a Dirty Banana Split Smoothie... but that's just me, you can get what you want, and of course, enjoy Matt's musical talents. And if that wasn't enough to entice you into coming to the event, you may get lucky and be seranaded by him ;)

Saturday night, September 27th, spend the day watching the Red Soxs take on the Yankees and then relax with an exciting game of Scene It! in the Dunn Conference room, at 7pm. We also have other X-Box 360 games, like Madden and Rockband, so stop by with a few friends and challenge them to a battle of the best, to decide who really is the greatest x-boxer. ANDDD who doesn't like free food? We've got nachos and all the best toppings to munch on in between rounds.

Sunday, September 28th, Campus Rec will be sponsering a Home Run Derby, on the softball field at 4pm. Come compete with Bridgewater's finest, or just cheer on your friends!

Even more excited about the weekend? I know I am

- - Rachel
"Our weekend is better than yours."

Monday, September 22, 2008

Best Week Ever

Welcome to the Monday morning post of BSC’s Best Week Ever!

Hey BSC! Hopefully most of you took advantage of what this past week had to offer, but for those of you who missed out here’s a recap! Maybe this upcoming week you will find more ways to make your week exciting!

Last week was Recruitment for the Greek organizations here on campus. The Fraternities: Alpha Eta Rho (Coed), Phi Pi Delta (Coed), Sigma Chi, Sigma Pi, Kappa Delta Phi and the Sororities: Gamma Phi Beta and Phi Sigma Sigma each held different events throughout the week. At these events, anyone interested could come to meet the members and get to know a little more about Greek life. The week was a success for the organizations and they look forward to gaining new brothers and sisters!

Senior Convocation was last week too! DMF and senior Micky Howard spoke to the class about making their senior year memorable. After the event, there was free food in the commuter cafe for all the seniors. The turn out was great because who doesn’t love free food and canceled classes!

The BSC dance team held auditions last Wednesday! And the annual Ebony Fashion Fair trip sponsored by the Center for Multicultural Affairs was last Thursday.

Are you interested in community service? The applications for the Alternate Winter and Spring Break trips are due next Monday, September 29th in the Community Service Office. Go to the office or check online for more information. And if you are interested in joining an Intramural sports team, make sure you check the BSC Bears website to check for roster due dates!

For those of you who stayed around this weekend you may have noticed all that was going on! Anyone who went home this past weekend, hopefully you will think twice about leaving campus this weekend.

On Saturday there was the annual Fall Fest. The evening kicked off at 10pm with RHA giving away free breakfast in the ECC that included the famous BSC brunch home fries, omelets, waffles, and much more. After students ate their nice midnight snack (at 10pm) they ventured over to the Dunn Conference Room for a night full of Bingo. BSC’s Tina Botti (VP of Weekend Warriors) was lucky enough to be a winner twice in Bingo on Saturday night. Not only did Tina win twice in one night, she was a winner in Bingo the previous Wednesday, giving her a total of 3 wins in 4 days. While Bingo was going on, in the other half of Dunn there was an Xbox 360 tournament. Students gathered to rock out on "Rock Band", and challenge their trivia knowledge with "Scene It". Friends gathered for a good time all night long. The event was a total success. The night was capped at around 1:15am

Anything here look like it might have been fun? Well, pay attention; look around campus, there is always something going on! Don’t miss out this week!

-Colleen, Megan, & Brian

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

What are you doing this weekend?

Good day all! Sticking around this weekend? Well, you should be!!! We have a bunch of great things to do on campus. We will start off on Friday the 19th. Kicking off the weekend we have the student spotlight series. This series is a weekly event that gives a student(s) a chance to perform their talents in Crimson Café. Come on out to the Crimson Café at 9pm, hang out, grab some food, sit back and relax.

Saturday is something that everyone NEEDS to be part of. During the day we have the rescheduled scavenger hunt taking place all over the campus. This is for those first year students, so come out and check in at the clock tower at 11am. If you don’t know where the clock tower is, then you need to do this scavenger hunt! This event will be in motion till 2pm. After the scavenger hunt, I suggest that you take a nap for a fun filled night.

Starting at 11pm we have the the Midnight Breakfast. This is something that the entire campus comes out for, so don't miss out on it! What college student doesn’t like free food, especially late at night? Not only are we giving out free food(ECC), but there are going to be a ton of fun activities going down on the East Campus as well. I will just name a few… X-Box 360 Rockband, board games, BINGO, and dodge ball. Come hang out with the rest of campus on Saturday. Remember, it begins at 11pm!

I look forward to seeing all you this weekend at our events!

-brian

Monday, July 7, 2008

The Involvement Network

Hopefully the summer is giving you a chance to relax, but hopefully you are also taking this time to think about the coming semester and what plans you and your fellow organziation members have for your events and activities for the coming year.

The first thing that all clubs have to do, as they do every year, is to register your club with the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership. This year, you may actually start the process on-line via the brand new Involvement Network.

The Involvement Network is a website where you will be able to register your organization, maintain membership lists, e-mail lists, a club calendar, do club surveys, and much more.

In order to be fully recognized, all clubs must register on the system for the coming year. This is going to make a big difference in helping you maintain all your organization business and it will also improve communication with the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership. Please note that only the president of an organization may fill out the initial club registration form.

Every student is welcome to create an account on the system so that they can learn more about events and sign up to be part of a club. Eventually you will be able to receive a transcript outlining all of your involvement activity while here at BSC.

Sign up now and get a jumpstart on being IN! http://www.bridgew.edu/in

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Graduation...coming soon!

Wow - so many of you are graduating soon that I can't believe our time is coming to a close.

I know this is such a time of crazy schedules and planning events, but stop and think....are we working so hard this month that we're going to miss the "magic" of our work?

I was speaking with a student leader last night at a campus event and we were celebrating the successes of the fantastic program we attended and how hard she worked to put it on for the campus community. She is overjoyed that all of the stress is behind her and we exchanged hugs and congratulations on a job well done.

The "I Can't Wait Till it's Over" philosophy was truly what got her through the last few difficult days with planning this event, but I can't help but think about what we may have missed along the way?

We were so relieved to be done... that we might have missed the "wow" that each of our guests exclaimed as they entered the beautifully decorated room. We were so frustrated with having to do so much at the last minute...that we might have missed the student who came through at the last minute to perform for us and was OVERJOYED at the chance to share her talents with the BSC community. We were so annoyed that one of our performers cancelled at the last minute...that we might have missed the beautiful sight of the younger students from the L.E.A.D. program getting to come to a college event and the gracious "thank you for having us" that each young person shared as she left the event.

I know it's a busy time, but let's not forget to stop and enjoy the beautiful outcomes of all of our hard work. Student Leaders...."stop and smell the roses" as you walk along the path to graduation.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Club Events in April

As I'm writing this, there are only 5 full days left in the month of March, that means a week from now it will be April. Of course we hope that means warm weather (although you never know) and classes drawing to an end, it also means that we are heading into one of the busiest times of year for club and organization events!

April is full of special weeks, like Greek Week, Springfest and Honors Week. It's also a popular time for clubs to hold end of the year events and banquets. As we approach April, there are a few things to keep in mind!

Event Deadlines!
As you get busy with classes, don't forget the deadlines involved with planning your events.
  • Reservations must be in at least one month prior to your intended date. At this point, this means that unless you are planning something for the few days available in May, your reservations should be in already!
  • Confirming your event, by meeting with your Student Program Advisor NEEDS to happen 4 weeks prior to your event. This deadline is really important at this time of year. With so many events going on, events that are not confirmed on time WILL be cancelled.
  • Contracts and Purchase Order forms must be completed when you meet with your SPA to confirm your event. These forms are time sensitive and there are a lot of them moving around OSIL this time of year, so make sure you get them in early and check to make sure your performers and service providers receive them in a timely manner.

Remember, your Student Program Advisor and all the staff of Student Involvement and Leadership are here to help you make your events a great sucess, but we are not here to plan your events or chase after you to get things done!

Fall 2008!

The next month is also the time to start thinking about your organization's events for Fall 2008. If you haven't already done so, make sure you plan to send one or two representatives to the Event Planning Workshop on April 10th. More information will be in your club mailbox and sent out over the student leader list serv. This workshop will be your opportunity to put in reservations and start the funding process for your events!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

SGA...and late night at the RCC

Hey folks,

Just writing tonight following an SGA meeting. It was great to see so many clubs turn out for club reports and I am always eternally grateful for the chance to listen to the great things people are doing.

I was thinking during the whole time there about how quickly the spring semester is going to just fly by! I'm hoping that none of you seniors out there get too sad... but it's amazing to think of how little time we have left before we say goodbye to a class of very dedicated seniors and welcome a new group of wide-eyed freshmen.

Tonight's set of meetings was a real whirlwind, but I wanted to post a little about some things i learned tonight:

- "rebirth" of an organization happens a lot.
There are just as many clubs enjoying long strings of success as there are groups that are working to rebuild. It's this new Yin/Yang theory I'm working on... but go with me here...
- taking on leadership in the middle of the year isn't easy.
For those of you starting new roles as presidents or e-board members, please remember we are here for you. It's not easy starting mid-year so remember your resources!
- leadership is fun!
Hearing all of you speak about your times as RA's, OL's or members of different groups and seeing the passion in your eyes while you try to promote the opportunity to others is really gratifying.
- leadership is tough work, too.
This shout out is to a few of you that had some tough conversations with me today... it's not all fun all the time. However, you know you are learning lessons that will last a lifetime and I hope that all of us OSIL types can be there to help you get through the rocky parts too.

This is a hectic semester for all of us, but we hope that this blog can grow over the next few weeks to be a place where you can hear from us about current happenings with student organizations. Let us know if there are people you'd like to hear from!

Cindy Kane

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Getting started...but where are you headed?

Wow – another year, another semester, another opening of classes! Can’t say I’m usually too big on New Year’s resolutions each year…maybe because it’s the fear of committing to things I may have been avoiding or putting off? Yes, procrastination does happen to the best of us, but I’ve been recently struck by how powerful it can be to put your effort behind putting your goals in writing and actually being able to mark your progress along the way.

Many of you have heard our goal setting “mantra” from time to time, but all of you should know that setting out written goals for anything you do in your personal or professional life can be a really powerful experience. All of you have dreams and hopes for what you can accomplish through your involvement on campus. Why not give some thought to setting goals for yourself or your organization in 2008? (we don’t have to call them “resolutions,” do we?)

Before you get started on goal setting, remember the SMART goals approach. Using this approach, you need to be sure that every written goal you set up can meet the “SMART” checklist. You knew there was an acronym coming… so here’s what you need to think about to keep your goals SMART:

Specific
Is your goal written in a specific way?

Measurable
Are you able to measure your outcome?

Agreed upon
Do you have the “buy in” from your members? Your advisor? Your fellow officers?

Realistic
Is this something that is in the realistic purview of your group to address?

Time-scheduled
Is your goal set up to be accomplished along a time-scheduled approach? Does it have a deadline for when you can evaluate your progress? Does it have a timeline for when it should be accomplished?

If all of your written goals pass the SMART checklist to evaluate what you develop, you then should commit to regular review of your progress along these goals to be sure they are a “living document” rather than an exercise in paperwork!

If you are in need of some help with this process, be sure to call us here in OSIL. One of our staff members could guide you through how to do a goal setting meeting with your members or we can even facilitate if the timing works!

Good luck for a very productive semester and please know that we appreciate all you do!

Monday, January 28, 2008

Involved@BSC

Hello BSC!

Your pals in OSIL have decided to get blogging...and we hope that this will help you to expand your resources for being involved on BSC's campus.  We are planning to discuss topics that will be relevant to your organization's success and will post resources able to help you with getting BSC students more successfully involved in the work of your student organizations.

If there are topics that you'd like to see addressed in this blog, we hope you will post some comments!  We hope you will visit us often!